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As Russell Simmons Told Oprah, It's Time for Rappers to Drop the N-Word
By Jessica Durando
April 30, 2007
From "nappy-headed hos" to the
N-word, there is an ongoing debate over who can use demeaning, racially tinged
language and who cannot. And hip-hop music is finding itself squarely in the
crosshairs.
"Does hip hop hate women?" The
question drew a crowd of 400 to the University of Chicago, where a panel
discussion was held Sunday on the topics of hip hop and
sexism.
As radio shock-jock Don Imus tried
in vain to hold onto his job earlier this month, he quickly pointed the finger
at the rap community, saying they defame and demean black women and call them
"worse names than I ever did," according to MSNBC.
Imus ultimately lost his job, but
his protests didn't fall on deaf ears. The reaction to his "nappy-headed hos"
comments has caused some in the hip-hop community to take a look in the mirror
and examine their own language.
The New York Times is currently
holding an online forum, "Don't Blame the Rappers," in response to Russell
Simmons' appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," where the hip-hop mogul said it
was not right to use hateful, degrading words in rap songs.
But what's going on in the forum
isn't a blame game per se. It's really talking about responsibility.
"Everyone should be judged by the
same set of standards—period. To say otherwise is hypocrisy no matter the
excuse," one person wrote.
He called for ending the double
standard, and I agree. Imus is not the only one to blame—we all are. And we
should take responsibility for calling any woman a ho or using a word that
degrades, demeans or humiliates every time it rolls callously off a person's
tongue.
One of 50 Cent's album titles sums
it up: "Get Rich. Or Die Trying." The Machiavellian attitude conveyed leaves
little, if any, restrictions on what's said. So when Imus called black women
"nappy-headed hos," he was rightfully fired. Justice was served. But rap artists
need to treat women with equality and respect—not as objects—and express pride
in their race/ethnicity.
"We're on the verge of electing a
black man as president of the United States. I think Simmons and Winfrey are
calling on their own people to grow up," said Adrienne Colan, 65 and a white New Yorker.
Another person wrote, "The filth
and violence in the words of certain recordings are contagious and tend to
spread to the general population."
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