Jay-Z's Blueprint On What Ails The Black Community

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" proves the backdrop that I will use to point out a level of thinking that is popular within the Black community that is more based upon selective indictment and ideological bigotry.

During the interview Mr Carter goes through transitional points in his life in which he grows from being a "hustler" on the streets of Brooklyn onward to become the most famous rapper of all time and a multi-millionaire. Terry Gross - a White liberal - walks him through his history but is interestingly non-judgmental of many of the troubling aspects of his past and of the genre of music that he is engaged in. Though she repeatedly asks him about his past as a drug dealer and asks if he realized that the destruction that drugs have rained upon the Black community - compared to her other interviews in which an ideological adversary sitting in her hot seat that had implemented policies that she felt did damage per her own perspective - she never goes beyond mere conversational curiosity of this past.

The most surprising part of this segment of the interview is that Shawn Carter typically blames Ronald Regan for the crack epidemic in New York and other urban areas. Reagan's guilt, we are told, is not from overt "attacks" upon the Black community per se, but instead due to his withdraw of the key infrastructure supports that Jimmy Carter had build up:

• Government Jobs Programs
• Affirmative Action In Education
• More Generous Welfare Programs

In summary - with these opportunities afforded Brooklyn by the federal government - CRACK came in and created "Street Entrepreneurs" to fill the void.  "Damn you Ronald Reagan". 

In another segment of the interview Mr Carter talks about the use of "bitches and hoes" in "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirate" music.  He attributes this to the youthfulness of the rappers and the fact that they all had "dysfunctional relationships" that triggered the male rapper's distorted view and valuation of women.   Once again - Ms Gross listens in, asking questions for understanding but yields no inkling that she is as disturbed as she would be if she was talking to a misogynistic Troglodyte but for his common ideological bearings with her own.

As I listen in to White liberals interviewing Black subjects there emerges a pattern of behavior that is unmistakable.  Whereas if they had access to a representative of a White group or genre which had a track record of:

• Hateful words used as a central component of their vernacular
• Misogyny and Homophobia (I reject the concept of the word "Homophobia" but am using it for ease of communication)
• Assaults and Murder voiced within their words and as a residue of their existence in the real world
• Oppressive and Exploitative Economic Behaviors

They would go after such a representative of this modus vivendi in a more accusatory manner.
None of this was seen in Ms Gross' disposition.

George Bush Don't Like Black People

No surprise that after establishing the linkage between Jay-Z and Kanye West that Terri Gross would have "Obama fan" Shawn Carter chime in on George Bush's comments that Kanye' West's comments in which he alleged that Bush was a racist was one of the most "disgusting" periods of his presidency.

Shawn Carter responded, noting that a president's job description is to accept criticism as a standard feature of the job.   No problem there.  I accept that.  When Ms Gross went on to apply Mr Carter's view of President Obama, instead of criticism, Mr Carter offered up a steaming pile of obfuscation.

All of Obama's problems and shortcomings were redirected toward "8 years of George W Bush".   Keep in mind that that I am not troubled with Mr Carter's viewpoint.  I am not even bothered that this is a POPULAR viewpoint held in Black America.

The problem that I have is that, beyond the inaccuracy of the assessment, without any "economic chart" that shows this 8 year famine the bigger problem with Shawn Carter's assessment is the abundant amount of granularity that it lacks.

How To Better Qualify Shawn Carter's Analysis?

As I listened into this interview on the radio, having just left my barber who recently had the front window of his business broken and a flat screen television stolen off of the wall, I realized that I could not through a "counter volley" into the standard debate.   Instead it was far more important to show the COST of this "ideological bigotry" possessed by Shawn Carter and others in our community upon the ultimate interests of our community.   This type of rationalization nullifies us and keeps us ideologically unified more than does it lean a greater understanding to the challenges that we face as a community.

If you allow Shawn Carter's analysis about "what ails the Black community and the nation", accepting that it is all a matter of conservative politics and the "White racism" that is alleged to stand behind it - then you vaporize the relevance of all of the forces that are in existence between the individual standing on the streets of Brooklyn and the man seated in the White House.

In the next few days Black people will be debating the fidelity of Sarah Palin's MODEL of history as she glossed over Slavery in her book.   Few people will make note that Shawn Carter's book (or his viewpoints) is similarly askew of the facts.

The diagram above represents the "success" of the Black Activism Movement in taking control over the key institutions in Black America that provide us our "civic services".   When we consider most other collections of power - the more control that a given machine has over the seats of power - the more culpability that they have in the ultimate outcomes.  This triggers a bit of clarity and focus for those who assess these outcomes and are unhappy with the results, directing their protests accordingly.  

Mr Carter's offense is that he wistfully discards all of the notions of "Black Political Success" in Brooklyn and beyond for the sake of an expedited and universal defense of President Obama.   For Shawn Carter - Obama can't be "attacked" until he fixes what George W. Bush and the Republicans have broken.

The best way to counter Shawn Carter's bigoted viewpoint is to avoid going "blow by blow" against him but instead to evaluate the VERACITY of his world view.

Bed-Stuy
I have noted previously that the best way counter certain people's obfuscatory slight of hands is to GO BACK LOCALLY and inspect what they are attempting to gloss over.

Why does Shawn Carter need to talk about Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans when the Bedford-Stuyvesant area has been a long running episode of desperation?  This section of the 12th Congressional District has been problem plagued far longer than the time period that Shawn Carter's national enemies came into power to "destroy it".

Wikipedia Entry On Bed Stuy

Early–Mid 2000s gentrification
Beginning in the 2000s, the neighborhood began to experience gentrification.
The two significant reasons for this were the affordable housing stock consisting of handsome brownstone rowhouses located on quiet tree-lined streets and the marked decrease of crime in the neighborhood. The latter is at least partly attributable to the decline of the national crack epidemic which occurred in the late 1980s and through the 1990s and also to improved policing methods which New York has used in the last decade.
In July 2005, the New York City Police Department designated the Fulton Street-Nostrand Avenue business district in Bedford-Stuyvesant as an "Impact Zone".[citation needed] The Police Department has also ranked Bed-Stuy as one of the neighborhoods that has experienced a steady decline in crime and has had improved safety. The designation directed significantly increased levels of police protection and resources to the area centered on the intersection of Fulton Street and Nostrand Avenue for a period of six months. It was renewed for another six-month period in December 2005. Since the designation of the Impact Zone in Bedford-Stuyvesant, crime within the district decreased 15% from the previous year.[citation needed]
Despite the improvements and increasing stability of the community, Bedford-Stuyvesant has continued to be stigmatized in some circles by a lingering public perception left from the rough times of the late 20th Century as well as from people who are current residents. In March 2005 a campaign was launched to supplant the "Bed-Stuy, Do-or-Die" image in the public consciousness with the more positive "Bed-Stuy, and Proud of It"

Today the 12th district of New York where Mr Carter comes from is a "D+33" ranking in the Cook Partisan Voting Index.   With its average income at $29, 195 coupled with the cost of living in greater New York - there are few other districts in the nation that produce more poverty.  For Shawn Carter who is reported to be worth between $150M and $400M (not including his wife's fortunes) it is wonderful that he is able to escape the traditional scorn that is lumped upon "the wealthy".  Especially the "wealthy" who received their money by exploiting the people.  In the case of "Hip Hop Voice Of The Street Pirates" - the exploitation comes in the form of exploitation of the people's "7 Deadly Sins".

The main threat to the Black community's permanent interests that Shawn Carter represents does not come from his lyrics though.  The greater harm comes from his nationalization of the plight of Black America, leaving the local institutions that were taken over to provide us relief NULLIFIED of their original intent and obligation to do so.

Ironically Bed-Stuy has become safer as a result of recent efforts to thwart the actions that the young Shawn Carter (and other rappers) used to transact upon for dollars.  This fact hints upon the grand gulch that exists between what is popularly accepted in the way of public opinion by Black people and that which has been enacted by those with unenviable label of "authority" which often runs counter to the immediate sensibilities of the crowd.  This despite "the crowd" being the most frequent targets.

I would be more impressed with Shawn Carter's analytical acumen in public policy if he were able to focus upon the area where his roots originate from and use his theories to FIX THE DAMAGED STATE.

For Shawn Carter assessment of the "past 8 years" he shows active DESTRUCTION of the interests of Black people.


His greater task is to make note of the growing progressive machine in every place where Black people live in our highest concentrations and show evidence of ORGANIC COMPETENCIES being developed amongst our people.