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Can Hip-Hop Erase The Color Lines?
Article by:
Jason Fleurant
 Queen Latifah once sang U.N.I.T.Y and in this day in age its something we so desperately need. The question I pose is if it is possible that the culture of Hip Hop can erase the color lines and unite the people. It’s an interesting topic, something I’ve casually thought of before but never really dug deep into. So roll with me as I just express my thoughts, and remember these are just my thoughts people.
Can Hip Hop heal the already embedded racial tension that lives in all of us? I think maybe in time if we can teach the younger generation love and break the cycle of hate it can. What better weapon than something that was birthed out of struggle and pain to bring out love and hope. Sadly I’ve once said that I felt Hip Hop is an culture of bigotry. I know some think I don’t know what I’m talking about but really examine it. We are so anti-homosexuals that we created and special catch phrase to end our statements with (no homo) out of fear of it being taken as a admission of being gay. We don’t even have to get into the way we view women do we? Of course not.
Yet that’s not necessarily the subject at hand is it. Hip Hop has always had an underlying racist vibe towards the Caucasian persuasion, if we want to admit it or not. As much as we bash whites for calling us ni**ers and whatever other terrible thing you can think of we go right back at them. Disguising our hate as free expression of our souls in music. Think about how many times an MC has referred to whites as crackers, devils or whatever derogatory term possible. MCs ranging from Tupac, Krs to even Jay-Z have made comments under the belief that it is purely our passion and that somehow we are right to say such things because we are the minority and consider somewhat powerless. Even I am guilty of this behavior.
It doesn’t stop there, we have this feeling that we so solely own this art form of expression that its almost a slap to the face to see an MC of another race dare take part. Example being someone like Eminem and Jin, two who worked their asses off for a chance to have their voices heard. Two undeniably talented lyricists, that aren’t looked at for there skills, but there skin tone first then maybe their rhymes. Isn’t that something we’ve been fighting against for ages, not being judge by the color of our skin but that of our minds. Why so different in Hip Hop, why the reverse? Why is it that when these MCs of other races want to be included in the music, we dare to judge them? How far can we as a people go if we wont admit the racism inside.
Many people are going to say I'm crazy for saying these things, but isn’t it really the truth? An MC to another MC for a moment if you will. Lets say we are going to battle why is it there is a 95% chance that if I am white/Asian/etc and your black that your going to use racial slurs in your rhymes to discredited and beat me, and it will be applauded? Yet if I dare to reply back talking about blacks negatively I’m the racist? Why is it if your not black you have to work twice as hard be twice as nice and still rarely get the props you deserve? And that’s not just pertaining to Em and Jin but all sorts of different raced MCs around the world.
When I think about how far Hip Hop has come and how it has such a wide fan base of White Americans, I’m astonish to see that we haven’t put our petty differences aside. I’m left stupefied that we haven’t taken advantage of the situation to make it better for all of us. The fans today are the future billion dollar businessmen and women, leaders, judges of tomorrow. Yeah it maybe to0 late to change the minds of the current powers that be but when you look at a rap concert you see literally seas of not only whites but all sorts of racist together having a good time in peace. It has to at some point ring an alarm in your heart saying maybe its possible, maybe the lines drawn in the sand so many years ago could finally be erased.
Yet I see one huge roadblock in our way not moving anytime soon. Our own willingness to let the hate go, and make a change. Both white and blacks it’s on us to say okay I’m tired of this silly game at the end of the day we are all brothers and sisters, were all one. Yet I don’t see that happening dramatically over night because we are too busy hating ourselves to let alone stop hating others.
Look at the foolish bickering of the South and the East over who has the right to Hip Hop. How can we possibly ever dream of Unity in the race issue if were so divided over where we're from. Its not even limited to East and South, it even goes into street corner versus street corner, colors versus colors. We are out here dieing over nothing, and not willing to live for something. I see Hip Hop as the ultimate olive branch in the race issue. Just look at how far reaching and accepted it is in the U.K., Asia, Australia, damn it all over the world.
Taking a look at Michael “Kramer” Richards reaction to hecklers at his comedy show reveals racism is very much alive in this day and age. The fact that those vulgar words could come out so easily (sticking a pitch fork up your anus as you hang) is so disturbing but what is the next step of action? Do we condemn him or do we use this as an opportunity to open a true dialogue on race? Do we even want to disgust race or brush it under the rug so we can continue to keep a chip on our shoulders?
Then there is the new television show “The White Rapper Show” where it seems instead of picking the cream of the crop of Caucasian MC’s to show Hip-Hop transcends color lines it almost seems to be a mockery of white rappers in general. It looks like A shot back to whites through ridiculous “wigger” stereotypes. Is having a group of "want to be rappers" walking down the streets of the Bronx with actual crackers Hip-Hop? How are we suppose to end racial tension when all we do white/black is exploit it? Martin Luther King had a dream, and I still feel Hip-Hop can be a key to fulfilling it somehow someway.
I really wanted to give ideas on how we could maybe erase the color lines, but in truth Hip-Hop isn’t colorblind. When we see a white MC we see someone who doesn’t belong, someone trying to steal our culture. We’re willing to accept people who pretend to be “gangsters” rather than an Asian who is repping the culture thoroughly. Black’s do not have ownership over Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop is too big and too powerful to be kept held captive by one group. That’s how it doesn’t grow and eventually dies. I really don’t know if Hip-Hop can fully erase this, maybe if we stop teaching our children hate just maybe.
We can never underestimate the power of music. The power it has to move people to shed tears, rejoice or feed the soul. They say music can sooth the savage beast, imagine what this culture, one built on soothing the beast of pain haunting our daily lives can do in this world. When you come to recognize the way Tupac was able to touch countless lives through his music you got to see that the door for ultimate unity is already cracked open. So you can get down or lay down, cause a change can and is coming. We hold the power to bring about what kind of change we want. Do we want to use Hip Hop to break down the barriers, because it can. Or do we just not give a damn and refuse to do anything, because by not doing anything your doing something. Your aiding in the self-destruction of the culture as a whole. Maybe it won’t be achieved in our lifetime, but why not plant a seed for our future generations?
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