Misconception, Racism, Prejudism, and Modern Culture

by Chilo Metropolis

I’m quite sure you’ve all been in that bothersome situation. You know, the one where the miserable  dork to the left of you is explaining that he “isn’t prejudiced” because he’s got “black friends”. Yes, I know, it’s one bitter cookie we all will eventually have to taste- and the probability of being forced to swallow this cookie is a great one at that. But besides an immoderate scenario like the one I just described to you, the mother of all questions lies dormant in our society. Is racism, really “over”? I would like to proclaim that it is, and we are progressing as our horizons widen themselves throughout our perceptions, but the more statistics and propaganda I seem to uncover, the more my assumption is swayed toward another reality, and that is, that a large number of minorities are still being treated as second class citizens who have been manipulated into an Americanized variation of their individuality.

According to a report written on December 31, 2002, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported 10.4 percent of the country’s entire black male population, between the ages of 25 and 29, were in prison. One man argued that the reason for this, was that blacks primarily conform to settling near or within metropolitan areas, and that since the population is tremendous in these particular areas, it results in blacks being more susceptible to drug abuse than whites. I took this into consideration with an objective demeanor, that is, until I stumbled upon another statistic that contradicts this claim, and that is: “Rates of current illicit drug use among the major racial/ethnic groups in 2001 were 7.2 percent for whites, 6.4 percent for Hispanics, and 7.4 percent for blacks. The rate was highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (9.9 percent) and persons reporting more than one race (12.6 percent). Asians had the lowest rate (2.8 percent).” Only 0.2% more of the black population was reported to be using illegal drugs, and when compared to 10.4% of them who are imprisonated, the numbers are just not adding up to a relevant sum.

We must all first take into consideration, that it is not obligatory for “only whites” to stereotype and discriminate against the black man of America. Collin Powell and Condoleeza Rice make two very appropriate examples *chuckles under breath*. Furthermore, we must also take into consideration, that it is not only the factor of skin color that is conveniant for prejudism, but also things as subtle as the attire one finds fashionable.

In the present day, hip hop culture is an enormous haven for the breeding of prejudism. Hip hop has made it possible for whites to discriminate against themselves, c’mon, you know what I am getting at. The word “wigger”, used to distinguish a white who appears to be infatuated with wanting to ”be black”, is an appropriate example. I enjoy rap music very much, but it still does not change the factor that human anatomy often turns a good apple rotten, by singling out competition in an effort to eliminate it. The famous rap superstar “Eminem” can be used as another primary example, for many are proclaiming his ability to rap cannot be matched. The more this proclamation is stated, the closer rap music is steering itself back to that terrifying pattern we all wish we did not understand. It happened with rock’n’roll, it happened with jazz, and even funk.

The music is first stereotyped as “black music”, and then all of the sudden, out of nowhere, appears a white artist preforming the “black music”, and before you know it, the white man suspicously “masters” it and the music inevitably becomes “white music”. After nearly 400 years of oppression and slave labor, don’t you think the least the caucasian culture could do, is let blacks have their own fucking music genre? And I don’t want to hear all that hodge podge “but we’re all equal” nonsense. I would like you to tell Rodney King we are all equal, and then you can render your thoughts and tell me what you think about Americas culturally diverse population being treated as “equal”. I say, instead of jumping into everyone elses culture, and slapping a big ole’ American WHITE bumper sticker on them, why don’t we just enjoy the cultures and embrace them? It’s hillarious to hear a white man try and play it out like they are some kind of modern victim. I know I am generalizing, and I know that even myself could argue alot of these anologies I have stated, because they are a bit radical, but hear me out- what is so terrible about the idea of: just once, for the first time in the history of human beings, can we all just take a deep breath, relax, and say “It is, what it is”?