Praise instead of rebuke

Wish I'd said that!

[Reprinted from Issues & Views January 17, 2004]

Baltimore Sun columnist Gregory Kane, writing for Black America Web, reflects on Minister Louis Farrakhan's December appearance at something called the "Source Youth Foundation Hip-Hop Image Award" ceremonies. Farrakhan, an award recipient, took the opportunity to praise his hip-hop audience as "the greatest generation we have ever produced."

Such adulation shocked Kane, who apparently expected Farrakhan to deliver a sermon akin to a stinging rebuke of much of the behavior for which the hip-hop "culture" is known. He writes, "I've always admired the way Farrakhan spares no one in his criticism. I thought he would be just as unsparing in his appraisal of black America's hip-hop culture."

Instead, Farrakhan fawned over two murdered rappers, in whose "honor" he accepted his award. Citing the company on stage with Farrakhan, Kane asserts, "I'm not sure the good minister saw the irony of accepting the award in honor of two murdered men while standing on stage with one that some feel had a hand in both murders."

Farrakhan went on to inform those present:

You are the new leaders of young people. This is the generation that is feared because this is the generation that can produce change in America and change in the world. You have formed a culture that has outdone religion in destroying racism [and] sexism and even though you 'bling-bling,' you know that beneath the diamonds, beneath the platinum there is an idealism in young people -- that you really want change in America and change in the world.

Such exaggerated praise of this group especially might lead some to wonder about Farrakhan's mental state.

You can almost hear Gregory Kane sputter, as he continues:

Let's get real for a moment and talk about that "change" the hip-hop generation has brought to America. Thanks to the hip-hop generation, we have seen the lifestyle of thugs, gangstas and pimps elevated to cult hero status. Male rappers have degraded our women by routinely calling them bitches, 'ho's, hoochies and chickenheads. A colleague of mine said that when his son visited Mexico, Mexicans thought he was either a rapper or a drug dealer, courtesy of black America's hip-hop culture.

I still can't see the "idealism" in praising thuggery, gangsterism, pimping and misogyny. Perhaps the good minister can enlighten me.

Farrakhan, of course, is no different than his secular counterparts in civil rights organizations such as the NAACP, which, long ago, leant its approval to the "gangstas" and pimps, by lavishing awards on hip-hop's most popular figures. For all the obvious, practical reasons, these "leaders" attach themselves to money and celebrity. Success rules.

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