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Originally Posted by Coltrane /img/forum/go_quote.gif
But what if it was "Rock Music - Pro or Con" in 1955? Undoubtedly the initial anti-rock perspective was largely based on racism, and a need to label all African Americans as ignorant or buffoons. You see a good deal of the same stuff in the anti-Rap arguments (as a whole, not necessarily in this thread.) They are ignorant because they misspell words (a criticism never leveled at the misspelled Led Zeppelin and The Beatles) or because they 'just talk.' Additionally, racism has slowly evolved away from skin color to an artificial dislike of 'culture', oddly of course only the culture of people of a certain skin color. The fact that a term like 'wigger' exists and is often NOT considered a racist term (when it is indeed supremely racist) is proof of this. So yeah, R&B and Soul aren't attacked the same way (at least not any more) because they have been separated from contemporary black culture but also because they aren't nearly as popular as rap.
Obviously you can HATE rap and not be racist. But we would be kidding ourselves if we didn't admit that racism plays a significant role in many people's thought process.
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This isn't 1955. This is 2007 and in a "Rock Music - Pro or Con" thread no one would ever hint a some someone not liking rock because of racism. Although there is just as much racism by African Americans towards White culture as there is the other way around. Rock is a predominantly white genre. I know that there are minorities that won't even give Rock a chance because "It's white people music". I grew up in a town with people of that mind set. It's a double standard that really gets me mad. People willingly ignore it, for whatever reason. I doubt there are many people who ignorant to the fact. We see blatant racism everywhere in the media of this. But that's a different topic.
Personally I wouldn't discount someone's opinion because they misspelled a few words or expressed their feeling in away that wasn't articulate. Of course if a person's a blatant idiot then of course, their opinion holds little ground. But my feeling is that if a person gave the genre a shot and decided that "it's pure untalented crap that is ruining music as we know it" then that's how they feel (although an over the top reaction) and it should be respected as their opinion. They shouldn't be called ignorant. If a person misspelled some words and gave a less than articulate response, but you guys shared their opinion, I highly doubt they'd be called ignorant. I've seen many Pro Rap messages that I'd consider ignorant, surprisingly no other Pro Rap person ever cares to address the ignorance on their side.
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Additionally, racism has slowly evolved away from skin color to an artificial dislike of 'culture', oddly of course only the culture of people of a certain skin color. |
Tell that to the white goths and emo kids. Or to gays, who spanned every single race. I can go on forever with cultures that are disliked that are not African American. The ugly truth is some group is hated by another group. Is it wrong to dislike another's culture? Depends on the reasoning behind it. But again that's another topic.
I forgot the percentage but I know that the majority of Rap is actually bought by white young adults. Seeing that Rap is one of the most popular genres today I'd hesitate to say "that racism plays a significant role in many people's thought process." Some do give in to racism, but not as many as some people would like to think.
You have Black artist who betrayed the black community and everything it's worked for (well some people worked for) by selling this horrible image of urban life or hoes, drugs and violence. I think if the urban community wants to stop being portrayed like fools then they should stand up against it and not let fools represent them. They should support artist that reflect them better.