Perpetuating the negative v.accentuating the positive
 

Indeed.

On performance v reality they make the choice to perpetuate an image. Now they can be like Will Smith and go one way... or they can go another way and glorify crime, murder, and violence to their impressionable fans.

If Compton is a good neighborhood, I'd like to know what's a bad neighborhood. Oh hey let's just say there are none.

-Rudey

someone correct me, but i don't think i'll be stretching it too far by saying none of the NPHC organizations would condone, let alone place their letters on an event like that. it's a safe bet that MY fraternity will NEVER do such a thing.

Damn.. I didn't know I was the "spokesperson" but since you feel the need to make smart ass comments like that, let me further define what I was saying. You don't have to agree with it. There's no proof either way. It's my personal view on things vs. yours. If you can factually prove it either way, feel free to make comments like that. Otherwise, in polite conversation, it's a good habit to keep a civil tongue, otherwise, your message never gets accross -- just your tone.

I think you'd agree, however, that the media forms many people's perceptions of reality. Your average American is not college educated (only about 20% of us are) and generally doesn't read the newspaper or even watch the news on TV. They do, however, view entertainment networks like TV Land, MTV, BET, etc...

While many wouldn't ever admit that these things form their opinions and habits, they absolutely do. We eat what we see on TV, we dress up like the people we see on TV, we even adopt the language spoken by people brought to us through media sources (fo shizzle). And yes, having Snoop Dog et al portraying Compton in their messages the way they do does form perceptions in the mind of mainstream America. Outside your "enlightened" sphere, how many people do you know that think Compton would be a great place to raise a family?

Ah Well, K, it has come to this?:(

You become a "LITTLE" Out Spoken and You become an Ass!:eek:

It is amazing how soon someone new comes on GC and decides that His/Hers Ideals are the Proper ones!

Well, You are an Ass!:) But, I think You have a nice Ass! You hold it so well!:cool:

Ah Well, I guess That Goes With Stardom on GC!:D

Hey Dude, You are In Anytime for me!:) OH, Scum Of The Oklahoma Earth!:)

Snoop Dogg isn't even from Compton. He's from LONG BEACH. (Just throwing in some hip-hop trivia for everyone :) )

FYI...if you didn't read the very first post I made about this issue in which I mentioned that I work directly with Compton Unified School District...I know a couple HUNDRED families who are PROUD to raise their kids in Compton. I work with several EDUCATED, SKILLED, HIGHLY-PAID professionals who have chosen to purchase not one, but multiple homes in Compton. That's how far this community has come in recent years.

And you are correct: my "sphere" is absolutely enlightened because I choose to surround myself with people who are open minded and willing to learn about other people in this world without making judgements about them.

Tom Earp, was that directed at me or ktsnake? :D

ETA: I'm kind of surprised that he is a moderator, calling someone an "ass" and all. Well, at least he called me "smart"! :)

just 'mo...just hella 'mo...

I'm gonna raise my family in Compton. We're gonna go for midnight picnics in Watts and propably send our children to boarding school in Tijuana.

-Rudey

Yeah, they just make their pledges walk around campus like ducks and tell me I didn't earn my letters. Way classier, guys. :p

HE SAYS HE IS STRAIGHT OUT OF COMPTON.

To me, that means he's from Compton.

Unless I'm mixing up my songs, and I could be, Ice Cube claimed to be straight out of compton. Snoop has always claimed Long Beach. Regardless what does ANY of that have to do with people showing up to an ill themed party in blackface? And starang is right, most of the D9 orgs will have themed parties but none that are offensive to anyone else unless someone is suddenly feeling threatened by being labeled "old school." And if you see someone's pledges walking around like ducks you may want to report that to the Greek Life office.

No, that would be the late Eric "Eazy E" Wright who rapped "Straight Outta Compton." :)

ETA: Ice Cube represents Inglewood, although he was part of NWA with Eazy E.

Well, I guess I should have watched more MTV as a young child.

And we "don't know" who they're pledging because their uniforms don't make it totally obvious or anything.

Take this verse from a song by Compton's Most Wanted entitled "This is Compton". I'd wager that this is a pretty typical portrayal of Compton as seen in pop-culture media outlets:

"Fresh off the streets from the underground
Nick-named mc eiht, black brother gets down
Came to dazzle with the hip-hop funk
To let em know (this is compton) now what's up, punk
Westside rulin all world cause i dump
And the city that i'm from take no shit from a chump
Niggas don't care if their enemy's beefin
Pretty soon it's a homie you're grievin
You entered the criminal zone
If you're just a little punk-ass fool, you should run on home
Try to compare? get real
I'm from compton, so you should know the deal
Ballers, skeezers, no age limit matters
Loced-out muthafuckas make the one time scatter
Toe to toe, draw my mic and start dumpin
It's the down mc eiht, and fool, this is compton

(this is compton)"

As for reality.... Here are some crime rate statistics from 2002 that might be of interest (link)

As you can see, in nearly every category Compton FAR exceeds the national average (strangely in every category except larceny/thefts). Some interesting stats off the page if you don't want to check would be murders per 100,000 people. Compton has 53.65 in 2002 (how you have .65 people murdered I have no idea :D) where the national average was only 5.2. Aggravated Assaults are also popular there as there were 1239 reported per 100,000 vs. the national average of 310.1. This is based on the combined data of the FBI and US Census.

I realize those figures are a little dated. However, maybe there is some truth to the media's portrayal after all? There may be professionals and straight-A students living there. Hell, they may even make up the majority of the folks.

I through out the Snoop reference not necessarily because of his portrayal of Compton but to demonstrate how influential pop-icons can be to our culture. A few rap artists that actually do refer to Compton in their lyrics are Compton's Most Wanted, NWA, DJ Qwik, BG Knock Out & Dresta -- just a few names. NONE of their portrayals are posititve. Aditionally, some of them actually do claim to hail from Compton.

I never referred to my own perception. I was referring to a general perception. I made my "enlightened sphere" comment to illustrate that if you walk around some suburban town in L.A. and try to sell real-estate in Compton at a great price, you probably won't find too many takers. The perception out there is that it's not a safe place. The perception is shaped mostly by pop culture & reinforced by news media. Based on my quick research, I'm not sure they're completely missing the boat here.

I'm sure there are fine people out there in Compton, but you'll have to excuse me if I think I'd rather raise my family in Suburban Oklahoma.

(here are the crime stats for my home town if you're interested)