How hip-hop harms African Americans

Why does hip-hop harm African Americans? Hip-hop harms African Americans in different ways. Sometimes hip-hop portrays negative images or stereotypes among African Americans. This is especially true for our younger generation. Many young people are very impressionable. They seem to feel as though they need to fit in. When I was growing up I used to watch television shows that inspired and taught values. It feels good when I think back to “Welcome Back Carter”, “What’s happening”, or “Good Times”. We seem to be losing our youth to “YO-MTV Raps” and “106 and Park”. These shows are not necessarily the problem, but this is just part of the impressionable culture that we are dealing with today. A lot of the music videos do not portray the normal lifestyle of the average African Americans living today. Children watch these videos and see fat gold chains, large diamonds, fancy cars with “22” inch rims, and they are very fascinated by this. What these videos don’t teach is that many of the material things shown are owned by the record label. These videos also don’t teach a person how to go to school and get educated or learn a trade, so that they can afford to buy the fat gold chains and the diamond rings. If it’s not a song about someone getting shot on the block or selling drugs, it’s a song about booty shaking, having sex or making babies. There was a time when I was one of hip-hop’s biggest fans, but I have since found my salvation and I am serving the lord. If it isn’t holy hip-hop then in many cases it is flip-flop. There are some artists doing positive music and I applaud that; however, the negative music that’s being performed puts a negative tarnish on the entire hip-hop culture. Many of our youth are trying to portray an image they cannot live up to. Instead of going to the school guidance counselors or family members for support, they are turning to their peers or street gangs. Many of our teenagers will be dead or in prison before becoming adults and it is something that needs to be addressed. We need to take charge and have more control over our children. We need our young African Americans to be productive members of society. Stop letting your kids watch MTV and BET music videos all day. Show your kids educational videos. Teach your kids how to manage money and balance a checkbook. We need to raise our kids and stop letting them get raised up on the streets. We must show our young men how to be fathers and not how to produce a baby to an illegitimate child. We must show our young women how to be strong African American queens and not sex objects or a sperm deposit box. We need African American leaders and not homeless beggars or prison inmates. The hip-hop culture is suffering and there needs to be more positive images portrayed in the hip-hop community.

http://www.mysistahs.org/features/hiphop.htm

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