Thug culture ... most serious of ... threats to black America
 

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/o...es/011506.html

Cynthia Tucker's great column:

Is this why the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. made the ultimate sacrifice? Is this why Rosa Parks refused to yield her seat? Did countless civil rights veterans put everything on the line so that, someday, a handful of black men and women could make a fortune encouraging young blacks to lawlessness?

The popularity of thug culture is among the most serious of modern-day threats to black America, far more dangerous than any lingering institutional racism. Its mores mimic prison culture: the ubiquitous droopy-pants look drew its inspiration from jail procedures, where men are stripped of their belts upon arrest. It romanticizes casual violence, helping to ensure that black fratricide will go on unabated.

According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report, black men are the likely perpetrators in more than 40 percent of the homicides in which a suspect has been identified. That's staggering — given that black men account for only about 6 percent of the population. But black men are their own worst enemies: They also account for about 40 percent of the nation's homicide victims.

I read this in the paper this morning. I was a bit distressed at her generalization of all rap music.

:( Unfortunately not just the culture of Thug life but the trappings of our materialistic society, are making an impact on our young people when I ask Second Graders what they want to do in life the first thing they say is make money-be it a football star, rap star etc. No, I don't think this culture is what those who contributed to the civil rights struggle would one day invision for us as a people- but then it goes much deeper than that! Our society both Black and White- is in need of a Spiritual Awakening! There are just as many whites who emulate this cultural phenomenon also and buy into it as well. So education of a different lifestyle needs to be upheld to our youth one with success and a positive influence.

ditto. While I sometimes side with Tucker, she "reached" a bit with this one. Sure, every generation makes its statement, but for every "thug" there are thousands of black boys and girls making their unassuming march to adulthood with grace, style and determination, outside the overly-dramatic media spotlight.

I think instititional racism, in some quarters, is by far the more insidious problem.