“Wasn’t hip-hop supposed to arouse righteous indignation? Wasn’t it supposed to be a soundtrack of liberation?”

i don’t think so.
wasn’t hip hop, like most forms of music developed last century, primarily about having fun and feeling good?
having fun and feeling good under oppression are effective forms of resistance, so it seems natural to combine your music with more overt forms of resistance.

music can form a sense of identity, giving folks something to belong to and be part of.
sometimes that something is radical and/or progressive, sometimes it is neither of those things.
more often it’s a bit of lots of different somethings overlapping on some common ground, and i think hip hop is a case of just that, with the common ground being the dance hall or the street.

i don’t think Kool Herc was all that much of an agitator, but he would have no doubt learned a sense of a toaster’s responsibility from the Jamaican soundsytems he drew his inspiration from, and probably from his day to day life.

see, the dance is there, and sometimes the dance needs an MC.
she or he’s got to say something to warrant being up there, and the stuff close to his or her heart will probably be the stuff that gets said.

i think sometimes people imbue hip hop(and punk, and reggae, etc.) with an inherent ‘purpose’ that isn’t there for everyone. it’s understandable that something so amazing as music has or gives us meaning, but i think that meaning is rarely unanimously agreed.

Well, in the hands of someone like Chuck D, it was and is the most righteously indignant music there is. The problem is that hip-hop is pretty well the perfect musical vehicle for conveying just about any sort of indignation. For example, indignation at a woman’s failure to show abject subservience to the artist.

Reclamation of racial slurs seems more defensible than comparing women to prostitutes (or, for that matter, thinking ill of people who actually are prostitutes). I’d like to think that NWA called themselves…N because they thought that they were not being treated as free and equal human beings. The language used by polite racists is a mask, and ugly words from the mouths of slaveholders are one way to expose an ugly truth. But then the kids get to thinking that because NWA are cool it must be cool to call yourself an N, and so it goes.

Kids these days. They should listen to more Public Enemy, and they should stay off my lawn.

tranquility et al really excuse Imus because they agree with him.

Agreed, Hugo. However, I remember you saying in class last year that when feminists use words like “bitch” to describe themsevles, they take away their ability to hurt. If I am misquoting you, by all means correct me. But I seem to recall that fairly well.

I think it does feminists - and all women for that matter - harm to take on words like “bitch” to describe themselves. That is one of the reasons I disliked Melody Berger’s book, “We Don’t Need Another Wave… Dispatched from the next generation of feminists.” Words like “bitch” and “cunt” were used all throughout the book, which I found terribly offensive. Calling yourself a bitch only reinforces the stereotype.

As for the whole business about athletes being expected to “suck it up,” and female athletes being delicate and traumatized if they don’t, take that and stuff it. You go tell any famous male athlete, to his face, that he’s a gay prostitute, and then report back on whether he laughs it off or whether he’s angry at you. I haven’t noticed that male doctors and lawyers consider themselves obliged to keep their mouths shut when insulted either. And somehow, we all know that it’s possible for them to be legitimately angry when offended, without being presumed to be “traumatized” and incapable of coping with the big, mean world.

Everyone knows Mr. Imus is a loveable curmudgeon . His show would not be simulcast if the nation did not love and respect his work. One mistake should not erase what Mr. Ismus has accomplished over the years. His show was an oasis for the intelligencia of this country. Hopefully he will live long and prosper on satelitte radio.

The Rutgers coach was right–it is a green issue–unfortunately advertisers ran scared when this became an issue and the show lost advertisers. They did not have the courage to stand behind an intelligent and articulate man. But the coach and the girls from Rutgers now have the chance to cash in on the green too–money deals and media attention from their 15 minutes of fame. Let’s not forget these girls did not even know about this controversy–they had to be told by others. Perhaps they were sooo busy with studies (i.e. playing basketball) they did not have time to read .

According to media reports, this incident and the statements made by Mr. Imus, traumatized these girls. Are these girls traumatized by the music of the black rappers? I bet not! I am willing to guess these same athletes dance to this music and buy the CD’s and think nothing of it.

It is a tough life out there ladies, and if you are tramatized by this event, you are not going to make it as doctors and lawyers and whatever else you have dreams of becomming. Get tough and get on with your lives. As an athlete you expected to ’suck it up’.

This will all play out as it should. Mr. Imus will continue to speak out and comment on the things of life. The Rutgers girls and thier coach will fade away. Rappers will continue to make outlandish music and black girls will continur to dance their hearts to the rhythms an take no exception to the lyrics. And oh yeah, let’s check back in ten years and see where those Rutgers girls are–if they have really become lawyers, surgeons, etc or if …

Donna Orender president of the WNBA had a similar sentiment:

“For 10 years, the WNBA has celebrated the grace, beauty, power, achievement and strength of women’s basketball,” Orender said. “This year, when those fans buy tickets and come to the games, they will be saying to Don Imus that he got this whole thing very, very wrong.”