Merging Lanes

Big fan of Chicago rap (mainly Common and Kanye), because 1) I feel like their beats are more musical, instrumental; and 2) their lyrics really focus on PLIGHT. I’m not black either, but the poetry of their words really communicates some glimpse of their PLIGHT to me.

One thing that I noticed about some of their lyrics: they make it quite clear that urban plight results from self-propagating defects, and that status quo is NOT the answer. From “Never Let Me Down”, track 8 on the College Dropout CD (on repeat for the last x months in my car):

“I get down for my grandfather who took my momma
Made her sit that seat where white folks ain’t wanna us to eat
At the tender age of 6 she was arrested for the sit in
With that in my blood I was born to be different
Now niggas can’t make it to ballots to choose leadership
But we can make it to Jacob and to the dealership
That’s why I hear new music
And I just don’t be feeling it
Racism still alive they just be concealing it”

That’s only the view from beneath, of course. The view from above is that we’ve taken big strides and there’s an awareness greater than ever before. The question is, is that enough?

The answers may vary, but I think it’s a resounding “no”. We have a VERY long way to go.

Yeah, there’s a long way to go. I was watching the new Hairspray a week ago and it really hit me — these types of things (segregation, outright blatant racism, violent oppression, etc) were happening just 50 years ago. Our 50-year-old parents grew up in that time. The damage of those attitudes and actions hasn’t even bled out of our family lines yet, and won’t for quite a while.

So while there’s so much further to go, I think we’re foolish to expect it to move much faster than it’s going. I mean, we’ve come a very long way, too. It’s no time to stop or ease off or get comfortable, but I appreciate when people can push forward while recognizing the progress that we’ve made.

I’m inclined to say that Tupac has one of the greatest verses dealing with racism in his song Changes.

I see no changes all I see is racist faces
misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under I wonder what it takes to make this
one better place, let’s erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they’ll be acting right
’cause both black and white is smokin’ crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain’t ready, to see a black President, uhh
It ain’t a secret don’t conceal the fact
the penitentiary’s packed, and it’s filled with blacks
But some things will never change
try to show another way but you stayin’ in the dope game
Now tell me what’s a mother to do
bein’ real don’t appeal to the brother in you
You gotta operate the easy way
“I made a G today” But you made it in a sleazy way
sellin’ crack to the kid. ” I gotta get paid,”
Well hey, well that’s the way it is

We ain’t ready to see a black president? Well maybe we are progressing… although it’s glacial.