Boyz In The Suburban Hood
Thomas Chatterton Williams, in the Sac Bee, deplores how hip-hop culture is becoming modern black culture:
Born in the projects of the South Bronx, tweaked to its gangsta form in the 'hoods of South Central Los Angeles and dumbed down unconscionably in the ghettos of the "Dirty South" (the original Confederate states, minus Missouri and Kentucky), there are no two ways about it -- hip-hop culture is not black culture, it's black street culture. Despite 40 years of progress since the civil rights movement, in the hip-hop era -- from the late 1970s onward -- black America, uniquely, began receiving its values, aesthetic sensibility and self-image almost entirely from the street up....The historian Paul Fussell notes that for most Americans, it is difficult to "class sink." Try to imagine the Chinese-American son of oncologists -- living in, say, a New York suburb such as Westchester, attending private school -- who feels subconsciously compelled to model his life, even if only superficially, on that of a Chinese mafioso dealing heroin on the Lower East Side. The cultural pressure for a middle-class Chinese-American to walk, talk and act like a lower-class thug from Chinatown is nil. The same can be said of Jews, or of any other ethnic group.
But in black America the folly is so commonplace it fails to attract serious attention. Like neurotics obsessed with amputating their own healthy limbs, middle-class blacks concerned with "keeping it real" are engaging in gratuitously self-destructive and violently masochistic behavior.
Sociologists have a term for this pathological facet of black life.
It's called "cool-pose culture." Whatever the nomenclature, "cool pose" or keeping it real or something else entirely, this peculiar aspect of the contemporary black experience -- the inverted-pyramid hierarchy of values stemming from the glorification of lower-class reality in the hip-hop era -- has quietly taken the place of white racism as the most formidable obstacle to success and equality in the black middle classes.
...A 2005 study by Roland G. Fryer of Harvard University crystallizes the point: While there is scarce dissimilarity in popularity levels among low-achieving students, black or white, Fryer finds that "when a student achieves a 2.5 GPA, clear differences start to emerge." At 3.5 and above, black students "tend to have fewer and fewer friends," even as their high-achieving white peers "are at the top of the popularity pyramid." With such pressure to be real, to not "act white," is it any wonder that the African-American high school graduation rate has stagnated at 70 percent for the past three decades? Until black culture as a whole is effectively disentangled from the python-grip of hip-hop, and by extension the street, we are not going to see any real progress.
I'm all for literary license, and there are groups like Outkast that talk about issues (not that that's a prerogative for any group, white or black), but this thug culture seems to go too far. I mean, you don't see Jewish men doing songs calling their women bitches and hos. Then again, you don't see a lot of Jewish men becoming rock or pop stars at all.
Well, except maybe for David Lee Roth, singing about being "Just a Gigolo"! :)
Flynne at June 13, 2007 9:32 AM
I had hoped to forget.
Amy Alkon at June 13, 2007 9:46 AM
Shatner kinda rapped his way through Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Take your pick: http://urltea.com/rg0
> you don't see a lot of Jewish
> men becoming rock or pop stars
> at all.
That's true, even though Flynne's right as well. There've been Jewish players (Bloomfield), but you don't see Jewish guys as iconic figures of threatening sexual allure across a whole career. When Jewish guys in rock are at the center of attention they're probably being comical, like Roth or Simmons, the Kiss guy who made all that money. (And Shatner's been cracking jokes about his Star Trek fistfighter persona on talk shows for almost forty years.)
So Amy's point is telling, I just don't know what it tells... Maybe that Jews live in a more real and practical world than the rest of us. It has something to do with the quote from Reynolds: There's nothing more flattering you can say about a congressman than that he comes across like a rock star, and there's nothing more deadly you can say about a rock star than that he comes off like a congressman.
Crid at June 13, 2007 10:03 AM
This "keepin' it real" stuff sounds a lot like mindless conformity to me. Posers.
Pirate Jo at June 13, 2007 10:20 AM
A big part of the problem is how success is seen as "a white thing" - the mob putting down the kids who work hard in school. I saw a piece, on 60 Minutes, I think, about this.
Also, there's a prejudice toward those who "talk white" -- meaning, talk in a way that makes them sound like they should be working at IBM instead of Taco Bell.
Nobody keeps the black man down quite like the black man! Sad.
Amy Alkon at June 13, 2007 10:43 AM
I think a reason that it's so difficult for black teenage youth to be high achieving is because the school system is set up to produce office drones that must be dependant on their parents dole until several years after college graduation. This is not practical. Alot of people can say "Well Asians do it" but if memory serves me well, the high achieving Asians that come here are coming from educated families who by circumstance had flee their respective land. Asians like the Hmong, who are not traditionally well educated do not do as well. So instead they should be teaching them a skilled profession while in highschool so they can make a good salary.
PurplePen at June 13, 2007 10:56 AM
I had a friend in high school, twenty long years ago, who went through this. She was smart, worked her butt off, and made friends with people she liked, regardless of their color. It wasn't until years later that she told me how hard high school had been for her. There were white students who wouldn't talk to her because she was black, and many of the black students called her a sell-out for having white friends and good grades.
Luckily she didn't listen to the put-downs and is now a Harvard-educated physician. I hate to think how many promising kids give in to the pressure to "keep it real". Like that means anything.
Kimberly at June 13, 2007 11:00 AM
BTW one of my fav. Oprah quotes:
"Say what you will about the American educational system — it does work. ... If you are a child in the United States, you can get an education. ... I became so frustrated with visiting inner-city schools that I just stopped going. The sense that you need to learn just isn't there. ... If you ask the kids what they want or need, they will say an iPod,some sneakers,or for some money. In South Africa, they don't ask for money or toys. They ask for uniforms so they can go to school"
PurplePen at June 13, 2007 11:05 AM
Here's a story from my French class last night. A woman from class had just come back from France. She was at Musée D'Orsay, the big impressionist collection in the revamped train station, when she saw a bunch of eight-year-olds seated quietly around a painting while a clown explained the painting to them...and they laughed and clapped as he asked them questions about it. It was...a birthday party! Go ahead, bash the French for their economic policies, it's a far cry from Chuck E. Cheeze, huh?
Amy Alkon at June 13, 2007 11:15 AM
"A big part of the problem is how success is seen as "a white thing""
In other words, failure might be seen as "a black thing" ... by ... blacks! Which is just about the most racist thing I've ever heard.
Pirate Jo at June 13, 2007 11:29 AM
Here is a website all about Jewish rock stars:
http://www.jewsrock.org/
But I get the point. For Jews, other whites, or asians, the misogyny of rock and hip-hop are not identified as essential cultural markers, but instead as individual or subcultural behavior.
beansworth at June 13, 2007 11:30 AM
There've been Jewish players (Bloomfield), but you don't see Jewish guys as iconic figures of threatening sexual allure across a whole career.
Not even Dustin Hoffman? :(
Flynne at June 13, 2007 11:43 AM
Reaching way back to my college reading, I'm greatly reminded of Richard Rodriguez's experience that it was easier to be an extreme classroom minority than one with a so-called minority support group. One kid who looks different is a mild curiosity for a brief period of time. A group creates more social pressures that interefere with the pursuit of merit.
snakeman99 at June 13, 2007 11:56 AM
> Here is a website all about
I looked at that when writing the comment above, but gave up on it when noting that the youngest name on there was Beck, who A) is thought of as an ironic figure more than a sexual one and B) is thought of as a Scientologist more than as a Jew.
Crid at June 13, 2007 12:04 PM
Anybody here black?
Norman at June 13, 2007 12:22 PM
How about Warren Zevon?
Flynne at June 13, 2007 1:32 PM
I have faint freckles.
Amy Alkon at June 13, 2007 2:06 PM
Long, but worth it:
"(St. Petersburg)Times columnist and editorial board member Bill Maxwell kept a promise to himself, to become a professor at a small historically black college, to nurture needy students the way that mentors had encouraged him as a young man. It was tougher than he had anticipated."
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/13/news_pf/Opinion/I_had_a_dream.shtml
Doobie at June 13, 2007 4:07 PM
There've been Jewish players (Bloomfield), but you don't see Jewish guys as iconic figures of threatening sexual allure across a whole career.
Let's see:
Paul Newman
Lauren Bacall
David Duchovney
Rita Hayworth
Iggy Pop
Joan Collins
Goldie Hawn
Leslie Howard...
ExitPass at June 13, 2007 4:36 PM
Tragic, Doobie. Thanks for posting that.
Amy Alkon at June 13, 2007 4:52 PM
One of the saddest things about "role modeling", aside from a lack of parents being those models, is that nobody notices that Michael Jordan is smart. At the highest levels of sport, there are no stupid people, because tactics are so important. Yet entire generations are told they should never learn - while they yearn for a place in the rarest of atmospheres, that of the professional athlete.
Radwaste at June 13, 2007 6:59 PM
What about all that great white "cock rock" from the 70s?
"Shake for me, girl. I wanna be your back door man." (Led Zeppelin)
Is this allusion to sodomy okay, because it came from a bunch of Anglo guys with flowers in their hair? Mind you, I'm a huge fan of both Led Zeppelin and sodomy (if done properly). In fact, Radwaste, many of us forget that Michael Jordan is smart, because the very sight of him floods our minds with thoughts of sodomy. Rip me!
Lena at June 13, 2007 7:08 PM
Just wanted to point out the Beastie Boys, three very popular Jewish rappers. That's all I have to add for now, very late here on the east coast.
Elle at June 13, 2007 10:35 PM
> Let's see...
No rock stars. I didn't know about Joan and Rita, though.
> Beastie Boys, three very popular
> Jewish rappers.
I'm busted! Who knew? In defense, would you recognize any or all of them on the street? Prince you'd know, but the BBs?
Crid at June 13, 2007 11:44 PM
who knew? you're just not paying attention, that's why you didn't know -- and why you wouldn't recognize them.
not that there's anything wrong with that, but i mean...anyone who's interested would recognize the beasties.
by the way, he's not a performer, but rick rubin (former beasties producer, johnny cash producer, chili peppers producer, among others) has a menacing beard. does that count for something?
dan reines at June 14, 2007 1:05 AM
Oh, come ON! U LUZERS!!!
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941)
In 2004, Bob Dylan was ranked #2 in Rolling Stone Magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, second to The Beatles. He has also been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature and was awarded the 2007 Prince of Asturias Award in Arts.
But greatest of them all -- KINKY FRIEDMAN ***
They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore
Well, a redneck nerd in a bowling shirt was a-guzzlin' Lone Star beer
Talking religion and-uh politics for all the world to hear.
"They oughta send you back to Russia, boy, or New York City One
You just want to doodle a Christian girl and you killed God's only son."
I said, "Has it occurred to you, you nerd, that that's not very nice,
We Jews believe it was Santa Claus that killed Jesus Christ."
"You know, you don't look Jewish," he said, "near as I could figger
I had you lumped for a slightly anemic, well-dressed country nigger."
No, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore,
They don't turn the other cheek the way they done before.
He started in to shoutin' and a-spittin' on the floor,
"Lord, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore!"
He says, "I ain't a racist but Aristitle Onassis is one Greek we don't need
And them niggers, Jews and Sigma Nus, all they ever do is breed.
And wops 'n micks 'n slopes 'n spics 'n spooks are on my list
And there's one little hebe from the heart of Texas - is there anyone I missed?"
Well, I hits him with everything I had right square between the eyes.
I says, "I'm gonna gitcha, you son of a bitch ya, for spoutin' that pack of lies.
If there's one thing I can't abide, it's an ethnocentric racist;
Now you take back that thing you said 'bout Aristitle Onassis!"
No, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore,
We don't turn the other cheek the way we done before.
You could hear that honky holler as he hit that hardwood floor
"Lord, they sho' ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore!"
All right!
No, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore,
We don't turn the other cheek the way they done before.
You hear that honky holler as he hit that hardwood floor
Lord, they sho' ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore.
Everybody!
They ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore,
They ain't makin' carpenters who know what nails are for.
Well, the whole damn place was singin' as I strolled right out the door
"Lord, they ain't makin' Jews like Jesus anymore!"
Ahem.
And if you want a cogent analysis and plea for sanity from the black population, dig up some of Bill Cosby's talks and output the last few years. He's desperate to try and save the generation and the culture. But his straight talk is taken as pure Uncle Tomism, of course.
Brian H at June 14, 2007 1:29 AM
Exitpass you see Joan Collins and Goldie Hawn as sexy jewish men???
Can I have some of whaever it is your taking that causes that effect??
lujlp at June 14, 2007 2:11 AM
> anyone who's interested would
> recognize the beasties.
Anyone who's interested would recognize Kenny Chesney as well... But that's not you or me. It's a specialty audience, that's the point.
I'd feel busted about Dylan too, except:
1) He's been grotesquely, inexplicably overrated all these decades. The whole concept of the "original folk song" has obvious faults to anyone smart enough to read three words. I'll give you $20 if you can whistle -to anyone, familiar with the catalog or not-- a recognizable melody from all that harmonica playing. He wheezes and pretends it's art, and people are so eager to appear hip that they can't call his bluff. And so generations of similarly witless, tuneless, muffin-minded six-stringers have cast their stupidities across the ether in turn, expecting to be admired for their tender sensitivity to the human condition, howsoever impenetrably presented. It's tragic.
2. He's certainly, certainly, never been admired as a figure of sexual allure. (There was a time when people were eager for Mick Jagger to start a film career. Maybe nothing was lost by his absence, but it gives you some idea what he was about.) Dylan's the opposite of a guilty pleasure; you're expected to feel bad for not liking him. When I hear Bob Dylan records, I want to send flowers, chocolate and champagne to Barry Gibb.
3. He's Christian. Remember his last hit record? "You're gonna have to serve somebody..."
Yes, there's energy. I hate Bob Dylan.
> Nobel Prize in Literature
After they gave one to Arafat I lost interest.
> the 2007 Prince of Asturias
> Award in Arts.
Never heard of it, and you say it as if it mattered. If the work is good, you don't have to wrap it in ribbons to make people admire it.
Crid at June 14, 2007 3:02 AM
Crid-
I agree Dylan is tuneless - your $20 is safe - but I like the sound he makes. Or used to make - I don't know what he does nowadays, apart from looking disgusted when being presented with an honorary degree.
Norman at June 14, 2007 5:42 AM
I agree, Dylan was/is wickedly overrated. I much prefer Warren Zevon, God rest his soul.
Flynne at June 14, 2007 5:56 AM
Actually, Dylan has returned to Judaism.
http://www.radiohazak.com/Dylan.html
deja pseu at June 14, 2007 7:18 AM
See? He's just so damn fickle!
Flynne at June 14, 2007 10:05 AM
Norman, he's a grown man! No one can make you accept an honor you choose to decline. He always looks disgusted, that the reason he's not a sex star. Dynamism is not a factor in his personality.
Crid at June 14, 2007 11:04 AM
Crid, you're right. We should never have kidnapped him and forced him through that ceremony. Look closely and you can see he's actually chained to a radiator. The Vice Principal for Enforcing Behaviour is off-camera with a water-pistol.
Norman at June 14, 2007 11:21 AM
Interesting topic and post - and enjoyed reading the experience of Professor Maxwell.
But really - 14 comments about how sexy Jews are/aren't, and perhaps 10 actually on this interesting topic? That's a little disappointing.
I'm just saying.
Quinte at June 14, 2007 11:34 AM
Quinte- Never cluck... If there was something you came here to read, why couldn't you write it instead? Otherwise, we'll tell you what's interesting, OK?
Crid at June 14, 2007 11:44 AM
He looks like somebody's disapproving great aunt in that photo.
Exitpass you see Joan Collins and Goldie Hawn as sexy jewish men???
Can I have some of whaever it is your taking that causes that effect??
lujlp, that was very funny.
And Crid, I admire the brevity with which you dispense with people!
Amy Alkon at June 14, 2007 12:23 PM
Exitpass you see Joan Collins and Goldie Hawn as sexy jewish men???
Can I have some of whaever it is your taking that causes that effect??
Sorry, should have ital the whole thing, like above.
Amy Alkon at June 14, 2007 1:02 PM
God! I feel so at home wandering in to a chorus of Dylan bashing. And I thought I was the only person who thought he was a ridiculously overrated bowl of bombast!
Keyser Soze at June 14, 2007 10:04 PM
The Beastie Boys are post-Jewish Buddhists. I saw them at a club called Power Tools 20 years ago, when they were pre-Buddhist junkies. They got on the stage 2 hours late, shouted out, "LA! Show us your tits!" a couple of times, and then left. The show was over in less than 10 minutes. Which was totally fine with me, because I needed to go outside to vomit a bit and make room in my stomach for more drinks.
Lena at June 15, 2007 7:54 AM
Leave a comment