Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Memo to The Game: Yes, It's Still About Race


Don't get me wrong: when aging civil rights leaders say things that are out of touch with our current situation, I tend to tune off and keep it moving. But sometimes they're right. And when they're right, statements like these -- in this case by The Game -- are painfully wrong:
Fuck Jesse Jackson, 'cause it ain't about race now
If you were bopping your head in agreement to that line, you must be out of your mind. This election cycle has been a gift and a curse in more ways than one. The gift? Living in Los Angeles, not a day goes by when I don't see at least 10 Barack Obama bumper stickers flashing in the streets. I've never seen so many people uniting for a solid cause. And therein lies the curse as well.

Racial naivety pops up when we insulate ourselves within our own clique, our own little homogeneous groups. Like I discussed in the past about Ludacris' "Politics As Usual" song, it's okay for Luda to share that track with his peers within the hip hop network. But when it crosses the social and racial border into red-state territory, that's when the ground starts shaking. Within the progressive hip hop community, The Game is right: Race isn't such an issue. Hip hop concerts are about as colorful as a rainbow (no that's not a PUSH coalition reference). But we're not talking about the United States of Hip Hop here. America is just as racist as it ever was. Don't believe? Just ask these Democrats (yes, "Democrats") from West Virgina.

To say that "it ain't about race" is just as half-assed as saying "I'm color blind." Nobody's color blind. Just ask those white boys (yeah, I went there) who got arrested two days ago in connection with a plot to assassinate Barack Obama. Those crazy f*cks sure as hell weren't color blind, and you can take it to the bank that their hatred is solely based on race and racism.

Game's the one who started bitching over the fact that no one else would polly and collab on his track "911 is a Joke". But Game made that track nearly two years after Sean Bell's death (Pap' wins the gold for this one as far as I'm concerned). In November of '06, was Game marching with Sean Bell's family? Nope. How 'bout Rev. Jackson (and Sharpton)? Yep. Hmmm... Sure, ol' Jesse's got his eyes on Obama's balls -- PAUSE -- and that's disturbing. But don't open your mouth to put down someone else who's working harder for your cause than you have. That's all I'm sayin'.... Same to you Weezy...