Gender, Race, and Class in Today’s America

Lyrics and The Issues

Race

The Bigger Picture by Lil Baby

( I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe)

Protest and growing national outcry continues over the death of George Floyd

Last night, people protesting in Minneapolis escalated

As demonstrators were lashed by tear gas and rubber bullets

The main message here, the main message here, the main message here

Is that they want to see those officers involved

They want to see those officers arrested Jones, 2020.⁹

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in the united states over 100 years ago and most black people concur that the legacy of slavery continues to have an impact on the condition of black people in American society today.  This song The Bigger Picture explores the national outcry over the vicious murder of George Floyd. The arrogance of  Derick Chavin to sustain his knee on the neck of George Floyd for over 8 minutes and 46 seconds demonstrated white privilege, superiority, conceit and a blatant disregard for black lives. Lil Baby states “we want to see those officers involved arrested,” Derick Chavin was sentenced to twenty two and a half years in prison.

Class

White Privilege Macklemore

And if he’s taking away black artists profits, I look just like him

Claimed a culture that wasn’t mine, the way of the American

Hip-hop is gentrified, and where will all the people live?

It's like the Central District, Beacon Hill to the South end

Being pushed farther away because of what white people did, now

Where’s my place in a music that's been taken by my race

Culturally appropriated by the white face? Haggerty, 2005.¹⁰

White Privilege is described by Women’s Studies scholar Peggy McIntosh as “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” McIntosh, 1989.¹¹ This concept  highlights the unfair societal advantages that white people have in a racist society McIntosh, 1989.¹² White skin allows for vast unearned privileges unavailable to people of color. It is quite pervasive throughout society and exists in all the major systems and institutions in America. White people tend not to acknowledge the advantages they have in society. The term has considerable focus and has come into brighter lights due to recent events including the murder of George Floyd resulting in multiple Black Lives Matter Protest. In this song, Macklemore questions his place in a music industry that was created by black Americans. He toils not so much with guilt but more of a consciousness regarding his success as a white rap artist.

Gender Equality

Moment 4 Life Nicki Minaj

I fly with the stars in the skies

I am no longer trying to survive

I believe that life is a prize

But to live doesn’t mean you’re alive

Don’t worry ‘bout me and who I fire

I get what I desire, it's my empire

And yes, I call the shots, I am the umpire Maraj, 2010.¹³

Gender equality is another layer of inequality in America. In addition to racial oppression, economic and medical exploitation are all barriers to gender equality in America.  There is an enormous pay gap amongst various genders in the United States. Black women are paid significantly less than white men and pale in comparison to white women. When we look at the gains of black women it is attributed to the likes of Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Rosa Parks, to Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris, the first black vice president of the United States. Nicki Minaj makes reference to survival as many black women are accustomed to surviving rather than thriving. She suggests that women should own their success with pride. 

LGBTQIA

Lil Nas X Panini

Ayy, Panini, don’t you be a meanie

Thought you wanted me to go up

Why you tryna keep me teeny?

It’s a dream, he wished it on a genie

I got fans finally, ain't you wanting them to see me?

I thought you want this for my life, for my life

Said you wanted to see me thrive, you lied Hill, 2019.¹⁴

Positive environments are super important with helping all youth thrive, however the needs of LGBTQIA can differ vastly from those of their heterosexual peers.  As educators we should not tolerate any kind of hateful speech and speak up if we hear comments like “That’s so gay” or “man you’re acting real fruity”.  I’ve had several students approach me after class and stated that they didn’t feel comfortable participating in the class discussion because they feared being ridiculed by their peers. We must explore strategies to allow positive and productive self-expression for all of our students, even those questioning their sexual orientation.  In this song Lil Nas X addresses bullying by asking Panini “Why are you being meanie?” Hill, 2019.¹⁵

He goes on to make an assumption about their friendship status and questions the sincerity of so-called friends.  So many of our youth can relate to feelings of deception and character assassination.

Police Brutality

KRS-One Sound of da Police

First show a little respect, change your behavior

Change your attitude, change your plan

There could never really be justice on stolen land

Are you really for peace and equality?

Or when my car is hooked up, you know you wanna follow me

Your laws are minimal

‘Cause you won’t even think about lookin’ at the real criminal

This has got to cease

‘Cause we be getting hyped to the sound of da police Parker, 1993.¹⁶

Police brutality in America has been systemic for years.  Let’s begin by defining police brutality, which is the unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by U.S. police officers. Forms of police brutality have ranged from assault and battery to murder. Although history shows that a variety of ethnic groups have been subjected to police brutality in the United States, the great majority of victims have been African-American. There is a preponderance of antiblack racism among members of mostly white police departments. 

Due to America’s treatment of African American citizens, racism is identified as the major factor in police brutality. The culture of police departments particularly in large urban cities seems to stress a “show of force” approach. For example, the July 13, 2015 death of Sandra Bland, a 28 year old African American woman from Naperville, Illinois. She was found hanged in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas three days after being arrested during a pre textual traffic stop. Her death was ruled a suicide which lead to massive protest around the country; Bland was pulled over for failing to signal while switching lanes. After the FBI investigation, they ruled that Waller County jail did not follow required policies.  When KRS-one released this song in 1993, he was addressing the systemic police brutality. He offers advice to police officers around the country suggesting that if police changed their behavior, mindset and policies just maybe when black people hear the sounds of sirens they wouldn’t have this fear or disdain for the police. 

Black Lives Matter has been a rallying cry for years. With all the injustice and discrimination aimed agaist black citizens

Mass Incarceration

Tupac 16 On Death Row

Bye, bye, I was never meant to live

Can’t be positive when the ghetto’s where you live

Bye, bye, I was never meant to be

Livin’ like a thief, runnin’ through the streets

Bye, bye, and I go no place to go

Where they find me; 16 on Death Row Shakur, 1997.¹⁷

According to the American Civil Liberties Union American makeup is close to 5% of the global population but has nearly 25% of the world's prison population ACLU, 2021.¹⁸ Since the 1970s our incarcerated population has increased by 700%. Additionally, 2.3 million people are in American prisons today. One out of every three black boys born today can expect to go to prison in his lifetime, as one out of every six Latino boys compared to one of every fifteen white boys. At the current time. women are the fastest growing incarcerated population in the United States.  There are twice as many people rotting in local jails awaiting trial and presumed innocent.  Tupac Shakur, like many other African American boys, when asked the question what do they want to be when they grow up, the answer is “ALIVE!” Many of them don’t expect to live beyond 14 years of age or anticipate being locked up on death row by the age of 16. He says bye bye to life so casually as you would say bye bye to a friend whom you expect to see tomorrow.

Put The Guns Down Community Violence

MC Lyte Self Destruction

Leave the guns and the crack and the knives alone

MC Lyte's on the microphone

Bum rushin and crushin, snatchin and taxin

I cram to understand why brother's don't be maxin

There's only one disco, they'll close one more

You ain't guarding the door

So what you got a gun for? Moorer, 1989.¹⁹

According to University of Chicago research, gun violence is increasing. Theories that focus on community level factors such as poverty, mobility and neighborhood cohesion suggest that violence is a product of environmental conditions in which individuals live. Research has consistently demonstrated that murders and shootings are heavily concentrated in particular places Urban Labs, 2016.²⁰ This is very true in Illinois. Analysis of data reported by Illinois police agencies and sheriffs indicates that eight municipalities accounted for approximately 64 percent of the murders and aggravated assaults and batteries across the state from 2013-2015. The municipalities include Chicago, Aurora, Rockford, Springfield, East St. Louis, Joliet, Champaign and Peoria. Chicago alone accounted for around 43 percent of murders and aggravated assaults and batteries in Illinois Urban Labs, 2016.²¹ MC Lyte asks a rhetorical but significant question regarding the logic behind carrying and using guns.  The reality is that none of the people shooting own any of the possessions they are killing over.

Spirituality

Chance The Rapper “Blessings”

I don’t make songs for free, I make ‘em for freedom

Don’t believe in kings, believe in the Kingdom

Chisel me into stone, prayer whistle me into song air

Dying laughing with Krillin saying something ‘bout blonde hair

Jesus’ black like ain’t matter, I know, I talked to his daddy

Said you the man of the house now, look out for your family Bennett, 2016.²²

Since the times of slave masters dropping bibles down to shackled Africans who couldn’t read or speak the English language, black people have always developed a deeply personal definition of God and their spiritual identity. Enduring extreme persecution and exploitation, black people took a template of Christianity and customized it to reflect their own interpretation of its teachings. As a result, spirituality became the soul of black artistry, the language of black existence, and the backbone of black communities. It instilled a sense of power and purpose within a race of people who were deemed powerless.

“The church is, and always has been the center of African American life, a place to call our own in a too often hostile world.” Obama, 2015.²³ Chance the Rapper evokes the spirits of the ancestors in this song titled Blessings.

Relevance of Hip Hop Voices Today

KRSOne Hip Hop is One

My style of rap hard to find, I believe that every rapper has a larger mind

But they spit the sex, spit the murder, spit the crime

Cause they told if they do it they’ll be livin’ fine

People know it’s only music, y’all don’t mind

But every now-and-then I question what these rappers say and rhyme

Take you time, I send this our to every rapper saying rhymes, and every

DJ out there playing mine

You know I don’t live for the prime time

But out of all these rap names, young people should be able to find mine. Krs One 2014.²⁴