IWF visiting fellow Princella Smith provides further commentary on the Imus scandal and the influence of hip hop music here. Here’s a teaser:
“Long before Don Imus called the Rutgers Women’s basketball team ’nappy-headed hoes’ African-Americans have faced degradation. But it is the degradation that we place upon ourselves that is the most damaging.
“African-American history is rich with slaves who taught themselves how to read, learned to till and navigate the land, achieved status as small business and landowners, and were even elected to office post-Reconstruction. They instilled in their children a sense of pride and hard work. All the while, they were viewed as having no more brains than an ox. No greater use than manual labor and reproducing. Still they soldiered on. Their literal blood, sweat, and tears stain the trail upon which African-Americans now tread. But it’s as if many in my generation don’t even know it.”
Read the whole article here.