Do you agree with Pitts' assertion that we shouldn't blame Chang, the developer of a board game called "Ghettopoly," but we should blame hard core rappers and the record labels that produce them? How influential do you feel the lyrics and images of music and videos are on their audiences? Who exactly are the audiences of these messages and does that complicate things?
Grades:
1.) Write one well thought out, grammatically "sufficient" post, where you pose questions or make comments that would lead to a response. You MUST identify yourself by name and block (example, Ryan Holt, B8).
2.) Write one response to someone else's post where you challenge, question, or agree with their response.
Any responses that feature vulgar, obscene, or otherwise not worthy of being shown to the principal will result in an automatic zero on this assignment and may even result in a referral.
Post by next Wednesday for full credit. Otherwise you have to turn in the 150 word response next class.
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33 comments:
I agree that we shouldn't blame Chang, but i don't think we should blame 'hard core rappers' either. I think we should blame the parents for not emphasizing that stereotypes are wrong.
I think that certain music does make an influence, mostly to young childern. Young childern, 5 or 6, don't really know wrong and right. So a young child listening to music about shooting people will have big negative effect.
The real audience is middle class white people. The only way i see how this can complicate things is that little white boys are trying to be black, they need a reality check. ~nicholle haigler, A3
I think that all forms of media, including movies, music, games, etc., have no affect on anyone. I think people are just using them as execuses. For example, if I shoot someone's head off in a game you don't see me going out in public with a shotgun looking for someone to do it to. People have control of what they do,the media has no influence of what people do.
If the fault was to be laid upon one of these two, it would be more the fault of the "hardcore" rappers. Before this article, I have never heard of the board game "Ghettopoly." When was this out & where? I have seen music videos and images of these rappers and the objects and profanity that are shown in the videos and the people that are disrespected and shunned. The music industry is very influential and does encourage people to do stuff but I do not think it can be used as an excuse for people or young children to perform "dumb" actions. The audience of these videos or messages is those that are able to by the artists' products and able to watch them. Middle class whites AND blacks, not just one or the other. These folks are usually younger in age and immature. You see many teens and adults trying to imitate these artists and doing the things they do. People may copy others but I beleive peer pressure is just an excuse because everyone makes their own choices and decisions. - Joshua Darr, B5
We should not blame Chang. We should blame the rappers that sing and promote that behavior. they are the ones that spread that message for a purpose of making money. They talk about Violence, Drugs, and it degrades women. Its not surprising that people are copying what they say and that people relate black people to that image.
BUT its also the parents fault that they are realizing what their children are listening to.
So the Black community should not blame chang but the rappers and the supporters of the music and the message. ~Michael Boardman B8
In response to Boardman M.'s post: Why isn't it surprising that people imitate that behavior? Do you (or anyone else?) think that it's really human nature to degrade women, glorify violence, and promote criminal activity?
Also, why is it not surprising to associate all African Americans with rap messages? Are you asserting that popular media only shows these images of African Americans? Where's our "Cosby Show" today, right?
In response to Nicholle: why do you think "little white boys" would "want to be black?" What is it about the message in popular "gangsta" rap that that "little white boys" like?
I really want to hear what you guys are listening to that is not "Uncle Tom," or sell-out, rap. Can someone post a link to an artist, maybe an underground artist, who sells a positive message and a strong African American message?
I hear a lot about Nas, Kanye West, and some others. My sister is really big into an East Bay group called "hieroglyphics", mostly famous for one of their members Del, the funkee homosapien. Del's lyrics are odd-ball, somewhat positive, and he was featured in that Gorillaz song, "Sunshine in a Bag."
Any other thoughts? Can we dispell the myth that all rap
sells those negative messages?
In response to Mr. Holt, nothing in rap music really appeals to white boys, so i guess i dont have anything to back that up. but heres a popular song that has a good message http://youtube.com/watch?v=cZd1Js0QaOI but then again he did make that song gold digger...
I agree and disagree with Pitts. Chang is one of many to blame. I would think every grown man has the common sense not to put a historical leader on the front of a boardgame that depicts the whole image of everything the civil marches and civil movements stood for. Any race, whether white,chinese or black has the right to take one of Americas most famous inspirational speakers/leaders and turn him into a neighborhood thug.Especially when he was the one who was preaching to stop everything that was going on in this game.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not taking any blame off of the rappers. It is just as much their fault as it is mine for listening to them knowing. But there are people that listen to rap and stereotype the whole black race as nothing but common thugs,criminals and Lord knows what else. There are many African Americans that have no ties to rap, dont listen to, associate with or even acknowledge the wreckless behavior that comes along with the music. People listen to rap more for the beat and voices. But people never listen to the lyrics of rappers and when they do, they just guess what they mean and dont take time to understand what they are listening to.Their are songs that address guns and state problems in the "hood".But there are songs on the contrary that talk about the Lord, Jesus Christ and song that address crisis happening all over the world. There are song that also address crisis in politics and government.
When people listen to mainstream music,kids are affected just as much as opposed to listening to Beethoven. When listening to music, they are influenced by drugs or gang violence. Many kids between the ages of 6 and above listen to rap. I am not saying that rap won't have any effect on the people who listen to it, but it's not who listens to it. Rather, it's who is letting kids listen to the people who talk about shooting up people on the corners and the drug trade. It trying to separate fact from fiction. If any parent thinks that a 6year old should hear that mess; then that parent needs to be blamed and should be questioned.
~Diante Brown B6
Nice posting, Diante. A lot of what you say is perfectly correct. How do deal with the conflict between message and how it's received? Is it fair to censor something because it may be offensive to an audience that it was never intended for? (think South Park, for example. Should we censor that show because 6 year olds might watch it?)
I appreciate your frustration. I'll challenge you on the "listening to it for the 'beat'" argument, though. I hear this a lot. Isn't there dance-hall music for that? What's the beat in the song "soldier-boy?" In fact, what's the appeal of that song at all? The rhymes aren't good, the beat is off-time, and people screaming "oooh!!!" every measure is pretty annoying. Maybe we just like doing the Superman!!!
Oh!
i belive that hard core rap should be blame for the song they wright but also belive that chang should be blame to for come up with the game
in respond to boardman m. they should blame chang to because he should checks his infomtion before he make a game
In Response to Diante, Every one has a good point on this. I Think every one is to blame on this not just chang. I will admit that i had my days of listening to Dr Dre, Big, 50 cent ect. But this game has pushed the limits. Just because you like rap doesnt mean your a bad person. The one thing that really pushed my buttons was the whole thing with MLK Jr, that was just wrong, now that i blame on chang. It is one thing to make a game about rap and so on and so forth, but to deface an american leader like that is wrong. In my eyes i would have to say that chang is racist. And mr holt had a really good point about they er just singing about the wealthy life and that is fine, who doesnt dream. Look at scarface, it was a movie about a rich man from cuba that loved his coke. But some peaples dreams are diffrent than others, some dreams are more hard core than others. But most of these dreams are made up, because people (Movie makers, Recorders.ect) know that it will make money. You what its sad but true the world runs on money.
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Tommy
I most deffinately agree with Nicholle H. You can't really blame the "hard core rappers" because there making their own music. It's what they think or how they want to express themselves.Yeah the violence and drugs they talk about is around but you don't have to listen. There's different songs and types of music you can listen to.
Some it's about the world and how there life is going(basically love lifes). You can't (well shouldn't) penalize them for expressing themselves with music and lyrics. You know some parents have a big problem with the music and what they have to say in there lyrics but don't take control of there own child listing to it. You can't stop your child from listening b/c its around so much but you still need to let them know to not take the lyrics to heart. I also strongly agree with Diante Brown too! ~Mindy Cook, A3
I agree very much with Diante. There are many songs that depict the bad and irresponsible behavior. Yet there are many songs that are religiously influential and talk about the everyday struggles and losses throughout life that do not contain vulgar and provocative phrases such as "I Will Be Missing" by P. Diddy formerly known as Puff Daddy. Why is it that we only see the "bad" songs in the news? Why is it that we only see people trying to imitate the images of these songs and not that of an influentially good song? Why aren't people of all ages influenced more by the songs that talk about religion, faith, politics, and everyday problems? Why?
Also, this type of problem is not just for rap music but with country, rock, R&B, and many other types of music. There are stereotypes against all races. Even where a person may come from can influence the stereotype against them and others.
Regarding David T. Do you guys think everyone has the self control he's suggesting? Can you think of examples where people haven't?
It is all to be blamed on Chang. Chang was the creator and he chooses what influences him may it be the music he listens to, books he reads, or the people in his life. Also in response to Mr. Holt's earlier question, " Are you asserting that popular media only shows these images of African Americans?" Media does not solely play shows that are up to date, they also replay the "Cosby Show" and "Stanford and Son" which do not give that aforementioned point of view on african americanson African Americans. I would also like to point out that not all rap music is written by people with African American decendance. Eminem and Vanilla Ice are two examples of rap artists with different ethnic backgrounds.
I agree i don't think we should blame Chang or the "hard core rappers". People always want to blame the rappers because of their lyrics or what they have donw in their past but there are plenty of people in the world that are doing the same thing but they don't go public about it. some parents always want to blame any one else besides themselves. Parents needs to make sure that their childen need to know that sterotypes are wrong. Such as, just because someone is black does'nt mean they are a "gangsta" or that they listen torap music. I also agree with David, the media does not hsve any effect on people, they just use it as an execuse because they have no other reason.
Tabitha W. B-5
qWhy would we blame Chang or "hard core rappers"? Thier doing nothing but giving people what they want and making a living. Most people, if they could make a fair sum of money by making offensive board games and using sterotypes to sell thier products they would. Most people would write a violent song or two to make money. We can only blame ourselves for giving in and buying these boardgames and these "hard-core rappers" albums, we can't blame them for living the american dream and making money off it. So I don't blame chang or the "hardcore rappers", I blame us for buying all thier products and giving them to younger children.
I think that Chang should not be blamed because the concept of a game called Ghettopolly sounds like fun. Some people would be offended but then again there's something that offends everyone. I dont think we should blame rappers either because even if they do rap about mature subjects parents have the responsibility to moniter their childs music and decide if their child is mature enough to listen to it.
Cherokee mike has a good point when we should blame the hard core rap artist. But like i said before its not all there fault.
In response to Cherokeemike, I think he should learn to spell check, use proper verb tenses, and the correct spelling of too. But why should we blame Chang for trying to make money? Everyone else tries to make money, he just happened to offend some people while he was doing it.
I think we shouldn't blame Chang or the rappers. It's their right to make a game, or rap about whatever they want. We shouldn't blame for what goes on in society. Nobody is making these "thugs" or anybody else shoot people, or rob houses, or anything that would be associated with the "ghetto". People make their own choices, not the media.
And in response to Mr. Holt: I like the soulja boy. It's fun to dance to.
In response to the original blog; I believe that rap music is fake. These people arent shootin up the ghetto, there not out there selling those rocks, moving that profit or pimping those...girls. These men are too busy trying to make it look like they are. I bet they spend most of thier time in the recording studio trying to find new ways (songs) to promote this so-called image. Then this "image" is put out to young teens who think it is real then they go try and act like these so-called "gangstas." You shouldnt blame chang, this stuff isnt real! you can blame those "fakes" who wrote the songs and the posers who promote them! Maybe Chang even realizes that its not real, its all a joke. So, yes i think it has a big influence on people, today's teens mostly. Teens today think that they are ten foot tall and bullet-proof. They dont realize that pulling out a gun when somebody calls your little brother names has real consequences. Guns can kill people! Ang yes, I believe that people who are holding the guns kill people but everybody knows they are dangerous.
So i ask all of you who believe that rap music has no affect? Where do these "gangsta Teens" get all of these Drug dealing, girl degrading, slang-slingin ideas?
In response to KC,I agree that we shouldn't blame Chang or the rappers. People know what is right from wrong and when they make the wrong choice there is nobody to blame but themselves.Music, rappers, or the media don't tell you what to do or how to live your life.
I agree with Mickey. The rappers and Chang are just trying to make a living. We are the ones that are "giving in". I think the parents and ourselves are the ones to blame. The parents are the ones that should be monitoring what their child are doing. If the child listens to "hardcore" rap, then the parent should know. How the kid interperets the song is totally up to them.
I think that "hard core rap" does and doesn't have an effect on kids. I mean we all get exposed to things today that are molding us to who we become with later in life. Like if we keep shoveling in things that deal with violence or drugs we are more likely to do them. But on the other hand that doesn't make it an excuse to blame them though I mean this is what they are doing to survive in life.
You do have a choice in what you do but kids growing up in bad households really won't know the difference if they haven't lived in anything but this. So I think it can go both ways depending on where you grow up and how things are accepted there.
Lauren S. B5
I agree with Nicholle, I think that Chang is not the one to be blamed. I believe that Chang has not been proven wrong in believing in these stereotypes, and that is why it is not his fault, but the people who weren't outraged when hardcore rappers new albums came out. I have an example, that small white boys are listening to these rappers, and cannot judge between right and wrong, thus making some very dangerous situations for themselves and others. My host parents grandson is five years old and listens to rap, mostly because that's what his dad listens to. Some weeks ago this five year old kid tried to stab a three year old with a spoon and then pushed him over. The three year old was not seriously injured. I will not blame the behavior of the boy on the rap music he was listening to, but instead on his father. This boy is very spoiled and I know that he gets everything he wants when he is at his dad's house. This five year old boy entertains himself, with shooting zombies/people in video games or actually shooting his dad with a BB gun and then getting shot back. I would not call this very good parenting. I believe that the reason for this kind of behavior is the lack of responsibility of the parents. This is generally the root of all problems if your dad teaches you that it's o.k. to shoot people I would wager that that is wherein the problem lies... Alexander Brisson A3
I don't think we should blame Chang for glorifying the stereotypes of African Americans. I feel the artists and hardcore rappers in the industry put that images of violence, drugs, and degrading women upon themselves. I do believe that all music has an impact on the listener whether they realize it or not, it's just the way they interpret the music that varies among the individual. With that said, I strongly disagree with parents blaming the rappers and the industry for causing their children to imitate these rappers. People can choose what they listen to and how to act. It isn't like somebody is forcing them to listen to this music, they have the option to turn it off. It just dumbfounds me that parents blame the music when they have the option to turn the music off and not allow their kids to listen to it.
In response to Mr. Holt: I agree that people often see all rap as being violent and degrading. They just don't take the time to appreciate the music. Take a look at Sugar Hill Gang, they were among the first popular rappers and to me it seems that they had no intention for rap music to spin out of control.
Jamie s -B5
Megan Ross, B5
I dont agree with Pitss on how Chang, the developer of "Ghettopoly" shouldn't be blamed. I feel as if the hard core rappers and videos did however influence the game but it was Chang's choice to publish this game providing a negative outlook of the lives of rappers and people living in the "ghetto". The game as well as the hard core rappers becomes a huge threat to guiding the lives of young boys or children. The both give off a degrading, harmful, fallacious message. This in turn influences these young children to grow up and become drug dealers or become famous rappers who rap about drugs, violence, and humiliating women. Therefore making this a vicious circle.
Megan Ross, B5
I agree with Diante, everyone contributes in demeaning the lifestyles of great American activists and everyday life. I believe that not one person is to blame in sellitg the negative messages of the life of rappers. I never buy the excuse that you are just listening to the song because of the beat. I understand that the beat is a key part to the song but no matter what you are listening to the words subconciously. Rappers these days do have an occasional meaningful song but the next week that same rapper has come up with another derogatory song or message. Diante made some very good points and I back him up completely.
I really think that the people often identify with a stereotype. They choose what to do or what image they want to project that is appealing to others. I don’t think that all African Americans or any other race should be stereotyped like that. Of course it’s wrong…but if you cause yourself the problem then why would you complain?!?
I feel that people make the decision on whether or not to be influenced by “hard core rap”. If they are weak minded, they usually choose to be influenced by others as well as music.
I have a few questions about Ghettopoly on the other hand: Is this a real game? , How, if it is considered “Racist”, was it approved to be put in the stores? What gave Chang the idea of making this game?
I think that both Hard Core Rappers, and Chang are to blame. Both promote gang violence and drugs. No parents want there kids playing a game with a crack rock as a piece. No parents want there kids to watch music videos with people shooting and killing themselves on it. Both are influencing kids to do wrongfull things.
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