The boundaries we’ve set are unfair!

Racial tensions between whites and blacks have recently intensified within the past few months in the wake of the Michael Richard’s scandal in which the former star of “Seinfeld” used the “n-word” a little to freely after being heckled by members of his audience.
In recent news, the associated press reported that recent parties, thrown by white college kids, mocking black stereotypes have sparked an entirely new controversy to race relations in America, but we feel it’s a controversy we may be responsible for ourselves.
The hip-hop culture has evolved into a commercial force to be reckoned with. Rappers have taken over the Billboard charts, the silver screen, the small screen and most importantly, the minds and hearts of the generation of tomorrow. It has become common place to drive down the street and pass vehicles filled with Abercrombie-type juveniles gyrating to the beats of Jay-Z, Lil’ Boosie and 50 Cent pouring from the speakers of their rimmed-out vehicles.
We smile and laugh it off because we may feel like imitation is the highest form of flattery, but the laughing ceases when these same hip-hop copycats decide to spend their MLK vacations hosting themed parties in which partygoers are asked to wear “bling-bling” grills, baggy jeans, puffy jackets and their ivory complexions covered in black paint. According to the reports, some white females even went as far as stuffing their jeans with padding to emulate the full-figured physique of black women.
After posting pictures on Facebook for the entire world to see, the kids were subjected to harsh ridicule from their university’s administration, who even threatened to suspend some of the students for their off-campus behavior. As usual, an unsigned apology was released to the press, on the student’s behalf, dripped with regrets and unconvincing ignorance. Whether or not they are racist becomes irrelevant when one of the students told reporters they were only “mimicking the kind of outlaw posturing that blacks themselves engage in in rap videos.”
This got us to thinking, maybe they’re not wrong!
How can we as blacks set boundaries for other races and cultures to respect us when our behavior towards one another lacks respect and class? How can we be outraged at white girls who mock the symmetrical beauty of black full figured women when we ourselves honor them by sliding credit cards up the cracks of their derrieres in music videos splashed all over BET? When every other word in a rap song is “nigger this” and “nigger that,” should we really be surprised when a white person says it?
What many of us don’t realize is we have opened the door to mockery we’re so quick to call racism in this country. We are the ones who stand in line to get Lil’ Boosie’s new CD, which uses the n-word more than the rapper uses insulin to treat his diabetes. Sistahs are so quick to scream, “I’m not a ‘ho or a B-I-T-C-H,” but are all to ready to attend the next Perfect 10 party wearing a dress which barely covers their goodies as they bend over and “catch da wall.”
It’s one thing to enjoy music and have fun, but it’s another when you begin to let the music and the commercial images govern our own lifestyles and choices. What many of us don’t seem to realize is, we have the power to shape our perceptions. Not the white man! Because if we don’t buy their music or decide to switch the channel on their videos, then it forces rappers to return to the studios to produce records that are about empowerment and change.
What happened to days when hip-hop wasn’t about “bling-bling”? There use to be a message behind the beats. Now it has been reduced to propaganda that we have bought into and want to glorify every chance we get.
The boundaries we have set on whites is unfair. You don’t want them to call us niggers then let’s stop calling each other niggers! You don’t want them mocking our black women, then shouldn’t we cease exploiting them in music videos?
Racism in this country will never go away, and no matter what we do, whites may always feel they can make fun of us and our culture. But the boundaries we set for them will be a lot stronger when we ourselves set boundaries within our own homes and way of life.