Hip Hop & Race:
Don't Integrate Into A
Burning House
by - Kristine Wright
8/7/02 8:18:22 AM
Last week after we ran San Jose producer Capp's response to the article Integration of the Hip Hop Nation by Minister Paul Scott we got tons of response. As promised we will continue to share some of the thoughts people have to offer up as a way to encourage dialogue. We feel when it comes to the issue of race and culture folks should take time to read, reflect and discuss the points that are raised.. Feel free to join in this ongoing conversation by offering up your own editorials, feedback and understandings..
For those who have not read the articles.. be sure to familiarize your self...
Integration of the Hip Hop Nation
A Response to Minister Paul Scott
Here are two compelling responses to Capp's article..

Dear Davey D,

I felt compelled to join the dialogue on integration in the hip hop nation for a number of reasons I now explain. To begin, I want to commend both Min. Scott and Capp for their courage to discuss racial relations in a climate that is often very hostile, as you either appear to be a racist, a separatist, or a delusional idealist.

I have had the opportunity to teach in two very different environments: 1) a lower income neighborhood in Compton that (dis) serves only African American and Latino students and 2) a university in the upper middle class city of Irvine, an Orange County suburb. At this university, the student population is multicultural, representing a variety of ethnicities and nationalities - with the STARK exception of black and brown brothas and sistas. This student population is composed mainly of Asian Americans of various ethnic backgrounds, with the second largest group being Caucasians. In my class, I often get replies similar to Capp's when I raise the issue of hip hop as a black thing, could you understand? What I find is that most students only identify race in terms if skin color, and for that reason take offense to me labeling hip hop as a black thing…We need to be re-taught what race in this country actually stands for….

And that is POWER and PRIVILEGE. That’s' why many now want to do away with the idea of race… not like your Ward Connerly's that believe that it is not an issue, but to better understand its purpose in our society. They choose to discuss the idea of racialization and a racialized system to show how "race" has been used to determine one's position in society, bringing in the class aspect of racialization, being no accident that the majority of black and brown citizens are socially and economically disadvantaged. At the same time, in a racialized society, we are taught that skin color actually means something, making it as possible for a black university professor to be harassed by the police or misidentified as a custodian (despite his suit), or a prominent black actor to be passed up time and time again for a taxi in New York City. All true stories….

Now let’s apply to the hip hop nation and the multiculturalism we find. Sure, hip hop has transcended racial barriers, if we define in terms of ethnicity and skin tones. But that we are all dancing to the same beat does NOTHING to change the real social and economic conditions of those oppressed - and the last 20 years offers substantial evidence to this. One only needs to do some research and look at the statistics, or better yet, visit your local hood. When a college student in my class claims to be hip hop saying its not a black thing, but does not recognize his/her privilege by looking around the class and seeing few to no African Americans or Latinos, I can't accept that concept of equality and unity.

I know for a fact that many of my students I taught in Compton were brighter and smarter than many I find at this ranked #10 public university in the country. They have to be… their entire survival depends on it. I also know for a fact that most of those brighter Compton students will never make it to college and will have fewer opportunities than their middle class hip hop counterparts. This is why I can not join the club of hip hop started as a voice of oppressed black and brown youth but now it's worldwide… because for these oppressed black and brown youth, little has changed and hip hop is still their voice. So…is hip hop a black thing? Fa sho - if you define black in terms of oppression, racialization, and victimization…

In her unplugged CD, Lauryn Hill makes a bold but true and profound claim: only two positions: victimizer or victim, both end up in destruction trusting this crooked system…it's the mystery of iniquity, the misery of iniquity (lack of righteousness or justice). The root of our struggles lies in this.

So specifically in response to thoughts from Capp, it is not enough to understand while maintaining the status quo, and in many ways, believing that Min. Scott is being divisive means you don't recognize that the division is already there…and will continue until the entire system is changed…

For example, there's a big difference between college-aged African Americans, and African Americans in college, the vast majority falling in the first category. I do see African Americans in college at underground shows, but I also know that college-age African Americans have no use for the funk and conscious hip hop when their reality doesn't relate…

You say hip hop can bridge continents, and ask if it can it get us in America past OUR PAST? The problem with your question is that America's problem is not in its past but in its present…and many don't recognize this because they believe we have overcome…

Even Martin Luther King gained a new understanding of what real integration must be toward the end of his life and I believe many need to hear this: The title I use for this letter are words from Martin Luther King (please see book by Cornel West, Restoring Hope). Toward the end of his life, he claimed to a friend that he knew we would achieve integration, but he was afraid we were integrating into a burning house. He understood that our biggest obstacle was not the KKK or other blatant racism, but was instead the values and beliefs (and lack of spirituality for that matter) of the majority of Americans. Our biggest threat did not come from the few that burnt the crosses, but came from the many that stayed safely away in their neighborhoods, complacent. These are the ones that cry how terrible oppression and racism are, but do nothing to change it. And having multicultural friends, going to multicultural events, and listening to multicultural music does little to change systemic victimization.

So when I ask my students in this upper middle class university if they want a world defined by equality, of course they all answer yes. BUT when I ask what privilege they are willing to give up to make this a reality, few have any idea what they can do. Many even admit that they are unwilling to give up anything, especially when I ask if they'd be willing to give up their space at the university for an underrepresented person of color.

Well, if we believe that there are those that are disadvantaged by this system, we must acknowledge that for one to be disadvantaged, others must gain advantage. However, it is easier for us to just point the finger at greedy corporate America, but the TRUTH is that many in between also benefit from the status quo.

Integration into a burning house is no answer…. I thank Martin Luther King for that insight…Let's clean house first and then maybe we can all get along on the same level…. PEACE to all.

Kristine Wright

Kristine Wright teaches a course in Hip-Hop at the University of Califorina - Irvine and can be contacted via e-mail at Wrightk@uci.edu