The death of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams has brought out the moralizers, and partly for good reason. But Mike Celizic goes a little far in his MSNBC article.
If Williams had been shot by police, there would be rallies with thousands of persons demanding justice. If one or more of the cops were white, Al Sharpton would be front and center, demanding an end to the victimization of young blacks by law enforcement officials.
But it is likely that this will turn out to be another black-on-black shooting. And that?s a lot harder to get a soundbite out of. Besides, to condemn it would require condemning a culture that too often celebrates in music and lifestyle guns and retribution and a twisted idea of honor. … The common thread is people who feel powerless and disenfranchised by society. For most of us, the American Dream is a good job, 1.6 perfect children and a home in the suburbs. For too many, the dream is a Glock and somebody to use it on.
Al Sharpton, who Celizic calls out in his article, would likely be on his side in this situation. When a disagreement between rappers 50 Cent and The Game ended in a shooting, Sharpton laughably called for a government ban on violent rap music — making the same mistake many do that rap music is a direct cause of violence.
Condemning murder would mean condemning hip-hop culture? Being powerless and disenfranchised leads to wanting to kill someone? This, from a generally rational sportswriter? What does Mike Celizic know about being poor? What does Mike Celizic know about ‘the ghetto’? He comes up with these conclusions based on stereotypes and perception and ends up sounding like a fool. This whole idea of “inner city” being synonymous with guns, violence and death is wrong. There is no question that too many young people, black or white, are dying because of guns. There is no question that there is too much violence, that there are too many gangs. But to assign to a culture, a music and a race the characteristics of getting shot or shooting someone is wrong and ignorant — whether Al Sharpton is doing it by calling for a ban on rap or Mike Celizic is doing it in an effort to vent his moral outrage at America.
Darrent Williams got shot by a fool with a gun. That fool happened to be black. And right away, people come to the conclusion that this fool was a gangster from the inner city who listens to rap music. That may be true. But those aren’t requirements to being an irresponsible, violent criminal.
Celizic is like so many people, white and black, who blames violence on music and clothes, as if someone who wears a suit and tie and listens to Frank Sinatra isn’t capable of murder. The vast majority of serial killers and rapists in this country are white males. In fact, “Every single sexual deviation is overwhelmingly dominated by white males. And most sexually related ritualistic crimes are committed by white males.” Does anyone assign to white men and their associated culture the characteristics of rapist or murderer? Does anyone write articles decrying the music they listen to or the clothes they wear?
Of course not. The actions of some are not the actions of all, and the murderers, rapists and general deviants are not the majority. Bill Cosby would have people believe that all young black men are listening to rap music, becoming corrupted and becoming thugs. And people like Mike Celizic listen to those statements and believe it is their place to make judgments based on them. But if rap music and hip hop culture were so dangerous and convincing, then why aren’t murders occurring constantly, in every single city and neighborhood in America? Hip hop isn’t limited to poor inner city black America. Millions of white teenagers blast rap and hip hop into their ears on a daily basis. How come we don’t hear Sharpton and Celizic worrying that hip hop will turn these white children into criminals?
The death of Williams is a tragedy, and people always look for someone or something to blame in a situation like this. But Celizic was wrong in looking to and making generalizations about hip hop culture. Hip hop is not responsible for everything wrong in the world.
