TROUBL

1. Q.

   I couldn’t get through it all, because my ADD kicked in.. Where are my dang pills?? Seriously, though, Lupe has been saying crazy stuff for a minute now.. From the Tribe Called Quest “fiasco” to the OkayPlayer verbal sparring w/ fellow Chicagoan Rhymefest, now this.. I like Lupe, shoot, he’s Chicago, but man if these dudes are making it easier for people to point the finger at these dudes not being role models for a larger generation.. Nor do I think they should be, but i’ll save that for another debate..

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2. Diana

   By attempting to erase the big separation amongst our people today, we are in no way denying or abolishing the past. He says he wishes racism didn’t exist but in the same conversation he said there is nothing we can do about it. That’s where we all mess up and until that frame of mind exists, so will the segregation. As soon as we as a society portray something to be normal then everybody else will ride with it. The problem is that it’s challenging and it’s hard. I believe it needs to start from the individual and extend from there into the community. I have to admit that I struggle with this often too and am aware how difficult it is to end racism and segregation, not only between races but gender, people with special needs and the list goes on. We need to be careful what vocabulary we use and stand up to what we believe, even if there is opposition. People like him who have a voice in the youth society have a strong influence and should use that to power to channel out..

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3. troublsome

   I read this interesting article on racism from the political controversial rap artist Immortal Technique, which I feel is very relevant to this post. “Check it Out”…

   The Purpose of Racism”
   by Immortal Technique
   I begin this new installment today by apologizing in advance for the incomplete nature of the subject matter being presented. I seek only to give brief examples and not go too in depth into slavery or racism but more so to discuss why we who were once the victims of this and other American’s still hold onto the idea of Race. I correlate this stubborn inability to let go with the very way in which slavery and racism became a part of this nation. Explaining the difference between the institution’s past, present and future will hopefully help us to understand how to fight it and overcome it, as it remains alive not just in visible places like Jena Louisiana but all over the world as well. We are only given a glimpse of Racism when looking at Black and Brown issues of inequality in America. Prejudice continues to flourish globally for a variety of reasons. But to further explain how Racism, which is the institutionalized belief and law-backed ideology of racial superiority) came to outlast the very condition of slavery from which most people see it originate from we must go back to the beginning. We must go back before the times of our own Empire and subsequent Corporate Republic.

   Slavery originated long before what we come to read about ever so quickly in the under-funded classrooms across America. It was already an established reality by the time the Hammurabi Code of Mesopotamia (approx.1800BC) was created. The Code’s principles related to the relief of debt, enslavement to facilitate compensation, and for the framework of a postwar societies caste system. But even before The Code and most certainly after the glory of Mesopotamia had subsided, it continued to manifest itself differently but always with the same economic principle. Although present day conflicts are far removed from ancient times, the people themselves as well as their resources are still commonly seen as spoils of war. Phillip II of Macedon, who was Alexander the Great’s father received 20,000 women and countless young boys as tribute for his conquest of the ancient empire of Scythia. Instead of destroying the kingdom itself though he left Ateus, it’s ruler in charge and continued the slave trade to re-build the empire whose resources his son would then use to conquer a large part of the Asiatic world.

   But the word slave actually originates from the Latin word ’slav’ which described the people from the Slavic regions that were conquered and sold into bondage. It was these Eastern Europeans who were sacrificed on the altar of industry that were bought and sold to serve the Empires of Old. Whether it was in the Barbarian Kingdoms of Europe who reigned after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Near Eastern Arab Lords or what was known then as the Imperium Romanus (Byzantine Empire), they toiled and were deprived of their lands, labor, and women for the pleasure of the strongest military forces of that era. And since it was the Latin and Arabic tongues that most of Europe and subsequently all of its colonies in the Americas adopted their language from, that created this synonymous concept of ’slavs’ being known as “slaves.”

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4. "a mom"

   Very well taken. I don’t think racism can just go away as long as we have differences. And the fact is people are different as far a our looks, the way we dress our cultures and many things that make us who we are, and I think that is a good thing. We come from different places and experience different things have different thoughts. Thats what culture is all about. At the sametime so many things are the same about us as people in general. Racism comes in when people put labels on each other and when they don’t understand and appreciate each others differences.
   The gender issue is another issue that can’t be totally solved. I know we want to feel it, but I think for some of us it’s about control just like the King of the Jungle thing. Who’s in charge. Yes we hope for the best but I think it comes down to self evaluation and respect for our differences.

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5. Boosy

   I love lupe. Sadly i don’t believe that racism is necessary as he said. My own thing with Lupe was that he knew about America hating on it’s own and went to Europe to gain acclaim before getting it here…Same thign happen to all the Jazz Greats who America now loves, they all were doing them like dorthy dandridge….shitty COuld that be what’s happening to all the undergroudn hip hoppers out here?

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6. Keene

   Yo, Lupe Dumbin’ It Down with that comment, Shit..

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7. choppaboy

   i agree with lupe about 98%. If we are talking about “racist” being judgemental or unequal to others due to their race, He is right. To expect everyone with different beliefs, different facts about history, from different parts of the world to treat each other fair all the time is just down right make-belive if you ask me. But there is always room for progress.

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Reply to “Say It Loud”

SEE ALSO

               January 15, 2008

               March 5, 2008

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               December 15, 2007

               May 1, 2008