Race and the Media

Unfortunately the media will always look for that story. We all know which one. It's the typical race card stories. "The perpetrator was a large black man, more at eleven." "Old white man calls black girls, 'nappy headed hoes'." "White politician slips up and says the n-word." "Al Sharpton decides that paper is racist because of its whiteness. Calls for boycott on paper companies until brown paper becomes the norm." These are the things they feed on, and unfortunately most of America feeds on it also. As long as there are ways for this drivel to reach the masses, we will always have that barrier between us. By us, I mean human beings.

Why is it ok when rappers and comedians can say anything they want and use words that are not "socially acceptable", but when someone like Don Imus makes a fleeting comment, there's an uproar from the black community? Because Don Imus is the ultimate scapegoat. He is a rich, old white man: a cowboy who has a mostly white listening audience and black leaders needed a new cracker to point to. For all these years, why weren't they pointing the finger at Snoop Dogg, 50 cent, and Jay Z? Were these people supposed to be role models for the "poor black kid" in the ghetto? Who has more of an effect on that kid, Don Imus, who they probably have never even heard of, or 50 Cent, who preaches the thug lifestyle and has sold millions of records? I am a strong believer in free speech, but that free speech has to be extended to everyone, and Don Imus is not an exception. The only thing Al Sharpton and the media did was bring exposure to Imus, and now he is coming back to the radio and will probably have a larger audience than before.

Fortunately, many of these gangster rappers are being called out now, but it's too little, too late. The lifestyle is already ingrained in our culture. The only way these leeches will disappear is if the white men who own the record companies stop making money off them. Or, if these black "artists" realize they are being used and pick a new line of work. The thug image needs to be eradicated from the streets, and children need to be taught that tough does not mean how many cars you have or how many times you've been shot. Tough means coming from the streets and growing into a functional and positive influence for the next generation.

The subject of race has and always will be a huge social problem. The media do not care if it ever goes away. In fact, the media prefer that it does not because if it does, they will have one less story to write on. This is one of the few topics that can spark outrage, but it can also be used to bring us together. When black people realize that they need to fix their own social problems and white people stop suffering from "white guilt", we will come together. As long as we let the media and government tell us what to think, we will always see ourselves as being different, and this is the barrier that will keep us separated.