"Ghetto" styles, from wearing gaudy jewelry to using the n-word in ordinary conversation, have caught on with teens and young adults who aren't black, yet who seem to enjoy imitating famous hip-hop artists such as 50 Cent and Three 6 Mafia. The "ghetto-ization" of America, which includes everything from baggy clothes to racial slurs and slacker attitudes, is triggering concern far beyond urban neighborhoods. Cora Daniels worries about a downward cultural spiral where suburban boys work as pimps, middle-class girls aspire to dance like strippers and dropping out of school is often seen as acceptable. Daniels believes "the bar has dropped so low for acceptable behavior that we don't even know where it is anymore." She emphasizes that "this is not a black thing.
All in all Dyson's main points to his argument is understanding how rap came to be, the negative and positive images that gangsta rap portrays to the black community, and acknowledging that rap music shows true beliefs about growing up in bad black neighborhoods. Rap originated from the early '70s during the Rosetta stone of black culture. Jobs were being losses in the inner cities. Lack of social services in predominantly black rural areas opened up drugs and violence in black communities. Therefore rap came to be the main way of expressing social oppression in black communities.
Another reason he is asking this is because during one of Andy’s Saturday Night Live skits they made fun of jack Johnson for be this “Mellow Man” meaning he is laid back and does not care about anything. One big problem in the world is bullying and everyone in there life has been either bullied someone or been bullied. By addressing this problem in his song he uses pathos by appealing to such a large audience as almost everyone in the world has been a part of it. In the video when Jack and Andy are fighting, Andy goes out into the street and gets hit by a car. Jack then helps him up and they go
Amos ‘n’ Andy - a funny African American sitcom that based its comedy on stereotypical cultural personalities provided the time for blacks to discuss the issue of cultural bias with the world. (Yvonne) The portrayal of racial stereotypes in “Amos ‘n’ Andy” impacted the viewing audience by allowing them to view and understand the racial prejudice that was surrounding a minority group at that time. (Crystal – edits in red) The television show “Amos ‘n’ Andy” was originally on the radio where the characters were portrayed by white actors. Then it was moved to television at a time when racial activism and social movement was growing and because the American public needed a change with regard to their perception of African Americans as a whole. (Crystal) Amos ‘n’ Andy permitted the viewer’s to watch each week a middle class minority group that projected very negative stereotypes for a laugh.
Skin Identity We live in a world where ones’ skin color defines who a person is and what one does. One’s personality and non-physical appearance is something rarely looked upon when identifying a person. This is a major problem because people who are mainly affected by this are races other than the dominant white Americans. In “Story of My Body” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space” written by Brent Staples and the film Gran Torino, minorities are perceived as either dangerous or dirty because of the simple fact that they are not part of the dominant race. Staples emphasizes that “Black men have a firm place in New York mugging literature” which has been instilled by the dominant culture who act as victims by stating they recall “growing up in terror of black males” (465).
As the reader begins to see the unfairness of the actions against black people, mostly because of Atticus’ speech, the theme of discrimination is developed through the motive of ‘walking around in their shoes.’ The title, To Kill A Mockingbird is very symbolic and meaningful. The quote which corresponds with the title is also said by Atticus and is, ‘Shoot all the blue jays you want if you can’t hit ‘em, but it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird.’ There are two characters in the text which are metaphorical to the mockingbird. One is the obvious one, Tom Robinson, a black man accused of the rape of a white girl, whom Atticus defends, and the other is Boo Radley. Just like a mockingbird, Tom Robinson only did good and in the end was accused of a crime he didn’t commit. He helped Mayella Ewell every time she asked, for free, and for it he was accused of raping her.
According to Du Bois the prejudices of white people elicit “self-questioning, self-criticism, and lowering of ideals” among black people. The internalization of anti-black sentiment from the outside world thus begins to shape the black American experience. Through the concept double consciousness DuBois becomes better able to explore the social problems he studied in his earlier work “The Philadelphia Negro”. Double consciousness also creates an element of conflict within the black American, as they struggle (often unsuccessfully) to reconcile their identity as a black person and as an American citizen. Dubois cites the example of the black artisan in “The Souls of Black Folk”.
As the result, the poverty was inherited to next generation repeatedly. Roger represents the group of the poor black men. His face was “dirty” and he was “frail and willow-wild” in his clothes. In addition, he tried to steal money from Mrs. Jones illegally. About these problems, the writer tried to enlighten the poor black men through Mrs. Jones’ words although it is faint and indirect.
For many white and black Americans, hip-hop’s culture states the problems the urban black youth went through. The hip-hop culture is from rap music and the lifestyle from the song lyrics. “The story goes that on August 11, 1973 DJ Kool Herc, a building resident, was entertaining at his sister’s back-to-school party, and tried something new on the turntable: he extended an instrumental beat (breaking or scratching) to let people dance longer (break dancing) and began MC’ing (rapping) during the extended breakdancing” (“Birthplace of Hip-Hop”). Hip-hop’s influence on the youth is making it a highly profitable industry. The music industry makes money by creating and selling music.
It seems that today’s youth, is engulfed in the hip/hop culture. Rap music portrays African Americans in a negative light through its lyrics. Many rap lyrics consist of horrible tales of violence, such black on black violence, alcohol abuse, and drug related crimes. Rap basically adds on to an already existing stereotype that all black males are violent and dangerous. This in turn makes life even harder for young African-Americans because now they are looked upon as being a “potential threat” to a person’s life.