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Racism in the United States has hit an all-time high. With many recent shootings of
unarmed black males, it has sparked an uproar and created a movement known as Black Lives
Matter. Black Lives Matter has encouraged the voices of many people including celebrities to
speak out on issues of racism. Media plays a critical role in the image of African Americans as it
is used both to oppress the culture and as a way for powerful individuals to speak up. The subject
that this paper will focus on will be the hip-hop subculture, and the platform it has created for
people of celebrity status to advocate for the African American society. This paper will first
examine hip-hop culture from the standpoint of history. Secondly, the disaster of the 2005
Hurricane Katrina and the effect that it had on African Americans will be discussed. Lastly a
discussion on how the media contributes both positively and negatively to the image of African
Americans as a society.
Racism is a form of discrimination against one or more skin colours other than one’s
own. People who are racist legitimize the feeling of being better than someone else. An example
of racism are white supremacist groups; these groups have popularized the idea of racism
including “hate crime and hate speech” (text, 332). When talking about subculture, one might
assume the meaning to be about a certain group of people from different areas of the world who
have their own set of customs and beliefs. That however defines culture. A subculture refers to a
social group that is further subdivided and separate from others in morals, beliefs and interests.
(Haefer, P.5) There are many different subcultures, ranging from skinheads to virginity pledgers.
Macro-level Sociology looks at the big picture of society, including societal exchanges,
large institutions and class of the individuals (p.4 text). Critical Sociology is a Macro-level
theory. Through the lens of a critical theorist, the inequalities seen in the social structure are
related to issues of social status, gender, race and age. According to critical sociologists, culture is a driving force that preserves the imbalance of power (p.102, text). To understand the
importance behind the need to have powerful voices, one must first understand the history of hiphop.
From the beginning, hip-hop artists have used music to express the inequalities faced by
African Americans from the dominant white population of America. According to Haefer(year),
Hip-hop music generally relays the feelings of being targets of racism and experiencing poverty.
( p. 15) Hip-hop originated as African American art forms, and the experiences that black people
of the United States have lived through. (Haefer, p.43, as cited in Bianco 1998). The message
that hip-hop artists have relayed through their music has been to share their experiences having
lived in poverty, and to bring awareness to the unfair treatment from law enforcement. (Haefer,
p.43). According to Sue et al., (2007), although research supports the claims that there are still
differences in equality between races, White Americans hold to the notion that racism is not as
abundant as it was in the past (as cited in Smiley & Fakunle, 2016). One of the issues that lies is
the fact that White American’s do not acknowledge the intensity of the racism, and feel that the
country has come to a state of equality since a Black American (Barack Obama) was voted into
presidency.
The racial profiling and discrimination that they face from authorities, most commonly
the police, has been a major topic for many of the early rappers. An example of this would be
the track, “Fuck the Police” by N.W.A. The song, written in the 1980’s talks about inequalities
that black people face based on their skin colour, primarily police brutality and racial profiling.
The song is very explicit and the group eventually received a letter from the FBI stating that the
song misrepresented the police force (www.thedailybeast.com). This however didn’t stop the
group from portraying their message to the world. Hip-hop subculture created a very important platform for black Americans to voice their
concerns and have them acknowledged. Public figures such as Kayne West have used their
position in power to make claims such as Kayne did at a telethon benefiting victims of Hurricane
Katrina. He stated that “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” These comments were a
result of a nationwide upset with the way the victims of Hurricane Katrina were being treated. It
raised questions, that had the residents of the disaster had been white, would relief had come
sooner? (p.47, Hefler). Sociologist and author of “Is this America? Katrina as a cultural trauma,”
Ron Eyerman, says that Hurricane Katrina left an impressionable memory in the minds of
Americans. It proved to be a social calamity, a disaster which uncovered the worst side of
America. (www.slate.com) . African Americans believed that the slow response in government
aid to be an affirmation of America’s lack of interest and concern for African Americans.
(www.slate.com) . When the United States army came to New Orleans, the media did their part
to ensure that the African American victims of the disaster were made out to look like criminals
and thugs who were going to loot all the abandoned stores. (Baxter & Marina, 2008). Although
Kanye used a powerful statement which some may have viewed as negative toward the
president, the rapper used his position of celebrity status and economic power to voice a
powerful statement exclaiming the inequalities that black American’s faced not only during
hurricane Katrina, but since the beginning of time.
According to Sue et al., (2007), although research supports the claims that there are still
differences in equality between races, White Americans hold to the notion that racism is not as
abundant as it was in the past (as cited in Smiley & Fakunle, 2016). One of the issues that lies is
the fact that White American’s do not acknowledge the intensity of the racism, and feel that the country has a long way in terms of equality since a Black American (Barack Obama) was voted
into presidency.
It is important for celebrities to voice their opinions publicly as their social status and
fame makes them very influential and likely to spark a response from the public. Because of the
message portrayed in rap music, for example glorifying violence, drug use and gang activity, the
media has associated and blamed violence in society on the hip-hop subculture. Hip-hop
subculture is a symptom of the violence, not the cause, as seen in the cases of racial profiling and
killing of innocent black lives. Media can have a powerful effect on public opinion when used in
an ethical manner. When celebrities step up to the mic as exampled in this essay, people of other
racial ethnicities will start to understand and see a point of view that they had not seen before.
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