In the July issue of Harpers magazine, Lewis Lapham (who I normally don’t care for) writes compellingly about the Don Imus scandal. Imus, in April, called Rutgers women basketball players "nappy headed hos."
Lapham includes a quote from the "musician Snoop Dogg who parsed the difference between Imus’s emission and those of rappers like himself":
We are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level of education and sports. We’re talking about hos that’s in the hood that ain’t doing shit, is trying to get a nigga for his money…We ain’t no old-ass white men that sit up on MSNBC going hard on black girls.
So sweeping in its analysis, so eloquent in its delivery.
Preach, Snoop, preach: We’re listening.
Somewhat Related Post: Why is Rap Music God’s Soundtrack for Black People? A Riff on Russell Simmons’ Riff
Does anyone care for Lewis Lapham? I’ve subscribed to Harpers for 15 years in spite of his essays. The man apparently only goes to parties in which the guests are people he can’t stand.
The Onion agrees.
David Brooks called bullshit on Snoop back in April on Meet the Press, summarizing Snoop’s rationalization thusly: “We can only step on the downtrodden.”