The Deception of Veracity
Is there really a black culture? Black culture is impacted on an individual and a societal level, but external sources (media) have planted their roots in the definition of what it means to be black. The difficulty that black individuals face of distinguishing between appearances and reality is vividly presented by the songs “Bitch Bad” by Lupe Fiasco and “Thieves In The Night” by Black Star. Although these songs both emphasize how this theme causes a corrupt cycle that is inimical to black culture, Fiasco highlights this in a personal manner, while Black Star underlines its systemic significance. In “Bitch Bad” Lupe Fiasco accentuates the core problems of rap music and its effects on African-American society. A …show more content…
Specifically, he depicts a boy who correlates the word “bitch” with his own mother while the girl discerns the expression in a sexual connotation. This causes hardship and seclusion for both genders since they have dissimilar ideas of what a “bitch” really is; the boy who aspires to find a woman that fits his notion of what a “bitch” is and the girl who desires to become a pleasurable, sexualized object. The internalization produced by this suffering makes for a quandary that can only be dealt with individually. However, the visualizations and language artists use to persuade and enlighten the minds of the youth to buy into their beliefs make it arduous for African-Americans to generate their own conclusions. As Fiasco states, “they’re maleable and probably unmentored” which underscores why the black community has become corrupt in the sense that the confusion of roles has …show more content…
The essence of being proud of oneself without approval from the external world is a certain affair that Talib Kweli, a group member of Black Star, holds African-American society responsible for. Notably, Kweli declares that the black community is “findin’ beauty in the hideous” and are “still livin’ like mental slaves” as they are conforming to the idea of “the law of the bluest eye.” This law allows white civilization to reign supreme by restricting the blacks aptitude to mould their own society. Nonetheless, Kweli calls into question why white culture even has a hand in determining the priorities and understandings of black culture. As a result Mos Def, the other Black Star group member, voices that blacks need to neglect the ethos of this law to identify their fundamental differences from that of the whites. America has created a negative image of black society through “mirages and camouflages” in which African-Americans have “accept[ed] the deception [and] believe[d] the perception.” This causes the black community to get “caught up, in conversations of personal worth” due to material objects such as “imported designer shades” that bring about the corruption of wealth. Capitalist America instills sleazes into African-American civilization which generates a detachment within black society between the rich, poor, and middle class. This leads to
Is there really a black culture? Black culture is impacted on an individual and a societal level, but external sources (media) have planted their roots in the definition of what it means to be black. The difficulty that black individuals face of distinguishing between appearances and reality is vividly presented by the songs “Bitch Bad” by Lupe Fiasco and “Thieves In The Night” by Black Star. Although these songs both emphasize how this theme causes a corrupt cycle that is inimical to black culture, Fiasco highlights this in a personal manner, while Black Star underlines its systemic significance. In “Bitch Bad” Lupe Fiasco accentuates the core problems of rap music and its effects on African-American society. A …show more content…
Specifically, he depicts a boy who correlates the word “bitch” with his own mother while the girl discerns the expression in a sexual connotation. This causes hardship and seclusion for both genders since they have dissimilar ideas of what a “bitch” really is; the boy who aspires to find a woman that fits his notion of what a “bitch” is and the girl who desires to become a pleasurable, sexualized object. The internalization produced by this suffering makes for a quandary that can only be dealt with individually. However, the visualizations and language artists use to persuade and enlighten the minds of the youth to buy into their beliefs make it arduous for African-Americans to generate their own conclusions. As Fiasco states, “they’re maleable and probably unmentored” which underscores why the black community has become corrupt in the sense that the confusion of roles has …show more content…
The essence of being proud of oneself without approval from the external world is a certain affair that Talib Kweli, a group member of Black Star, holds African-American society responsible for. Notably, Kweli declares that the black community is “findin’ beauty in the hideous” and are “still livin’ like mental slaves” as they are conforming to the idea of “the law of the bluest eye.” This law allows white civilization to reign supreme by restricting the blacks aptitude to mould their own society. Nonetheless, Kweli calls into question why white culture even has a hand in determining the priorities and understandings of black culture. As a result Mos Def, the other Black Star group member, voices that blacks need to neglect the ethos of this law to identify their fundamental differences from that of the whites. America has created a negative image of black society through “mirages and camouflages” in which African-Americans have “accept[ed] the deception [and] believe[d] the perception.” This causes the black community to get “caught up, in conversations of personal worth” due to material objects such as “imported designer shades” that bring about the corruption of wealth. Capitalist America instills sleazes into African-American civilization which generates a detachment within black society between the rich, poor, and middle class. This leads to