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Was C. DeLores Tucker Right?
By Shilpa Banerji
Apr 17, 2007, 03:45
More than a decade after civil
rights activist Dr. C. DeLores Tucker took up a national campaign against
obscenities in rap music lyrics, some scholars believe she was right in the
light of the comments made by Don Imus towards the
The late Tucker, who was the
Secretary of State for
Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, professor of
sociology and the Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations at the
“If a group of people want
others to respect them, they have to respect themselves,” says Zuberi,
who is also the director of Penn’s Center for Africana Studies.
“You are still responsible for the history of your people. If there has
been a derogatory phrase used against you, you’re not open to repeat it.
“The people who are part of
this music and who sponsor this music should reconsider what they say…
it’s not a question of what happens on the street, but showing respect on
the street because that is where women are still disrespected,” he adds.
But Dr. Leith Mullings, professor of
anthropology at the
“Imus involves racism and
sexism in people of power. In hip-hop, it’s a different kind of
situation. That creates a diversion,” says Mullings.
She says that racism and sexism has
been fundamental to the building of the country and slavery gave rise to
certain rationalizations – not stereotypes – that absolved the
slave owner.
“It continues around the
notion that Black women are whores. It is also implemented around discussion of
poor women and how sexually promiscuous they are as opposed to not [working
legitimate] jobs,” says Mullings. “Imus is a crude example but
similar examples [of sexist and racist commentary] exist in the congressional
records.”
Dr. Benjamin Chavis, president of
the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and rapper industry pioneer Russell Simmons
issued a joint statement saying the comparison between Don Imus and hip-hop
artists was unreasonable.
“Comparing Don Imus’
language with hip-hop artists’ poetic expression is misguided and
inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted,
rampant censorship,” said Simmons.
Dr. Melissa Harris-Lacewell,
the associate professor of politics and African American Studies at
“During slavery Jezebel
excused the profit-driven sexual exploitation of Black women… The point
here is that Jezebel is more than a demeaning and false stereotype of Black
women… Inaccurate portrayals of women’s lives and characters are intentional,
not accidental. Myth advances specific economic, social and political
motives.”
— By Shilpa Banerji
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