A generation ago, black folks cheered Pam Grier, who as "Foxy Brown," used her sexuality to rid the community of pimps, drug pushers and other unsavory characters.
Today, rapper Foxy Brown is keeping it real in jail. Black women's sexuality has been reduced to a body part, a shaking booty, in the service of pimps and thugs.
Misogyny and racial stereotypes are the price we pay for freedom of expression, according to Universal Music Group President and CEO Doug Morris.
In his testimony before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection hearing, "From Imus to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images," Morris said:
We pay a price for the First Amendment. The price includes allowing highly charged words and images in our music even if they sometimes offend and cause pain. But consider the alternative. We pay a price but it’s insignificant compared to the ability to speak our minds.
While the price of racial stereotypes may be "insignificant" to Morris, it's too high for black women – and black men. Indeed, if Sam & Dave were making records today, they would likely say when something is wrong with black women, something is wrong with black men, black children -- the black community.
Bill O'Reilly's racially insensitive comments show the impact of the corporate construct of black culture. Why would O’Reilly expect to find "craziness" at world renowned Sylvia's? Two words: gangsta rap.
University of Illinois-Chicago Prof. Andrew Rojecki is co-author of "The Black Male in the White Mind: Media and Race in America." In his appearance before the subcommittee, Dr. Rojecki testified:
In our own research on the black image in the white mind, whites we interviewed spontaneously referred to media images of sexuality and violence that supported their negative views. These images substituted for the absence of sustained contact between whites and blacks, inevitable in a society that remains segregated by race.
To view the archived webcast of the hearing or read the witnesses’ prepared testimony, click here.
