Earlier this week, rumored GOP Presidential candidate, Dr. Ben Carson stated that Hip Hop is hurting the Black community by “destroying the values and principles that got us through slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation.” This ridiculous claim is unsurprising in our world of Black folks claiming respectability, so…
To Dr. Ben Carson, here are 9 things hurting the Black community more than Hip Hop:
1. Police:
While arguable the most high profile plague destroying Black life nationally, police brutality hurts the Black community daily. From NY’s Stop and Frisk policies to the most recent video footage of Walter Scott’s death, police violence has become commonplace in American life. Are you really telling us Migos is more threatening than the Darren Wilsons of the world? In short, to quote Los Angeles prophets NWA: “f–k the police.”
2. Prison Industrial Complex:
Despite the overwhelming number of tracks Gucci Mane was able release from jail, the Prison Industrial Complex (PIC) has ravaged the Black Community. The private corporation cash cow delivered by the “War on Drugs,” the PIC supports the policing, surveillance and imprisonment of Black folk. The PIC had destroyed families and finds a legal loophole to enslave, I MEAN incarcerate, countless Black folk.
3.Wealth Disparity:
I know Empire may have had you fooled, but too few Black folks are able to live in such lavishness or even have the opportunity to acquire that kind of wealth. Since the emancipation of enslaved Africans, Black folk in America have been stuck in a systemically supported cycle of poverty. From thedenial of reparations to marginal education access, Black people have been blocked from most forms of economic mobility.
4. Gentrification:
After years of redlining, White folks finally got un-scared and are now pushing Black folk (along with many other communities of color) out of metropolitan areas. From Brooklyn to Boston to LA to Houston, gentrification is gutting working class and poor communities of color from their homes, evicting local mainstays and appealing to corporate (read: White) greed. It’s like white folks heard DJ Khaled’s “Welcome to my Hood” one too many times.
5. Healthcare inequity:
While waiting for Dr. Dre’s Detox has left many holding their breath, there are far more serious health issues in the Black community. Black babies are twice as likely as White babies to die in infancy. Black women are more likely to die of breast cancer despite the fact that white women are diagnosed. Not to mention Black life expectancy… Like Doc, how are you not concerned about this?
6. Misogynoir:
Now as a Black man, I have little hope this crosses your mind (I’m still learning to stay hip to it), but anti-Black misogyny or misogynoir is ravaging our community. Despite being at the forefront of every part of Black liberation, Black women are too often omitted in popular conversation. Black (Trans) Women get compounded racial and sexist violence in public yet are commonly erased from street harassment organizing. Trap Queen, Boss Lady, Wifeyboo, or Thot leader, we need to do better supporting our Black women, and combat others exploiting them.
7. Colorism:
While ALL Black is beautiful, our light-skinned family get featured and positioned as superior. From the selection of Black goddesses who grace our music videos, to many of our leading men and public leaders, colorism divides the Black community. Yet like ALL of the aforementioned issues, White supremacy’s violent little hands are all over this issue. Between a survivalist history of passing, to the fetishization of biracial folks today, colorism contributes heavily intra-racial solidarity and justice.
8. Limited Visibility:
Even though the #WhiteGenocide is among us (LOL, it’s really not beloved), there is still a dearth of Black characters on TV. Thanks to Queen Shonda, Black-ish, and “Cookie’s Hour”, I mean Empire, we have more Black characters on TV since the early 90’s. On the silver screen Quvenzhane Wallis’s Annie and Rihanna (in her latest animated feature Home), Black girls have a whole new slew of icons inspiring them. However, don’t let these phenomenal exceptions fool you, there is still equal parts resentment and opportunism toward this rise of Black and PoC centered TV shows and films.
9. New Blacks / Respectability:
Last but not least, 21st Century shuck and jive Black folk like Common, Raven, Kendrick and Dr. Ben Carson all hurt the Black community with their ahistorical advice and perspectives. While we may have less clearly minstrelsy Black icons and figures, these new money popular Black stars do a similar work for maintaining white supremacy. Folks like you blaming Hip Hop, are privileging a finite definition of Blackness as acceptable. Respectability politics hurts Black people more than Black art ever could. Positioning Hip Hop as inherently less, shows your ignorance of it’s history and shame of the possibilities of Blackness.
