chuck d and race relations

race does have the power to divide, doesn't it?

i get frustrated by the way race is used in this country to create division among people. every single time someone remarks about how race is at the root of this or that problem or how a certain race has a certain trait or certain tendencies, i get frustrated just hearing it.

i think it was the communist manifesto where i learned an important lesson that has stayed with me all these years. economy is the one force that plays upon everyone's life most significantly. based on economy, much can be accurately predicted or intuited about a life. i get that sometimes people defy conventions as such, but economy is. . .

in chuck d's book, Fight the Power : Rap, Race, and Reality, chuck spends a lot of time explaining how things have stacked up against american blacks in the past and continue to do so in the present. ultimately, he's right most of the time. when he talks about the slave trade, he's right, and it is maddening that our forebears thought it was okay to do what they did. (i say this as three-fourths of a white man even if my irish ancestors were practically enslaved by the british.) chuck's book made me think about how it was possible to enslave people. now, i know the chinese invented gun powder and it seems to me an american invented the rifle but it must have been some european or another who invented some type of handgun that allowed the white euros to hop across the mediterranean and set up bases for the slave trade. or perhaps they were simply better organized and so, were prepared to counter any resistence the tribes of africa might have offered. in any case, what we all should agree on is that the act of enslaving humans for any purpose whatsoever was, (and is,) reprehensible.

chuck d assesses inequities in the music business, talking specifically about his grand visions for the genre rap, how the players within that genre are not as organized as they should be, and how the powers that be, everyone from music execs to corporate radio programmers, keep rap down.

chuck d comes through in his book as an honest and respectable man, a heroic figure in fact, fighting injustice and openly and honestly judging himself and his actions. i believe he means every word he coauthored in his book and i do not believe any portion of it is intended to be mere propaganda.

still, i disagree with him and others when it is suggested race is at the core of the various inequities. it is not race-it is economy. (same as it ever was.) i doubt the white, euro slave trader was appalled at the color of the african's skin to such a degree he plotted slavery. i don't think the southern plantation owner had a hideous reaction to the color of his slave's skin. rather, he recognized the manpower increased his own wealth, which was a greater incentive than a racial hate or intolerance ever could be. (what do you find more compelling: financial gain or revenge?) when chuck d talks about how much more money could have been made in the game of rap music, be it through merchandising or touring, the question is who would have been making the money. the white executives who would have put up the money for said ventures or the black recording artists or licensed rights owners? if the venture was risky for the white promoter because buildings were getting razed, it was economy which compelled the promoter not to get involved with the tour/venture. did that cost black artists money? yes. it did. my point is i think the promoter who did not become involved because he is prejudiced against black people is likely the exception to the rule.

i swear i have heard virtually every race called lazy at some time or another. recently i watched a latin kings of comedy show and noticed several jokes were dependant on the audience recognizing a stereotype of latin people being seen as lazy. i suppose they are the people of the afternoon siesta but still. . . my ancestors, (the 3/4,) have always been considered a lot of drunks. but then i've also heard similar stereotypes used on native americans. my ex-girlfriend used to swear up and down that no men were as domineering as armenian men. ha! i never could understand how she said it with a straight face. ask a japanese woman about that subject. or an indian woman. talk to the italian women about their men and see if you don't hear the same things. come to think of it, gender differences seem way more authentic to me than skin color ones. social and cultural differences will always exist, (but then there's always carlton, too.) my 1/4 side is known to eat the meat of dogs. (i've always wanted to write this next sentence. . .) wops, chinks, niggers, nips, cans, spics, mc's, russkies, polaks, trailer trash, japs, nazis, gooks, crackers, and rednecks are just a fraction of the many racial slurs that exist. in fact, most people and most languages have a slur of sorts for any person who is not of them or their place. if you are white in hawaii, someone might call you a haoli. if you are not armenian but your girl friend is, listen closely amongst her people for the word "odar." it means outsider.

the point is, the guy from the other side of town who we don't know but about whom we can perceive outward differences, will always be feared to some degree. he will always be regarded as an outsider so long as he stays an outsider. but he is usually not oppressed unless financial gain can be gleaned from him in some way.

tell me what race i am talking about when i describe these people. they are in our prisons in a disproportionately greater amount than how they are represented in society. they tend to be less educated. they tend to have great amounts of drama in their lives. they die sooner than the national average in part, because they have lower quality health care, (if they have health care at all.) they use drugs to a greater degree than any other segment of society. they are often characterized as lazy. they collect more unemployment compensation and welfare benefits than any other group. they are the most likely people in our society to spend time homeless. they are seen as dirty. they lack manners and class. they use poor grammar. by comparison, they smell bad.

this is poor folk. (again, there are always those who defy the rules or odds or convention but by and large,) economy is the force that dictates these things about people.

another thing chuck talks about in his book is how black americans are too often divided against one another. he suggests they should be united in their struggle against oppression and makes many similar points to the one made in john singleton's film; boyz in the hood, when lawrence fishburn's character explains how jewish people, a race which has suffered persecution, unite by patronizing one another's businesses and thusly, bring up the whole, (if you will.) i do not condone that behavior, from jewish/israeli people or anyone else. i would we lived in a meritocracy. it is my intention to run my life that way. i choose my friends based on a sort of merit system. but then, this idea is similar to that of affirmative action, which i agree with. as capitalism is a competitive system, when you hold a competitor, (an entire race or class of people,) at the starting line for some 15-200 years while everyone else is running to get ahead, it is hardly a fair race. for those who complain they did not commit the atrocities represented by slavery i say, the sins of the father are visited on the son. step up and take your medicine like a dignified man. it may be an imperfect solution but it has dignity. and in this way, i understand why chuck d feels as he does about the black cause. i get why he feels it is necessary for black people to band together and think as one. he wants the conditions of black people to have greater equity in society. he doesn't want a disproportionate number of black men to be incarcerated. he does want a proportionate number of black men, (and women,) represented in the board rooms of america. and so, he pursues, (in his book,) an agenda that doesn't sit entirely well with me but one i understand none the less.

in our country and system, (capitalism,) people can usually be seen either trying to get money or hold on to money. (the best movie i have seen for the insight it imparts is born rich. it is made by an heir to the johnson and johnson family fortune. watch that documentary and see if you don't get a bad taste in your mouth for those who seek to hold on to money.)

race is a diversionary tactic. chuck d spends time in his book talking about how plantation owners recognized the importance of creating division amongst slaves. it helped the owner to maintain control. in our modern day, race relations work in exactly the same way. we get caught up in thinking race is the difference that causes differences. in fact, it is economy. when riots erupted in los angeles, (either time,) and stores were looted, that was not a black-white thing. that was a have-have not thing.

i'm glad chuck d got me to thinking about these things.