It's All The Fault of Hip Hop

Tank Johnson signed with the Cowboys. What wasn't widely reported is that Calvin Hill, Dallas Cowboys Director of Player Babysitting and Life Skills, blames hip hop for the problems of so many players.

"What's gotten him into trouble has been these guns," Hill said. "There are a lot of guys, unfortunately, who carry weapons because they think they're targets.

"Part of it is the nexus of hip hop, 'gangsta rap,' etc., the bling-bling. You see it in terms of the music, some of the lyrics of the songs, the videos. That's what a lot of these kids have grown up with. You see manifestations of it in the materialism and that 'gangsta' mentality."

Finally, a respected member of the African American community recognizing what we old honkies have known for years.

http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sports/story/241263.html

Oh God. Stop. Just stop.

Look, I don't even like hip-hop, but I'm not about to blame it for all our ills, because that is asinine and overly simplistic. Black folks acted retarded long before hip-hop came onto the scene. Hell, the earliest of what would eventually become hip-hop was nowhere near what it is now. The attitude of entitlement that pervades portions of the black community twisted what was originally rhythmically spoken social commentary into the fools' paradise it is now.

The problem with players like Tank Johnson and the many others that are currently under the microscope isn't hip-hop. It is the foolish sense of entitlement that is often bred into the talented, especially in the black community. There is a heavy and deep idea that exhibiting a talent is all you need to slide by in life. No other responsibilities need apply. Note that this is only for the physically talented. Being intelligent and unashamed is a huge no-no, unless you're using your brain to "get over"; if you're using it to actually learn something, it's traitorous. It is an unfortunate mentality that is designed to allow black folks, and especially black men, to get out without completely getting out. It gives them a lot of money, but without any ideas about what to do with it. That allows them to be completely controlled by fools who don't know how to get for themselves except by manipulation. That's why academics are ridiculed; if you start thinking for yourself, you'll realize just how bogus that crap is.

Black folks who have surrendered to the kinds of situations that gangsta rappers talk about don't like it when others break free, because they know that those of us who do are going to see things for what they are and never come back, at least not mentally. What's worse is that we'll come back and show others the way too, and then those idiots will be all alone. So the idea that people who still act like fools no matter how well they do for themselves are just "keepin' it real" came into existence, to provide company for the miserable.

In no other cultural group in this country has the idea of staying down as the way to go gained so much strength and power. The idea that the best way to get respect is to do damn near nothing, and the victim mentality that goes with that, the belief that we should have what we have earned at any and all times. It is sickening and shameful.

Surely an "old honkie" who can understand the nuances of sports betting the way that you can didn't actually believe that it could all be boiled down to something as simple as "hip-hip"? I daresay I'm disappointed.

You obviously don't know me very well. There isn't an emoticon for tongue in cheek here. I guess I'm disappointed you took my comment seriously and felt the need to write paragraphs about it.

A little background: I used to be on another site with some of the people here. Someone there accused me of disliking kids because I dislike hiphop. (I have five kids over the age of 18, by the way. A few of them listen to it. I think I understand kids pretty well.) I was playing to them.

You can get off your high horse now.

Why do you two hate black people so much?

touche.

Maybe you should create an emoticon then. Or mention the background of the joke before you start playing to certain people, because not everyone here was at the last concert.

There's no inflection in the written word unless you put it there. You obviously don't know me very well. I take what is written at face value. And the face value of the original post was not tongue in cheek by any means, given that I lacked part of the story. You play it like news, I respond to it like news.

My saddle is quite comfortable, thank you.

meathorse wrote:

Why do you two hate black people so much?

Because they're all black and stuff. Come on dude! We've had this talk!

whodeygal wrote:

I take what is written at face value.

I see that. Thanks. I recognize sarcasm, context and humor are hard to convey online. I guess I've been spoiled by communicating on boards with mostly people who can usually read between the lines. I'll be careful not to assume that here.

I don't think hip-hop is responsible, but I do think it is indicative of something seriously wrong, just like rock music is indicative of something seriously wrong with the culture. The decline in musical culture in Western society is an outward symbol of the decline in Western aesthetic standards, and a sign of the decline in overall civility in general. But I don't blame the music, I blame the people.

For the record- I'm 21 years old and a college student.

None of the drivebys or robberies I pulled off were ever influenced by Hip Hop.

Quote :

None of the drivebys or robberies I pulled off were ever influenced by Hip Hop.

Yes!
I just KNEW that rock and roll was still king!
Hail Satan!

Coast2Coast wrote:

I see that. Thanks. I recognize sarcasm, context and humor are hard to convey online. I guess I've been spoiled by communicating on boards with mostly people who can usually read between the lines. I'll be careful not to assume that here.

Nice, subtle dig you got there.

I am more than capable of reading between the lines...with people that I am accustomed to talking to here. I know how they are, and it's generally easy to tell when they're being sarcastic. I have known you for about 20 minutes, and I've talked to you for an even smaller amount of time. Until I know what your deal is, I take what you write at face value. I think that's fair. I'm sorry if you feel otherwise.

My apologies for being too simple to understand your humor.

I didn't think that dig was very subtle at all :)

If you're not accustomed to someone's personality or sense of humor, and they say something off the wall retarded, isn't it safer to assume it's a joke?

"...Finally, a respected member of the African American community recognizing what we old honkies have known for years."
Come on now! There's a difference between taking something for face value, and reacting before thinking about what's being said.

STU Theater now presents:
A knock-knock joke, as told by Coast to Whodeygal.

Coast: Knock knock!
Whodey: Don't come in! I'm in the shower!

Thank you.