[Cal B.]

I am amazed that in this day and age there are still racist young people amongst us. I assumed that by 2011, with equality as widely accepted as it is, racism would finally be on it's last leg. I was wrong.

I have encountered racism on both sides from members of older generations. Whether it was a racist joke my grandpa would tell at the dinner table, or a name an older African American woman called me when working customer service and couldn't refund her GPS with the screen shattered, I have become familiar with bigotry. Whenever there was a situation where someone was referring to another race in a less than civil way, I simply let it pass because I assumed they were brought up in different times and they didn't know any better.

This idea of a perfect world where a generation finally existed that did not see people for their skin color was shattered over this past weekend. A 20 year old I met from Inkster, MI seemed really cool at first but that was also soon to fade. I had spent a lot of time talking to them and sharing bits of myself as one usually does when making small talk. Told them about my interests, we exchanged stories and personal info, getting a little deeper than anyone would care to put in the stats of a Facebook page. I then started telling them about how I, a white guy from the suburbs, used to write and record rap songs. This is where everything fell apart.

They laughed and told me that it was a good thing I quit. I couldn't decifer their response so I asked them to elaborate. They said, "You're white. Act White. Be White." I was astonished that such comments would come from someone who seemed to be so cool at first. I told them their comments were upsetting me and they continued to instruct me on how white guys are supposed to behave.

I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I was getting angrier and I decided if I don't stop talking to this person without cooling off, I'm going to flip out on them. So I stopped and waited a few days before attempting to contact them again. Today I sent a harmless text message. We messaged back and forth for a while but something seemed a little off. When I addressed the issue I was bombarded with accusations of being fake, trying to act black, and that if I tried to do anythig like that out in Inkster I'd be chased out of town. It wasn't until I was called a snowflake that I realized I was not getting through to this person...who was also white. I was told I was being childish for having a problem with their comments and that they saw things how they are in the real world.

I was thoroughly disgusted by this but it was a wake up call for me. The biggest problem I have with this encounter that this person claimed that they weren't racist. They had had relationships with black people before, but understood that everyone had their role to play and uderstood the ways they're supposed to bahave. This is bigotry and closet racism in it's finest here and I can't help but feel pity for this person. I guess since I was brought up in a household where people were just people and skin color only made a difference in the type of sunscreen they used, I couldn't cope with the message I was recieving. In the midst of all of this I have to ask, how is this possible?

Martin Luther King's I have a dream speech was almost half a century ago. From then on many steps have been taken to promote equality. Segregation is a thing of the past, hate crimes are federal offenses, and every day we make it easier for citizens of other countries to start new lives in the land of opportunity. How, then, can a person in their early 20's in 2011 still divide races with such contrast. How can someone take stereotypes of the past and apply it to members of the future? How they project such skewed visions of the world onto others with such little remorse?

Ignorance?

I wish I knew.

Thanks for reading.

[Bydand]

There are Morons everywhere, not just Inkster.

[reconmark]

Welcome to City-data, you are in for a wild ride!!!..get ready and venture out to the politics and controversies section.

[zthatzmanz28]

First "trip" to Inkster? So there has not been any racist commentary up to now? Just wait until the rest of the country is explored...

[magellan]

There is racism everywhere. Knock it off people! That is all.

LOL that 20 something white hipsters in "Inkster" have all the answers to global cultural issues.

[michigan83]

I think you need to lower your expectations. You can't expect every person you meet to be fair, enlightened, educated, color blind, etc. You're just setting yourself up to be disappointed and riled up all of the time. A much better response is, "haha, whatever man." And then change the subject.

[wagonman76]

A white rapper from the Detroit suburbs is fake? Emimem would be laughing all the way to the bank. He's not my cup of tea but has certainly made a successful career.

[Indentured Servant]

I don’t see any evidence of racism in what was communicated. Racism is essentially a system or belief of racial supremacy. There was nothing he said that denigrated black people or suggested black inferiority or white inferiority. Black culture is not hip hop culture but hip hop culture is a subset of black culture. The probabilities of a white person making it in the genre are much lower than probability of a black person making it and that’s slim. So many black youth are wasting their time trying to be rappers…….that it’s even more of a waste of time for aspiring whites to do so. It’s a probability analysis and the probability of a white person becoming a rap star is really for blacks and even lower for whites.

I am a big reggae fan. I like listening to reggae that tells a story that is a reflection of what the lives of people in their country and culture is like. Sometimes I hear a nice sounding reggae song of someone telling a story only to find out later that it was someone from the US or the UK, usually white, parading patois and the Jamaican accent talking about things they obviously never done or lived. I am immediately turned off by that because it’s not original, meaning it’s not from the culture. Rap is the same way. I don’t like perpetrating rap…..which most rappers are today.

I think the key to being a successful white rapper is to be true to who you are. Don’t talk about or rap about stuff you have not really lived or experienced. That is why Eminem found success. He reflected the life of a trailer park white guy and he was REAL. He did not try to emulate the lives and experience of African Americans, which is the typical norm of hip hop, since it’s born from the black culture. Now you even have some aspiring white rappers using the N word in songs, emulating what they hear from black rappers. That’s a big NO NO! My suggestion is simply to be true to whom you are…..and maybe that is what the individual you befriended was trying to express.


Good Rap!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dcCfQy3EvQ

[TaylorRothschild]

I agree with I.S. There is no racism in this story at all. "Act white" is the same as "act black", "act jewish", "act like a Hilton" that parents / friends / loved ones utter to each other all the time. It only indicates that the person envisions a certain mold you should fit into. Ignorant? Not sure, but definitely a limiting belief.

Is Obama "acting black"? Eminem "acting white"? If you don't have the fortitude to follow your own path, march to the beat of your own drummer, and pursue your own dreams whatever those may be, the last thing you should be worrying about is the racial views of others.

The real question you should be asking yourself isn't "why does racism exist". It's "why did his comment bother me so much".

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by Indentured Servant

I don’t see any evidence of racism in what was communicated. Racism is essentially a system or belief of racial supremacy. There was nothing he said that denigrated black people or suggested black inferiority or white inferiority. Black culture is not hip hop culture but hip hop culture is a subset of black culture. The probabilities of a white person making it in the genre are much lower than probability of a black person making it and that’s slim. So many black youth are wasting their time trying to be rappers…….that it’s even more of a waste of time for aspiring whites to do so. It’s a probability analysis and the probability of a white person becoming a rap star is really for blacks and even lower for whites.

I am a big reggae fan. I like listening to reggae that tells a story that is a reflection of what the lives of people in their country and culture is like. Sometimes I hear a nice sounding reggae song of someone telling a story only to find out later that it was someone from the US or the UK, usually white, parading patois and the Jamaican accent talking about things they obviously never done or lived. I am immediately turned off by that because it’s not original, meaning it’s not from the culture. Rap is the same way. I don’t like perpetrating rap…..which most rappers are today.

I think the key to being a successful white rapper is to be true to who you are. Don’t talk about or rap about stuff you have not really lived or experienced. That is why Eminem found success. He reflected the life of a trailer park white guy and he was REAL. He did not try to emulate the lives and experience of African Americans, which is the typical norm of hip hop, since it’s born from the black culture. Now you even have some aspiring white rappers using the N word in songs, emulating what they hear from black rappers. That’s a big NO NO! My suggestion is simply to be true to whom you are…..and maybe that is what the individual you befriended was trying to express.

This is a good assessment.

Actually I think I've heard of many black rappers who are actually middle class or wealthy, trying to portray themselves as ghetto and hood.

Probably the friends of the OP, just recognized something akin to that.

Good point about Eminem portraying trailer park white culture, and it resonating with people.

Personally, I think white rappers in suburban Detroit should rap about the dividing line of Eight Mile...what it means, how it effects them, how it effects society. There is certainly something there, and maybe Eminem has already expressed it all, I have no idea.