I came across this article in the Huffington Post this morning, and I have to say I couldn’t be more offended. For starters, I didn’t know who Geraldo Rivera was, but after doing a little research I found out that he has dipped into many different careers including an attorney, reporter, journalist, and television personality. Based on his numerous professions he is obviously a well educated man, which came as a shock to me after hearing what he had to say about Hip Hop. I also saw that Rivera frequently appears on Fox News, which I already have mixed views about because of their clear biased opinions.
In his rant according to the Huffington Post, River challenged anyone to find “a youngster — a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that make it in the music business — that’s been a success in life walking around with his pants around his ass and with visible tattoos…”. I have to say I was appalled, not only by this ridiculous statement, but also by the fact that no one thought to challenge his outrageous beliefs. I also didn’t think it was appropriate for Rivera to slander particular races and cultures in the media without any consequences – this is what is stopping racial tensions in the United States from moving forward.
Especially after taking this course, I strongly believe that before we can move forward in an attempt to stop racial tension, we must learn to understand and respect that we are all different, physically and mentally. Geraldo Rivera needs a couple semesters of RCL before returning to his job on Fox, because his comments are unacceptable.
What most people fail to realize about hip-hop is that it isn’t just a hobby, or a way to rebel against society. Especially for people like me, music is an art and therapy for people to relate to. “Black and brown people” as Rivera calls us, turn to hip hop because we cannot turn to people like him with our problems, with fear of being judged because we don’t fit into the mold of success that society has formed. So, his logic is that because myself or my brother’s feel the need to immerse ourselves in hip hop we can’t be successful? Associating hip hop to ones success or lack thereof makes no sense, because hip hop is part of a culture. I don’t see people of Fox and CNN blaming religion or sports for the failure of any specific race, therefore it is unjust to pin failure on a black person for the simple fact that they feel the need to express themselves through music.
Rivera’s point that only a tenth of a tenth of one percent of people are actually successful in their music career is irrelevant to his argument. Most people write and spit bars as therapy, and not just for money. As hard as it may be for him to believe, not everything the black youth chooses to do is to make money. It also doesn’t make sense for him to equate hip hop to just “black and brown” people because there are many successful white hip hop artists (Eminem, Iggy Azalea) that began there career the same way that black artists did – with a dollar and a dream. I also have friends that are not black or hispanic, but still listen to rap music, wear their pants low, and are covered in tattoos from head to toe. But of course, Rivera chooses to only associate these characteristics with the black youth, and that is what bothers me.
Sources:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/17/geraldo-rivera-hip-hop-racism_n_6701628.html
Wow, I cant believe I actually just read that. That has to be one of the worse things I have ever read. What makes it worse is that is that is what a lot of people actually think about black people. That the only thing we can bring to the table is good music and entertainment. I feel that reason to this is to make us feel as helpless as they can to keep us down and as the minority that way we won’t be able to take their places. But there are so many unrecognized young black people that are successful for things that don’t involve music nor entertainment.
I find that post a little offensive. I think that it is hard to judge a whole race of people on music. If you track back music : country, rap, hip hop, rock, and ect besides classical. You can trace it back to the blues which can largely be given credit to the African American community. Many people look down at people that don’t speak “proper english”. But what in fact is proper English, British people could say that American English is ghetto or slang. It is wrong to look at a type of music and stereotype that to be lesser in and group it with blackness. Like, Oh she’s black she must like rap music. Yes, the words can be vulgar but in many songs even in one direction there is hints of promiscuity. If you don’t like it don’t listen to it but making rap a black or brown thing and referring to it as low, is indeed low.
I think the most important thing to take away is that hip hop music is a release for people. The subject matter of the music does not indicate the listener’s personality and you certainly cannot pin an entire genre on a single race. It is just like your point with sports. There are good people who enjoy watching baseball and bad people too. Just because a bunch of people have a shared interest does not mean they are good or bad people. It is pretty ironic for someone to be making a racist comment saying racism has not done anything in the last 10 years. People like him usually don’t get attention unless they make really outlandish statements, and when they do it is nice to see people giving him the outrage he deserves.