Hip-Hop Fridays: Modern Day Lynching And A Note of Thanks by Andy J. Solages

Overall I would say this was a job well done.

Before I continue, I would like to take a tip from Jean Damu in our Dialogue Room and direct everyone’s attention to Ishmael Reed’s How Imus' Media Collaborators Almost Rescued Their Chief which was recently published in Counterpunch.

Reed’s piece, while appearing to be a comprehensive look at some of the unseemly aspects of how attention shifted from Don Imus’s remarks to the vile language and ugly images present in Hip Hop, fails to give readers a sense of the full context in which this shift took place.

While I was not directly involved in the so-called “lynching” of Don Imus or his producer Bernard “just here to do the nigger jokes” McGuirk, my agents and I, as conscious entrepreneurs, have taken advantage of the opportunities produced by the fall of the I-Man and the recent collapse of the Duke Lacrosse Rape case.

Our more astute viewers may have observed a number of unusual commentaries where pundits described events such as Don Imus’s firing and the dubious Duke Prosecution as “lynchings.” Some may have wondered why such racially charged hyperbole was necessary. Why inflame passions by subtly linking these recent events with the wicked terrorist acts that stain this nation’s past? I suppose this all appears to be grossly irresponsible (or perhaps just dumb).

Before you judge, please consider the following.

What if White People, specifically the “elites” who for the moment wield enormous power in many areas of this world, come to view the roles in the drama of America’s original sin to have been reversed? The racism is the same, and it should all be condemned, but now there are hordes of Black People “lynching” apparently defenseless White People.

With the power that is currently in their hands, the new victims in the American drama will retaliate and force their oppressors, Black People, on to “death’s ground.” With the delicate veil of White guilt shredded, and no alternatives left, Black People will rise to the occasion and construct a situation where we enhance our health and strength to the point where a vulgar and offensive rap video could be played at 3am without our children watching and coming to believe that buffoons and violent savages are the representatives of normal Black People and the appropriate models for personal behavior. Certainly all parties agree that this is a desirable outcome, and events like Hurricane Katrina just weren’t enough to produce this sense of urgency among Black People.

By raising their voices against Don Imus, Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson gave us the opportunity to return fire in the culture war with rhetoric that will serve to rile up the people who are informed by our opinions and thereby poison race relations in the way we simultaneously accuse the Reverends of doing (and no one noticed except for Christopher Arps and a few others). I was slightly concerned that Baltimore Sun Columnist Gregory Kane might again question where certain individuals, who might condemn Sharpton’s "selective outrage," were when other episodes of injustice occurred. Fortunately most people are aware that only “Black Leaders” have the omnipresence and unlimited energy to comment on and address every instance of wickedness and tragedy. Most people usually comment on issues when it affects their “team“ or supports their narrative of choice. But responsible and true Black Leaders, through the "power cosmic," address all of mankind’s issues and follow a daily agenda set by people who have not elected them and who aren't necessarily taking the lead in addressing the issues they complain about.

While the good they are doing will go unrecognized by most Black People, I would like to thank my agents and friends who have promoted the new understanding of what defines a lynching and the new understanding of who is likely to be lynched. Your efforts to promote victim politics and the erosion of White guilt will be instrumental in our grand scheme to restore the Black Man and Black Woman to health.

Since this is my last day as the News Editor of Black Electorate.com, I would also like to thank Brothers Cedric Muhammad and Charles Muhammad for allowing me to sit in this seat and serve our people in this way for the past three years.

My personal happiness and my sense of confidence in my people and myself has been enhanced as I have passed through my tenure as editor and through various struggles. I feel like the man who was referred to in one of my favorites among the anecdotes collected in Tarif Khalidi’s The Muslim Jesus.

Jesus once passed by a man who was suffering, and felt pity for him, so he said, “O God, I implore You to relieve him.” Then God revealed to him: “How am I to relieve him from what I am relieving him with?” (pg 149)

I also thank the viewers and contributors to Black Electorate and the Black Electorate Business and Building Community. I’ll still be around should you have the need of support or a perspective from this humble representative of the family values wing of the Pro-Black Lunatic fringe.

It has been an honor and a pleasure.

Andy J. Solages

Friday, April 27, 2007