Obama is right...

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) on Friday questioned the way some rappers talk about women in songs, saying the lyrics are similar to the derogatory language used by embattled radio host Don Imus.

They are "degrading their sisters. That doesn't inspire me," Obama said of some hip-hop artists when a man in a crowd of about 1,000 questioned him. The Illinois senator was responding to a question of what inspired him, and said God and civil rights activists.

Earlier this week, Obama criticized Imus, who was fired Thursday for labeling the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."

"I do think we've seen a coarsening of the culture," Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press after the town hall meeting. As a constitutional lawyer, Obama said he was a free speech advocate.

"But just because you can say something doesn't mean you should say something," he said. "And I think that we have not talked enough about the harmful images and messages that are sent."

He said as a parent it was a constant struggle to reinforce his two daughters' sense of self-esteem.

"I think that all of us have become a little complicit in this kind of relaxed attitude toward some pretty offensive things," Obama said. "And I hope this prompts some self-reflection on the part of all of us."

And it's about time it be said. THE REAL, "Nappy Headed Hos," are people like this:

Snoop Dogg and others like him have been tearing down African American women for years. You look at this ignorant assed video and tell me why Nelly and Snoop and others have gotten a free ride?

You want to know who the Nappy headed hos are?

Look no further:

Some defenders of rap music and hip-hop culture, such as the pioneering mogul Russell Simmons, deny any connection between Imus and hip-hop. They describe rap lyrics as reflections of the violent, drug-plagued, hopeless environments that many rappers come from. Instead of criticizing rappers, defenders say, critics should improve their reality.

"Comparing Don Imus' language with hip-hop artists' poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship," Simmons said in a statement Friday.

The superstar rapper Snoop Dogg also denied any connection to Imus. "(Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports," he told MTV.com. "We're talking about hos that's in the 'hood that ain't doing - that's trying to get a n - for his money."

Simmons and Mr. Dogg are either delusional, liars or idiots. And I don't think they are idiots. They are the real hos... the ones who have sold out their culture and the dignity of black people in general by creating the modern version of a minstrel show for the majority white buying public who patronizes hip hop music. Simmons helped create the genre, Snoop popularized it, and was a pioneer of the clown like antics and images rappers have created of urban youth. They are the hos, because they have indeed prostituted our women and our culture.

Yeah, I for one hope that this leads to the complete de-legitimization of THUG hip hop. I would like to see black people start to disassociate themselves from artist whether they be Hip Hop, or Chris Rock...

We can slam Imus, define Richards, whatever.... Racism is still with us, at least in part because WE create and perpetuate the image... I leave you with this...

We have a long way to go...

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Posted by: Digger at April 16, 2007 09:35 AM

Posted by: David Scott Anderson at April 16, 2007 12:36 PM