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| The Racist Words Used In Hip-Hop by DaRohn Sercey |
| �Cracker do your thing�, those are the words used during the first verse of the song �Tarantula� by Mystikal. With white America buying a large amount of hip-hop�s Cd�s, tapes, etc, sold. Are the buyers concerned with the lyrical content? With the knowledge that non-blacks are consuming an art form created predominantly by blacks, is there money driven censorship in affect? Videos sell albums, MTV has a large audience, and they�ve helped N�Sync and Jay-Z make it big. So with that type of major exposure available for a hip-hop artist with the right song and video, is it safe to say that this white audience weighs heavy on the minds of an artist, their label, or both? The record label? Definitely. The artist? I�d say most. Trick Daddy is successful, but does not have the sales that Jay-Z enjoys. So what did it for Jay? His lyrical skills? Yes. Great beats to ride to? Yeah. MTV�s audience? Of course. So is that the reason why I couldn�t find the word �cracker� on any recent Jay-Z album? The only album I�ve heard that has the fore mentioned �C� word, is Jay-Z�s first �Reasonable Doubt�. And even there the word is not said by Jay, but by Memphis Bleek. Sure �cracker� is not said by Jay, but it is on his album. Memphis Bleek is on Jay-Z�s record label, Roc-a-Fella Records, as is Camron. Camron�s recent hits are �Oh Boy� and �Hey Ma�. But his album also features a song called �Live My Life (Leave Me Alone)�,on which he says, � Fuck it up and she knows that I might slap her/ I�ll be damned if I work for some white cracker.� Now I listen to music with the same knowledge of most, meaning I don�t take every word literally. I�m not a supporter of hitting women, and when I |
| hear Camron, I�m not convinced he is either. Just like I don�t believe Ja Rule is gonna really do any violent thing he may say on one of his albums. So is this the way a Caucasian feels when they hear a line like that? Of course, I can�t speak for everyone; I�m not even white. Still I�m inclined to think that this is the understanding. �Hey,Camron didn�t mean that, and I�m white, but I�m not a cracker�, is what I would expect to hear from a Caucasian Camron fan. Maybe the word �cracker� has little affect on white-America? As a black man I don�t use the word, but I�ve heard it a lot lately, and not just in music. And when it�s said, it is usually in a casual tone. Which would give you the idea that it�s not being used hatefully, but just as an expression. Which may be true for some of its users, but definitely not the majority. I don�t say �cracker� because I�m not a racist. If I were, I�d probably use it everyday, as an expression of my hate, which is what it�s intended for. The reason I�m writing this article is just to address �tolerance�. That�s why I mentioned Jay-Z, even though the word wasn�t said be him, it was by an artist on his label, which implies �tolerance� for the use of racist words. Also white consumers of hip-hop seem to have the same �tolerance�. Which brings me back to my hypothetical quote,� I�m white, but I�m not a cracker.� Which any Caucasian can say. Just like I say, �I�m black, but not a nigger.� The difference is that I won�t �tolerate� the word nigger being said by a non-black. The way I would assume Caucasian�s don�t want the word cracker to be spoken by non-whites. And �cracker is not even a word that seems to |
| be used by Caucasians, the way a large number of blacks use �nigga� amongst themselves. And only Caucasians can rebuttal my next statement. That maybe the reason listeners tolerate the word �cracker�, is because there has never been a history of pain of discrimination associated with it. I know there is pain behind the word �nigger�, but I don�t have a big problem with another black person using it. My analogy for that is, say you have insecurities about your looks, and you have an identical twin. How bad would you really feel if your twin called you ugly? The use of the word �nigga� between blacks is an inside thing, that no one else has to understand. Just know you can�t say it, if you�re not black, without causing a problem. Unless you are a hip-hop artist, maybe. Hip-hop as a large white audience, but sales aside, it�s larger with blacks. Eminem can�t get away with saying �nigga�. He even addresses that fact in song by rhyming, �I drink malt liquor to fuck you up quicker/ But you wanna fuck me up for saying the word ___.� With the word �nigga� being a perfect rhyme fit, and his statement just implying someone may have a problem with his use the word. He chooses not to. But even in that context, his not calling anyone a nigga. Get my point? So why do black hip-hop consumers seem to tolerate Latin�s using the word? Fat Joe uses the word several times in the song �We Thuggin��. At one point he says, �Niggas had they run now it�s time for change�, and later, �Looking for my nigga that�s gone, Big Pun / and we party like we just came home.� Is it accepted because he refers to another Latin male as �nigga�? Or |
| because a black male (R. Kelly) is also on the track? Are we in general tolerate of Latin�s using that word, or do they get a special license granted when there�s a black performer on the song as well? My belief is no, the word �nigga� shouldn�t be used by Latinos. Blacks and Latinos get along like peanut butter & jelly, but they are still not our twins. The word �nigger� can�t affect them, like the word �spic� doesn�t affect me. I�ve never even heard �spic� used anywhere, but on television, and rarely there. And even if �spic� were used casually among Latinos, as a Black man, how would I sound saying it? Even without any hateful intent. Jennifer Lopez may have had sex with Sean Combs a thousand times, but it still doesn�t give her the right to use the word �nigga�. But, I�ve told a half-truth, I�ve shown �tolerance� too. I like the Fat Joe song, and I watch J. Lo�s videos, in spite of what I mentioned above. But in closing, just how deep is my �tolerance�. When I was in middle school threw away my Guns N� Roses cassette �G� N� R� Lies�, because Axl Rose used the word nigger, and I hated it. I was thinking, �I thought Slash was supposed to be half Black?� (I�m still not sure about his background) But why years later did I purchase a replacement copy of �Appetite For Destruction�? My thoughts were- I don�t have to like the band, to appreciate good sounding music. So I guess I�ve tolerated more than I thought. |
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