Rap music and the demonization of young black males - The United States of Violence: A Special Section - Cover Story

USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), May, 1994 by Tricia Rose

Imagine how differently the same acts of violent street crime would read if they were coupled with stories that labeled these government-orchestrated institutional actions and neglects as acts of violence. What if these social policies that support the interests of the wealthy at the cruel expense of everyone else - specially the poor - were labeled acts of social violence? How then would Americans respond to the crime crisis? What policies would these criminal activities encourage?

Even more provocatively, what if we took a look at all crime (e.g., domestic violence, embezzlement, the savings and loan scandal, serial killers, real estate fraud, murder, arson, rape, etc.) and high-lighted the most consistent common denominator - men - and decided that, to solve the problem, it was necessary somehow to change the behavior of men as a group regardless of race and class. How would this alter our understanding of the crime dilemma? Instead of exploring these relationships, we are treated to disproportionately high visibility of a relatively small number of violent offenders who are intended to inspire fear in us. Without any relationship between these aspects of so-called social order and behavior of society's least powerful, the "real" answer implied by the constructed irrationality of street crime or participation in the drug trade is already present in the story: These are not people; they are monsters.

Media villification

The demonization of young black males in the popular media, by black and white leaders, and among law enforcement officials has been well-documented by a range of scholars and others. This portrayal of young black men as unhuman - or dangerously superhuman, like the police fantasies of Rodney King - is an important part of creating a moral justification for the perpetuation of brutal and dehumanizing state policies. The white American public, many of whom only tangentially know any young black men personally, has been inundated with images of young black men who appear fully invested in a life of violent crime, who have participated in drug-related gang shoot-outs and other acts of violence for "no apparent reason."

This last representation is crucial to the fear that current crime reporting encourages and to the work of demonizing. Such people are violent for no apparent reason; they are not like us. Isn't it reasonable to treat an animal like an animal? What rights and social obligations are extended to monsters?

Demonization is hard work. Making monsters out of a multitude of young people who struggle to survive under immense pressures involves drawing attention away from the difficulties they face, minimizing the abuses they suffer, and making their cultural activity seem a product or example of their status as dangerous creatures. "Representing" young black inner city males and "their ways" without considering black cultural literacy (especially hip hop) or devoting sufficient attention to larger structural forces and historical contextualization paves the way for readings of rap as the black monster's music. Adolescent and vernacular cultures always have tested the boundaries of acceptable speech, frequently exploring taboo and transgressive subjects. This is true of 18th-century English and Irish folk practices, the blues of the early 20th century, and rap today.