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Butler collects a large number of rap tracks to get their perspective of the justice system. These rappers include Outkast Jay-z and Kanye West. He delved into the lyrical world of these artistes to find out the message they were passing along. The album, “behind enemy lines” had deep lyrics which explained ways in which the government used prison as a means of controlling the black population. The song started by talking about Fred Hampton (a leader murdered in the late 60s), Fred Hampton his first born son (head of Black Movement was stopped for arson) and his daughter Khadija. The lyrics suggest that Hampton was killed by the cops and his son set up for being a great head of the African-American community. M-I explains that explains that
He describes the sensation of “measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity” (2). West tackles double- consciousness in a lot of his songs, but more so I “Gorgeous” and “Power”. He does have slight elements in “Monster”, however. In “Gorgeous”, West is straight-forward in his approach, voicing his frustrations about appearing to fit in with the majority of popular artists (namely the white ones), yet when he does something stereotypically black he gets massive media attention and is berated for his actions. It is even in his clothes: if he is wearing the right clothing he is accepted, but is automatically perceived as ghetto when he is wearing sneakers and a white t-shirt. “As long as I’m in Polo’s smiling they think they got me/But they would try to crack me if they ever see a black me” (Lyrics On Demand). In “Power”, he discusses issues with fame and general concept of power, as well as being a minority with limited options. He talks about how education is limited and that minority children are eventually doomed to prison. “The system broken, the schools closed, the prison’s open” (Lyrics On Demand). His lyrics speak of how the world around him in controlled by the majority, and how minorities are forced to conform to the standards of the rest of the world. In “Monster”, the biggest hint at double- consciousness is the inclusion of Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, a white indie folk musician. Vernon’s appearance on such a quintessential rap track is impressive and jaw-dropping considering these types of songs (posse cuts”) are notorious for featuring all- black artists. His presence plays to the double-consciousness West expresses, by mixing black and white artists together for
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander is a thorough and thought provoking analysis of mass incarceration in America. Through this book Alexander explores the dynamics of the criminal justice system and the propaganda that enables it which have led to the establishment and maintenance of a racial undercaste system that has been perpetuated by a felony criminal record. Within this book Alexander provides a history of the disenfranchisement of the black male from the overt racism of slavery and Jim Crow to the colorblind drug and sentencing policies of the 20th and 21st century.
Many people claim that racism no longer exists; however, the minorities’ struggle with injustice is ubiquitous. Since there is a mass incarceration of African Americans, it is believed that African Americans are the cause of the severe increase of crimes. This belief has been sent out implicitly by the ruling class through the media. The media send out coded messages that are framed in abstract neutral language that play on white resentment that targets minorities. Disproportionate arrest is the result of racial disparities in the criminal justice system rather than disproportion in offenders. The disparities in the sentencing procedure are ascribed to racial discrimination. Because police officers are also biased, people of color are more likely to be investigated than whites. Police officers practice racial profiling to arrest African Americans under situations when they would not arrest white suspects, and they are more likely to stop African Americans and see them as suspicious (Alexander 150-176). In the “Anything Can Happen With Police Around”: Urban Youth Evaluate Strategies of Surveillance in Public Places,” Michelle Fine and her comrades were inspired to conduct a survey over one of the major social issues - how authority figures use a person’s racial identity as a key factor in determining how to enforce laws and how the surveillance is problematic in public space. Fine believes it is critical to draw attention to the reality in why African Americans are being arrested at a much higher rate. This article reflects the ongoing racial issue by focusing on the injustice in treatment by police officers and the youth of color who are victims. This article is successful in being persuasive about the ongoing racial iss...
While in prison criminals become part of the gang or a member of the gang's victim pool. Race and culture seem to be the major factors in the victimization of inmates. The inmate may not be racist when he enters the system, however the need for survival against other inmates may force these characteristics to become more prominent. In the summer of 1998, a young man named William King was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of James Byrd Jr. Byrd was a black man from Jasper County, Texas, whom was bound at the ankles and dragged to death behind a truck. Why would this young man commit such a terrible and seemingly racist crime? Most would agree that it was his time spent in prison that led William King to take the life of James Byrd Jr. Friends and family of William stated that he was a pleasant before he went to prison for burglary. When he was released, he was a different person who spoke about white supremacy and was anxious to initiate his own supremacist gang. King’s defense attorney explained that it was the high rate of violence in the Texas correctional institute that caused him to become a gang member for a sense of security. William's defense attorney argued that he was merely a victim of the deteriorating prison system in this country (Racism, tolerance, and perfected redemption: A rhetorical critique of the dragging trial, Larry A. Williamson, 2009). The reality of prison gangs is nearly impossible to ignore. King's story, although not a defense for his crime, sheds light on today's prisons and the gangs within them. Newly admitted convicts are often victimized to no end until they join a group or gang that displays power and their intentions to survive prison life. Violence, rape, and murder are just a fe...
In 1996, famed rapper and entertainer Tupac Shakur[1] was gunned down in Las Vegas. Journalistic sentiment at the time suggested he deserved the brutal death. The New York Times headline, "Rap Performer Who Personified Violence, Dies," suggested Shakur, who was twenty five when he died, deserved his untimely death. - (Pareles, 1996) A product of a fatherless home, raised poor in the ghettos of San Francisco, Shakur, notes Ernest Harding of the L.A. Weekly, "lived in a society that still didn't view him a[s] human, that projected his worst fears onto him; [so] he had to decide whether to battle that or embrace it." (Hardy, 1996) As these fears forced Shakur into a corner, Shakur, in the music magazine Vibe, alludes to his own interior battle noting "there's two nigga's inside me," adding "one wants to live in peace, and the other won't die unless he's free." (All Eyes on Him, 1996) While many of his lyrics sensationalized gang violence and ghetto politics, dramatizing the murder of fellow African Americans and, especially, police officers, he also labored over trying to come to grips with African American self-realization, breaking free from imposed societal chains. Unfortunately, as Barry Glassner muses in his book The Culture of Fear (1999), �it seems to me at once sad, inexcusable, and entirely symptomatic of the culture of fear that the only version of Tupac Shakur many Americans knew was a frightening and unidimensional caricature.� (127) In o...
Rap is about giving voice to a black community otherwise underrepresented, if not silent, in the mass media. It has always been and remains … directly connected to the streets from which it came. (144)
In order to keep a safe society, it is important to establish a nation with
I write this poem or rap to convey a brief artistic rendering of George Jackson’s life, from his early years in Chicago, to his move to Los Angeles, and his journey through the criminal justice system and how it shaped him. I write this to you for you to be reminded of the trauma of prison and the flaws of a criminal justice system that seeks to keep as many people locked up as possible. It seems quite clear that many of the challenges George Jackson faced in and out of prison, many Americans still face today. George Jackson, for all his flaws was a revolutionary mind and a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, it seems his death and the deaths of the corrections officers at San Quentin on August 21, 1971 were in vain. We as a nation have
The criminal justice system in America is comprised of not just one but of a set of organizations and procedures that have been created by governments in order to mitigate crime and impose penalties for those people who choose to break the law. The United States has many individual criminal justice systems and each jurisdiction i.e. city, county, state, federal or tribal government or military has the ability to dictate how the system works as well as have different laws. With that being said, people in the United States rarely have contact with the criminal justice system and subsequently get much of their ideals and knowledge of what the criminal justice system is and how it works from the media, especially through entertainment television viewing. (Albany) Even though I have been to countless court hearings as a police officer, attending a jury trial as a student was different as I was able to step back and look at it through the eyes of a learner and not an agent of the government.
Although this original face of rap music was murdered at the young age of 25, Tupac’s expressions of dreams for black social justice, along with his declaration of “thuglife,” have contributed to his beloved legacy by hip culture, even 19 years after his death. He was considered a figure of empowerment for urbanized communities because of his support in black nationalism that aims to “define, defend, and develop of Blacks as a people,” especially because he grew up in the impoverished intercity (Stanford, 2011, pg. 4). In “Violent” he raps,
Next he proclaims,”I throw these Maybach keys, I wear my heart on the sleeve, I know that we the new slaves, I see the blood on the leaves”. In these lines, he refuses to let material items, like an expensive car, hold him back. He also says he doesn’t hide his feelings, and that his passion and emotions are never concealed. Then, he admits that the black community actually is a new era of slaves. He then states, “I see the blood on the leaves,” referencing the common practice of lynching blacks during Slavery. Black Slaves were beaten, sodomized, and then hung off trees for little to no reason, leaving behind blood on the leaves. He emphasises that line by repeating it four more times. He’s confirming that the new African-American generation actually are new slaves, because he can see the “blood on the leaves”. That lyric also references to another song on his album entitled,”Blood On The Leaves”. Next, West continues to on ranting about how white corporations can’t control him. During this section of the song, is when West becomes even more vulgar and explicit. Once again, the vulgar language is a huge asset of Hip-hop music. Reaching hip-hop fans, vulgar language, is a must. West continues with,” They throwin' hate at me, Want me to stay at ease F*** you and your corporation Y'all n*ggas can't control me.” (West) West argues that even though these
The criminal justice system is composed of three parts – Police, Courts and Corrections – and all three work together to protect an individual’s rights and the rights of society to live without fear of being a victim of crime. According to merriam-webster.com, crime is defined as “an act that is forbidden or omission of a duty that is commanded by public law and that makes the offender liable to punishment by that law.” When all the three parts work together, it makes the criminal justice system function like a well tuned machine.
Lamar has been successfully achieving his dream by rapping about the stress and difficult situations he has encountered but strongly claims that we will all be alright in his song, “Alright.” He released a song called “i” that reflects how violence has increased in the cities and how he wishes everyone should love each other as humans. His last song on “To Pimp A Butterfly” called “Mortal Man” he states “only because you don’t wear the same color as mine, that doesn’t mean I can’t respect you as a human being.” He clearly states how he understands the reputations of other gang members may seem important but should all still respect others as people. Lamar has been a role model to several students from the city of Compton that was able to create a scholarship called “Be Alright” that is based off the same song called “Alright.” Kendrick Lamar has been respectively producing music for his fans without a doubt of impressive beats and
Hip Hop was, at its inception, a means for African Americans to tell their unaltered story. Towards the mid-’90s however, the genre began to be way more salse conscious than it ever was before. Artists, such as Nas for example, began to stray from their genuine and authentic selves to start making music about drugs, violence, and sex because that was what pushed their sales to the corporate level. This album was Lauryn Hill coming to re-educate the people in an attempt to bring them back to the root of Hip Hop. This poem focuses on many different themes, however this focuses on religion. In the poem Mystery of Iniquity the writer Lauryn Hill examines religion to illustrate racial discrimination, corrupting and crooked
... for my paper because of distinctive, systematic composition of the song. The group members collaborated to create different styles and sounds of hip hop music without using samplings. The lyrics not only convey meaningful messages by using metaphors, but also flow smoothly by using rhymes. Also, by using call and response, RUN DMC made the song livelier and was able to easily excite the crowds. The unique beats, rhythms, and sounds were perfectly arranged by the members to bring originality to the music. Even though RUN DMC had a long hiatus, the group got back together and released new records. Sadly, the group called it quits when Jam Master Jay was murdered in his recording studio. Even though the remaining two members retired after Jay’s death, RUN DMC is still remembered as the legendary rap group that was responsible for popularizing rap and hip hop music.