1. Hip Hop and the Prison Industrial Complex
2. The raving debate about hip hop’s rise in the late 1900s and its parallel effect with increased drug and crime has always been a linked phenomenon. According to Butler (126), hip hop’s phrases, words, and lyrics have been linked to the increased crimes and drug use in the late 1900s till now. In the writer’s perception, Butler indicates that a culture has an impactful influence on the cultural perception of its people. For instance, in the African American race, hip-hop was perceived to acknowledge, praise and revere outlawed behavior. It was common to observe music videos or in particular, the lyrics of any hip-hop genre to advocate for the Black movement. It is arguable that the ‘Black movement’ should be perceived as a positive gesture, but little is presented on the negative aspect. The musicians who produced including Deejays and producers embraced the ‘gangsta’ way of life. Ogbar (139) indicates that the continuous reiteration of how African Americans people lived, their society, their environment and what they went through on a daily basis, may have resulted in a negative uptake of the information.

The youth, a gullible generation, took up such nurturing traits from music videos and musicians and adopted them as the way of life. Soon, it made a strong transformation in how African Americans perceived criminal justice. Concurrently, police brutality was followed with increased crime rates and drug abuse especially cocaine. Butler (129) indicates that the political movement intensified the movement into which more musicians continued to revere the African American way of life which was and is now becoming a way of life. An insignia that African Americans use to signify their struggles and injustice within the political arena. For instance, Butler (130) points out that political movement was subject to the political ideologies presented in music videos and hip-hop genre music. Rappers have been known to persuade people into thinking in a certain way and adopting a certain code of dressing. The dress code influenced the way African Americans viewed their stereotypes.

1. Ogbar (139) indicates that hip-hop through its unique cultural perception began to educate its people on how the social justice and criminal justice entities did not favor the African Americans. It was common for rappers to document the struggles by highlighting how the American systems were rigged to favor on majority community whereas the minorities were not favored most especially African Americans. To some extent, the aspect is agreeable because the current wave of political unrests and political statistics indicate that the prison system is rigged to favor the white person and not the minority. As a result, there are more African Americans in prison systems compared to whites. All this could be linked to the increased crimes rates that were associated with African Americans including increased drug trade and unemployment rates. According to Ogbar (140), the conservative Whites including Ronald Reagan and President Bush’s administration did not tolerate such increased criminal injustice which was only reflected among Blacks. It is unfair that because African Americans were born and live in poorer regions in America compared to the majority white population, that they were the target of criminal justice systems. As such, Butler (128) details that discrimination has always been the pivotal tilting scale that favored whites and not non-whites who were considered the non-working communities.
2. Hip-hop and the New Jim Crow

Alexander (175) determines that the ‘old Jim Crow’ was a political and social system that segregated African Americans from the majority privileged white race. Issues of slavery are brought up which break out the sore wound of how African Americans were considered irrelevant and unworthy to conglomerate with the other race. For instance, the prohibition law, as Alexander placed (176) indicates the ban of Blacks from voting or associating with white people. But, due to the revolution in how humanity was perceived, in time the Black community as well as other minority groups were considered relevant and were then regarded as human enough to participate in both political, economic and social aspects. But, with the new-found freedom, the African American population remains a disenfranchised society. Under the ‘new Jim Crow’ regulations or structure, more and more African American men are getting into prisons whereas, white men are not despite commonality in crime rates. Issues regarding the war on drugs are among the disparities between the new and old Jim Crow. With the old Jim Crow structure, African Americans did not enjoy freedom, but with the new one, there is some form of ‘freedom’- though quantifiably difficult. As such, with the new perception, discrimination is an entity that previous and current African Americans go through. One imprisonment is physical while the other is considered to be a non-physical but emotional encampment (Alexander 176).

Another similarity between the two forms of Jim Crow is that injustice is all around. Black men and Brown men were considered trivial as compared to white men. Regarding imprisonment, it is evident that African Americans are incarcerated more compared to whites by statistics (DuVernay). The data is in line with the crime rate factor where, in the current Jim Crow perception, African Americans are more susceptible to crimes due to high rates of unemployment and drug trade. Whereas, with the former Jim Crow structure, African Americans were imprisoned due to lack of adherence to slavery or master laws.

In a nutshell, it is clear that the former Jim Crow structure perceived African Americans as an imputative and incapable human being who was only useful for servitude purposes (DuVernay). Whereas, for the current Jim Crow, the perception has evolved but, still discriminatory. African Americans are perceived as possessing a black culture that is accommodative of crime, primitiveness and functional attitudes which the conservatorships white do not acknowledge as being good. Therefore, the two Jim Crow systems have only one significant common denominator: racism as its subject fuel to the hatred and discrimination against the black colored individual (Alexander 180).

Further, both structures only devise laws to drag down an entire society or race against the approval of one major race. The racial biases are so severe that the current generation of African Americans can associate with slavery aspects of the former Jim Crow structure. The effectiveness of the system is evidential with most African American history being a rhythmic gesture of failure on one end (that is for the African Americans), and successful impunity drove suppression from the Whites. As Alexander (173) puts its, same tune but, a different performer. And the worse of it all, despite having a black president, most of the African Americans who advocate for change in viewership of the minority race, have not entirely succeeded on the agenda till date (DuVernay).

4. Do you agree or disagree with Tricia Rose’s critique of white privilege within and white consumption of hip-hop

Indeed, White privilege is a reality in America. A majority of the Caucasian people who consume the Hip-hop genre or the African American culture do not understand the “true” meaning of the music. Hip-hop culture is a reflection of the struggles that the African American community has endured in the past and continues to endure in the United States. The music brings to day issues and effects of pain, joblessness, drugs and alcohol, gang violence and racism among others. The African American community can identify with this struggles as they have either faced them or are currently facing them or have family who are dealing with such issues. For the African American community, the violence and pain is real. Conversely, the white society consumes the music with ignorance as they do not understand the issues the community faces as they are not a part of the community. Hip-hop is not meant to advocate for violence or drugs and alcohol it is simply a reflection of life in the “ghetto.”

“It is conceivable now to be a white fan of hip-hop who knows a great deal about black hip-hop artists and tales of ghetto life but who has little or no contact with black people and knows very little about black life and history” (p. 233).

Indeed, I agree with Tricia Rose’s assertion as hip-hop songs, singers and stories about life in the ghetto being separate from contact with black people, black experience, and history. It is critical to note that despite hip-hop being a part of the black community, it speaks of the life in the “ghetto,” the struggles, pain, and heartache. The artists portray their perception of the “ghetto” based on their experiences. Also, hip-hop as developed into a culture of its own which is unique to the ghetto. Therefore due to the publication of the various themes in the songs, white fans assume that they too are part of the “hip-hop.” Most importantly, one is not required to be black to have access to hip-hop as it is all over the media. Hence the white community does not have to associate with the black community or learn and understand black history and life as those factors are detached from hip hop.

How does contemporary white consumption of hip-hop point to “a new twist on the love/hate dynamic that has shaped the compound history of white racism and white fascination with black people and [black] culture: color-blindness” (p. 229)?

The consumption of hip-hop by the white community supports the theory that a love/hate relationship exists between the white and black community. Since slavery, there has always been an issue with racism, whereby the white community perceives the blacks to be less than them. The discrimination of blacks by the whites is regarded as a form of hate. While racism and bigotry is an illustration of hatred towards the black community, it is apparent that the white population over the decades have been drawn to Black culture in form of music. According to Richard Clift, white people are always been fascinated by black culture. For instance, Amos and Andy who were popular radio personalities referred to as white men pretending to be black. Also “coon songs” by Irving Berlin is perceived to be the great black influence. Thus, the conclusion that underneath the racism, the white community does love black culture hence its popularity over the decades.

How does contemporary white consumption of hip-hop speak volumes about “a new fascination with old and firmly rooted racial fantasies about sexual deviance (pimps and hoes) and crime and violence (gangsters, thugs, and hustlers)” (p. 229)?

Blacks consuming hip-hop is indeed different from white consumption of the same as previously stated, hip-hop is a reflection of the life in the ghetto. The music speaks of the reality of the community. The crime, violence, racial fantasies, and sexual deviance is part of a life they cannot escape or ignore. They seek it because it is deemed acceptable not to encourage or support the ideologies.

6. Hip Hop Movement

The hip-hop movement is defined as the culture of hip-hop which is solely comprehended by the African Americans community due to the struggles epitomized. Six facets of hip-hop music involvejustice, deep thought, civil liberties, engagement, political awareness, and societalevaluation. As such, the hip-hop is not a culture that molds criminal activity which entails drug use, trade, and gang violence. It does not advocate for randomized gun violence among the youth through radicalization against political systems or social injustice as experienced in movies and hip-hop music.

The difference between hip-hop movement and other youth-based is that the former uses music and art to define the struggles and issues surrounding a race and an entire community. For instance, the use of graffiti, deejaying, rapping and break-dancing. It provides a political understanding of the oppression that African Americans have suffered which can be explained through music and other forms of art as mentioned. Hip-hop movement has paved the way for rappers and other kinds of musicians to elucidate what is happening in the community. For instance, music by Tupac and Chuck D illuminate the struggles that minority community who are considered to be poor, unemployed and deep in criminal based neighborhoods go through. The movement challenges the idealism that the rest of the conservative historical view of how Black people are should be addressed. Hip-hop music questions the ideals of the society that sees the need to downplay the contribution that the African American community can contribute.

From this point of view, it can be argued that the hip-hop movement has positively impacted the African American society, but the rest of the community in a negative way. For the former, African Americans have become more aware of the struggles, the roots of their struggles and situation they are in today. The movement has vocalized their issues to the rest of the world which in most ways has impacted the limited discrimination from the empathetic crowd, but still emphasizes the stereotypic mindset of others. From the latter’s eyes, it is clear that the African American youth have been radicalized to think otherwise apart from civil rights movement and post-black and post-women liberation. There has been less allocation of understanding of the struggle that the community has gone through. As such, the current youth is unaware of how much the society suffers even if reforms have been made to accommodate them in the ‘modern’ society. This is probably attributed to the fact that the forefathers such as Martin Luther fought for independence and self-preservation which the current youth enjoy. Hence, the post-black phenomenon from the race, gender, and sexual liberation are not considered as constant struggles. However, factors of gun violence and drug trade are still pivotal to defining the African American society and consequently, has rubbed the youth probably in the wrong way. Escalations in gun violence and the war on drugs is considered a daily aspect for the black community which reflects on the judicial and criminal systems which still discriminates and victimizes the African American community.

Work Cited

Ogbar, Jeffrey Ogbonna Green. Locked Up: Police, the Prison Industry Complex, Black Youth, and Social Control.  2007.

Butler, Paul. A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice. 2010. Chapter 7; 123-147.

Alexander, Michelle. “The new jim crow.” Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 9 (2011): 7.

DuVernay, Ava. “13th.” A Netflix Original Documentary. Sherman Oaks, CA: Kandoo Films (2016).

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