If Rush Limbaugh was Black

Me: I don't understand why we (Blacks) can get outraged at Rush's sexist comments and ignore even more sexist comments by Black entertainers
Friend: "I don't really listen to the lyrics.  I mean, Young Jeezy is way different than Rush Limbaugh. Its just fun"


This past week, Conservative columnist Rush Limbaugh called a female law student a "slut".  The reaction was swift and decisive as his show has lost sponsorships and numerous people from an wide spectrum of poltical backgrounds have condemned his words.

I have never been a Rush Limbaugh fan, and find his show polarizing and condescending.  I believe that his characterization of the Law student who was discussing the importance of contraceptive accessibility, revealed an simmering sexist sentiment that is often assumed, but rarely stated.

However, I think we wouldn't being having the discussion, the outrage, or the moral indignation if we could simply change one thing.

If Rush Limbaugh was Black, we would not only accept what he said, but possibly defend his right to say it.  

If Rush Limbaugh was a Black entertainer, instead of a White entertainer, we would be "shuck and jiving", laughing and dancing to what he said.

Why would I say such a thing?  Because we do it every day by supporting, defending, and enjoying Black rappers, comedians, and entertainers who say significantly worse things about women.  Last week, I wrote a blog entry on Young Jeezy and his lyrics, and he has won numerous Grammy awards for use of all kinds of words of denigration.

Is Rush Limbaugh's declaration substantially different than rappers calling women B****hes, hoes, or by their genitalia?  Worse yet, do Rush's sexist rants infiltrate and impact the mindset of our developing youth in a way that even approaches that of today's popular explicit rappers?  The answer for the Black community is that Rush's statements are just supporting what our young men and women have already have thumped into their psyche a hundred times every day by Black entertainers.

Its time to feel outrage.  Not just  against the Rush's of the world, but the entertainers who do far more damage, regardless of ethnicity.  When I was growing up, we, in the Black community, did not expose our dirty laundry or confront one another publicly in order to maintain respect.  I contend, that respect has been lost, honor has been shattered, and dignity has been destroyed due to our silence and complicity.

Join me in speaking out, acting out, and looking out!

God bless,

Pastor M Traylor

Remoralization of Rap

If you want to truly understand a people, listen to their songs
Anonymous

Today, a friend of mine told me that they were considering going to a rap concert.  I actually like rap and own a significant amount of rap music myself, although I can say with some certainty, that my tastes have not been very current.  Rap is an incredibly powerful means of expression and has represented the voices of many different communities who use rap as a vehicle of expression to the pain, struggle, and hope.

This morning, I took a look at the lyrics of  the artist known as Young Jeezy or more recently, "Jeezy".  Jay Wayne Jenkins, aka Jeezy,  is a 35 yr old  accomplished rapper who has won a grammy award in 2009, 2010, and 2011.  He has a significant following and performs to sold out venues.

A sample of his lyrics: (Warning, profanity and offensive)

I got a bitch named Banana, pussy bananas
That's why I gotta say it again, pussy bananas
My little cool ass bitch, she from the Westside
She let me hit from the back, say that's her best side
Call it her bed side, I call it her wet side
And every time the bitch cum, she holler, "Westside!"

From his song "All we do"

I do not listen to Jeezy, nor have I purchased his music.  While my children are familiar with him, I have not listened or looked at his content until this morning.

Every week, I see young adult after young adult come into my medical office with the consequences of terrible decisions that end up in life threatening and life altering changes.  I see women of color whose understanding of themselves is to be nothing more than an object of some man's pleasure.  Many of give up their virtue so easily because that is what it means to be a woman to them.  The reasons for this are complex but are often unexplored.  Maybe, there's a connection to the media in which they enjoy.

It has been said that to understand a people, you must listen to their songs.  This was true for African Americans via slave spirituals, the tragic-comedic blues, and the innovation of jazz.

I listened this morning, and I haven't stopped crying since.

This is what people died, suffered, and struggled for?  This is what captures the imagination, dare I say, the soul of African-American and young adults today:
             The degrading of women into objects only valued for their ability to please men:
             The glorification of risky, lifeless, exploitive sexuality;
             The use of profanity as an artform;
             The celebration of lovelessness.

I don't know which came first, rap music like this as an expression of depravity, hopelessness, and degradation, or rap influencing culture, but essentially it does not matter.  It must end.  I have nothing against Jeezy and certainly do not advocate censoring his music.  But I am saying that it is time that people of color develop voices that express reality in terms that do not celebrate degradation and cheapness.  It is time for people of color to choose not to support music or art that celebrates the objectification and treatment of women.  It is time for people of color to stop being the modern day ministrels and the butt of the American entertainment joke.  The stakes to are too high.

Theologian Cheryl Sanders (Howard University) speaks of the need for "remoralization" when empowering a people.  It is the opposite of the de-moralization that often occurs due to long term stress, oppression, and tragedy.  There is a loss of morality that needs to be re-established.  The morality is not to set up a police-state that seeks to restrict and repress, but to restore the values and behaviors that define a positive, productive identity. Re-moralization begins when you and I proclaim and demonstrate values  in which we see ourselves and others as made in the image of God.

Its time to make a difference,

Let me know what you think and what you can do,

Pastor M Traylor




 

Responsibility and Rights

67% of all people between the ages of  15 - 24 yrs of age with reported cases  sexually transmitted Chlamydia infections are African American.

25% of all African American males report having sexual intercourse by their 13th birthday.

Dr. Diane Straub, Associate Professor, University of South Florida, reporting on most recent statistics on sexual activity in teens and young adults.

When I was a child, there was immense pride and shame within the African American community in which I was raised.  My mother was an officer in the NAACP and the Urban league.  She taught us to advocate for our rights, our voice, and our seat at the proverbial table.  I can remember also the shame that we would own when someone else, African American would do something less than honorable.  It was a different time, and dare I say, a different culture.

In the 1970's, it seemed to be all about rights.  We took responsibility for our actions (almost to a point of pathology) in order to prove to others, and ourselves, that we deserved the rights we were rallying in for.  Interestingly, the entire neighborhood seemed to be keeping us accountable for our character and it was always tied to sense of demonstrating our worthiness for the rights our parents were demanding.

Today, I was listening to a speaker at American Academy of Pediatrics Adolescent Review course, and she shared the statistics I listed at the beginning of the blog.  I have heard the sad state of affairs in regards to early sexual activities and the high incidence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in the African American community for sometime.  More over, my pediatric practices have witnessed the tragic consequences of said behavior.  Case after case of incredibly promiscuous behavior that is seen as the norm.  There is no sense of shame, no community outrage, no alarm, just a mix of an apathetic acceptance and deliberate denial of our behavior.  

I know that there are systematic things at work such as grinding poverty, economic injustice, and discrimination.  However, Its time that African Americans  fight for responsibilities like we used to fight for right.  Wholeness comes when we are able to redeem our mind, bodies, souls, and relationships.    This does not come from a program or a specific benefit, but a wholesale change in the cultural norms, which is defined by community and codified by culture.

Dr. Straub reported studies that showed that authoratative parenting where parents demonstrate firm boundaries, limits, and expectations significantly reduces early sexual activity.  Simple activities such as tracking our children, have amazing abilities to help encourage sexual wholeness.  These are community interventions.

I have been praying about what my community can do to help change culture.  No more blaming, no more stalling.  Just organizing and communicating a new sense of expectation, a new sense of responsibility, and new sense of wholeness.

Daring to make a difference,

God bless,

Pastor M Traylor