Racial Tension in the U.S.

[The Human Q-Tip]

I've been strongly influenced by culture. I don't believe it's a good argument to say it doesn't influence a lot of people. A lot of really dumb shit can look seductive.

I generally don't pay much attention to lyrics, but if someone does, then it's basically poetry. And isn't one point of poetry to affect the way you think and feel about things?

 

[Nathan S]

I generally don't pay much attention to lyrics, but if someone does, then it's basically poetry. And isn't one point of poetry to affect the way you think and feel about things?

I'm not saying music has no influence on people...I'm just pointing out that this is a chicken and egg thing. It's no surprise that violence is a common theme in the music of communities plagued by violence. Would censoring that music help break the cycle, or would the same underlying problems continue to fester, now invisible to everyone outside of the affected communities?

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I'm not saying music has no influence on people...I'm just pointing out that this is a chicken and egg thing. It's no surprise that violence is a common theme in the music of communities plagued by violence. Would censoring that music help break the cycle,

I'm against censorship by the government. Otherwise...it certainly wouldn't stop violence. But I guess the question is this: do parents, teachers, coaches, and other role models have any ability to influence some kids in a more positive direction with their lives by teaching them the right things? If the answer to that is "yes", then the corrolary is that the opposite should be true as well. Bad influences/role models can have a negative effect on some kids.

Since I don't listen to hip-hop, I can't speak to the effects of that in particular.

or would the same underlying problems continue to fester, now invisible to everyone outside of the affected communities?

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Are you saying that those problems would be invisible to "outsiders", but hip-hop makes them not invisible?

 

[Kyrie4MVP0202]

Sure, I also wish that pop culture was more wholesome and positive. But artists' art is frequently going to reflect the circumstances of artists' lives. So I think it's unfortunate, but not surprising, that when artists grow up with violence always present their lives, that violence is reflected in their art.

In my neighborhood it is not just pop culture. It is also not just merely art.

It is a way of life. Shootings in around my city are way up. Young people are getting shot and there are places I cannot go.

In many ways rap is a mirror of what is going on inside our communities and these issues need to be addressed because there are real people who are affected by them. People that are gone forever that were senselessly killed over over turf, drugs, or for much less in many other cases...

I believe a strong black community is very important to the success of the United States but as long as we as a society say it is cool to kill people and sell drugs then I guess change will be coming later rather than sooner. More senseless killing, more drugs being sold, less local tax money for education and infrastructure, and more crumbling of our communities.

 

[Nathan S]

I'm against censorship by the government. Otherwise...it certainly wouldn't stop violence. But I guess the question is this: do parents, teachers, coaches, and other role models have any ability to influence some kids in a more positive direction with their lives by teaching them the right things? If the answer to that is "yes", then the corrolary is that the opposite should be true as well. Bad influences/role models can have a negative effect on some kids.

Since I don't listen to hip-hop, I can't speak to the effects of that in particular.



I don't believe that is true. I think people like to claim it is true, but it isn't. The whole "awareness" thing is often bogus.

This is a bit of a tangent, but I do think that awareness is often important, as silly as it sounds. For instance, in a universe with far less media where only a small fraction of the US population heard about the hurricanes this year, the government probably wouldn't have gone to the same lengths to help recovery efforts. The simple fact that so many people were aware of the situation forced the government's hand.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

This is a bit of a tangent, but I do think that awareness is often important, as silly as it sounds. For instance, in a universe with far less media where only a small fraction of the US population heard about the hurricanes this year, the government probably wouldn't have gone to the same lengths to help recovery efforts. The simple fact that so many people were aware of the situation forced the government's hand.

I'm not discounting the importance of being aware of a situation - I'm just saying that much of the time when people talk about "awareness" people are already "aware". And as you say, the internet and social media make it almost impossible not to be aware of issues of significance.

To give you the best example i can think of (and I'm not trying to reignite that debate), claims that Kaepernick was raising "awareness" of police shootings of black people seemed odd because people already were very aware of it long before he kneeled.

That was Trayvon Martin, and Ferguson, and BLM, and all the protests, social media, and blanket media coverage that made the issue dominate the news for well over a year. Almost every single shooting was covered on TV. "Awareness" of the issue wasn't the problem, which is actually why I think there was a backlash. The reaction might have been different had he been drawing attention to a new issue of which people were previously unaware.

 

[Tlyons]

We were already aware Colin!!!

 

[Nathan S]

In my neighborhood it is not just pop culture. It is also not just merely art.

It is a way of life. Shootings in around my city are way up. Young people are getting shot and there are places I cannot go.

In many ways rap is a mirror of what is going on inside our communities and these issues need to be addressed because there are real people who are affected by them. People that are gone forever that were senselessly killed over over turf, drugs, or for much less in many other cases...

I believe a strong black community is very important to the success of the United States but as long as we as a society say it is cool to kill people and sell drugs then I guess change will be coming later rather than sooner. More senseless killing, more drugs being sold, less local tax money for education and infrastructure, and more crumbling of our communities.

Pretty much agree, just saying when you see something ugly in the mirror, the mirror's usually not the problem.

I'm not discounting the importance of being aware of a situation - I'm just saying that much of the time when people talk about "awareness" people are already "aware". And as you say, the internet and social media make it almost impossible not to be aware of issues of significance.

To give you the best example i can think of (and I'm not trying to reignite that debate), claims that Kaepernick was raising "awareness" of police shootings of black people seemed odd because people already were very aware of it long before he kneeled.

That was Trayvon Martin, and Ferguson, and BLM, and all the protests, social media, and blanket media coverage that made the issue dominate the news for well over a year. Almost every single shooting was covered on TV. "Awareness" of the issue wasn't the problem, which is actually why I think there was a backlash. If people truly didn't know there was a problem, the reaction may have been different.

I agree to an extent, but I think it's valuable for people hear these things from the horse's mouth, so to speak, rather than always through the filter of the mainstream media.

 

[Kyrie4MVP0202]

Pretty much agree, just saying when you see something ugly in the mirror, the mirror's usually not the problem.

Unless that mirror distorts images and makes dangerous objects appear safe.

Then it is a problem.

 

[Nathan S]

Unless that mirror distorts images and makes dangerous objects appear safe.

Then it is a problem.

The way I see it, gangs are the easiest way for some people to gain a modicum of power over their lives, a sad reality that's reflected in some rap music. To change that, we need to somehow ensure that all people have a realistic (legal) path to self empowerment.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

Pretty much agree, just saying when you see something ugly in the mirror, the mirror's usually not the problem.

Unless that mirror distorts images and makes dangerous objects appear safe.

Then it is a problem.

Well that's interesting.

I have heard it argued that there is quite a difference between 1) life as portrayed in hip-hop songs/videos, and 2) life as it is lived by many ordinary black people. In fact, I know I've heard that it is wrong to sterereotype black people as just a bunch of gangsta rappers living the gangsta life. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.

I also have an innate reluctance to rely on music videos and rappers/singers of any sort to paint a realistic picture of life. Some likely do, but there's no way for me to know who they are.

 

[Nathan S]

Well that's interesting.

I have heard it argued that there is quite a difference between 1) life as portrayed in hip-hop songs/videos, and 2) life as it is lived by many ordinary black people. In fact, I know I've heard that it is wrong to sterereotype black people as just a bunch of gangsta rappers living the gangsta life. Which makes a hell of a lot of sense to me.

I also have an innate reluctance to rely on music videos and rappers/singers of any sort to paint a realistic picture of life. Some likely do, but there's no way for me to know who they are.

I don't think rap music implies that all black people are gangsters. Quite the opposite, it implies that gangsters are the few, the wealthy, and the powerful, people to be feared. There is an element of truth in that.

I could also be totally wrong...neither of us listen to rap, after all

 

[OptimusPrime]

There will always be crime where there's poverty. But a lot of the "gang violence" is cartels protecting their drug territory. And why? Because drugs are illegal, and therefore their value artificially inflated. If you could buy them at Walmart, 90+% of gang violence disappears, and rappers would rap about something else.

 

[David.]

I don't think the bad stuff is really all that prevalent today.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

. If you could buy them at Walmart, 90+% of gang violence disappears, and rappers would rap about something else.

So let me get this straight - all drugs, of any kind, would be legal to manufacture and sell? Would there be liability for the manufacturer/retailers if people died?