Urban Thought Collective

Nas’ new record, “Be a Nigger Too,” is highly controversial, but it is not racist. This uncomfortable song defiantly celebrates hip hop’s rampant use of the N-word by reminding us that, to a lot of our people, “nigger” has been reclassified from a racial slur to a term of affection, kinship and community (this, of course, started long before hip hop). Hip hop has refined the meaning of the N-word to the point that it now stands for qualities to which many of our people aspire.

The chorus to his new song has Nas rapping:

I’m a nigger, he’s a nigger
She’s a nigger, we some niggers
Wouldn’t you like to be a nigger, too?

Those of us who dislike the public use of the N-word (especially as a form of entertainment) will bristle every time we hear that chorus. But if we look at it from another point of view we will understand the statement that Nas is making.

Hip hop gives identity and a feeling of power to blacks caught in the grip of dehumanizing, immovable poverty. The image of the hip hop “nigger” is that of a resilient hero who has survived terror and tragedy, fought against a hostile world and created success on his own terms. This image appeals to youth of all socio-economic strata who feel beaten down, overwhelmed, or unsure of themselves. When troubled middle class and rich kids listen to rap music and watch rap videos, they do, indeed, want to be “niggers,” too.

Unfortunately, hip hop has also attached some other, destructive connotations to the N-word. The tolerance for and celebration of violence, crime, cliquishness, drug abuse, gang affiliation and sexism are hallmarks of hip hop culture. This, too, is what it means to be a “nigger.”

That’s why I will always prefer the term “brother.” That word carries all of the positive, empowered qualities without any of the negatives built into that other word.

While Nas’ new record is not racist, a lot of black music videos are. It’s bad enough that most rap and R&B videos present women as mere objects for men’s pleasure. But, adding further insult to this injury, the women in these clips almost always have the same look.

One of the latest examples is the video for “Got Me Going,” the new single from Diddy’s group, Day 26. The clip has each of the five guys in the group romancing a beautiful lady. Every one of these women has light skin and long, straight hair. One of them appears to be white. There is a token chocolate sister in the video and, of course, she is the most sexually aggressive of the lot (fulfilling another age-old stereotype).

I don’t know if black artists realize the damage they are doing to all of us with the steady stream of images like these. By showcasing straight-haired, café au lait sisters as the ultimate in beauty, black entertainers assault the self-esteem of our beautiful, darker sisters and they give young black men a false and narrow idea of which black women they should consider attractive enough to pursue.

Hip hop media is guilty of reinforcing the terrible color caste system instituted by white masters and perpetuated by misguided blacks since the days of slavery. At this moment in history, when our people dominate the entertainment landscape, we should use our power for something better than propping up a racist, self-hating status quo.

THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!

Cameron Turner is a Los Angeles-area native whose editorials, entertainment news features and audio documentaries have appeared on national radio networks, online and in print for over 20 years.