Don't Shoot the Messenger

I first heard about it through a Facebook note posted by a friend of mine. "Racist Album on Billboard Charts", the headline read. Even though I later found out that said article was a fake, people's reaction to it still bothered me.

I knew of the group, Prussian Blue, who put out the album, "End of a Black World", and even downloaded a few of the their songs just to hear if they at least had some talent to back up their ignorant convictions. To be honest, they weren't too bad but seriously need to utilize their talents to promote something other than the 'Dawn of a New White World'. But I'm not writing this to bash nor defend them or their music.

First, let me say that I don't agree with what the girls are saying but as they have the Right to Free Speech, so long as they don't make threats of violence against anyone, they have the right to say whatever they want, whenever they want, however they want. The same Constitutional rights that defend extreme Black militants when they talk about death to the White man are and should be extended to Prussian Blue as well. Like it or not, we live in a democratic (and I use the term loosely) country where everyone has the right to say whatever they feel.

Second, it bothered me when I first read about the news of the album being on the Billboards on a few people's Facebook notes. People were fuming in their comments about how they should protest the Billboards against this racist music. Stop right there. Let's go back to an old saying that goes "Don't shoot the messenger." Let's think and realize that the Billboards only tell how many people bought the album. Why protest them when all they've done is told you that 91,000 (and "counting") support Prussian Blue? And no this is not my saying we should protest their bigoted thinking at their concerts. As far as I know, they have yet to show up to a Mos Def or Hasan Salaam performance with an angry mob and saying "stop this uplifting n****r music." Why would we go and attack them for having the guts to say how they feel in front of the world? They are just two young ladies who aren't hiding behind masks like the Klan used to so obviously they are not ashamed of what they are saying. If you feel as adamant about their music, send THEM an email or write THEM a letter saying that you don't want them to promote those kinds of ideologies. The Billboards is just there to tell you how many records they've sold.

And on that note, I don't get why we were so ready to protest them for their "hate music" when we show up to parties and dance to various rappers' songs who are preaching death to Black people just the same. We bop our heads as people like Young Jeezy and The Diplomats rap about 'killing n****z and f**king these bitches' and glorify the sale of crack-cocaine to their fellow brothers and sisters and in the case of Jay-Z, his own mother (look up his song "You Must Love Me") but want to flex our muscle on two little girls from some hole in the wall town in California who say the same things. These girls haven't even touched gold while people who look like us go multi-platinum off the same anti-Black and Latino mentality. The only time we make any noise towards them is when we were at their concerts.

An anti-Black and Latino mentality is wrong no matter where it comes from. We shouldn't allow it run rampant in our society no matter whom or where it is coming from.

They are only 12 and 13-year-old children who were heavily influenced by their parents' ignorance and hate. They have already received several death threats and their father was shot twice but ask yourselves, what would their deaths accomplish? What would a protest against the Billboards accomplish? What would stop another group from taking their place? The answer: nothing.

If any of you reading this are as passionate as you were in your comments then why not try a different approach to counteracting Prussian Blue. Do the research as to why these girls have the feelings towards various ethnic groups that they do, listen to a few of their songs to get a feel of how serious they are, and write them and in your email or letter, include the names of a few books that will enlighten them on the contributions that African-Americans have made towards America and the world as a whole. You could try talking to children about why having an attitude like this is detrimental to not only society but to themselves. There are many other ways to fight against bigotry than blinding swinging your fists at invisible enemies.

All the anger we've displayed has done nothing to solve the problem of what drives these girls to sing about the bigoted content that they do. We need to think more cautiously and critically when situations such as these arise. Organization is key to ending problems like this. The answer to hate speech is not more hate speech. An eye for an eye leaves the world blind. Think, learn, and grow. Peace and Love...