Slavery: How Rap and inequality hold African Americans Hostage

Slavery is the idea of owning another person as if they were property. The idea of slavery has been around for centuries and in some cultures, still is in existence. Slavery was very prominent in the United States before the Civil War.

Although slavery is no longer in existence here in the United States, inequality is still unbelievably common. This is most commonly found in the levels of social classes here in the United States. The difference in median income between the overall group of people in the U.S. and the median income of African Americans is staggering. In 2010, the median income for African Americans was $29,328.00, compared to all of the U.S. was over $50,000.00. In the Fortune 500, or the worlds top 500 companies in the world, for every four CEOs, only one is African American. In our senate today, there are no African Americans. We have only had six African American Senators in the history of our government. When will inequality end? It is a common stigma in the United States that African Americans are meant to be from the projects, act as if they are ghetto, and know they are not equal to the rest of the United States, but why is this? It seems that people who have had generations living in the United States forget the hatred they once endured. We have a sense of entitlement and feel we are better than the African American population. I will be the first to say that I have witnessed this inequality first hand. My high school only had a total of thirteen African Americans throughout all grades. I live in an area known as a rich retirement area. For this reason, it seems that African Americans are priced out of the local homes. On top of this fact, those thirteen kids all move around school in a group. This is most likely due to the feeling of being outsiders in such a large Caucasian community. Most kids in my school used the “N” word to describe these children. Why is this? Why would it ever seem okay to look down upon kids who are just like you and me? Because they are African American.

One answer to this question of inequality that I have found is rap music. Most people in the R n B business are of African American descent. Through many eyes, we begin to believe that it is the thought process of all African Americans. We believe that all of them deal drugs, drink expensive liquors, and call all girls “bitches” and “hood rats”. This is not helping to end inequality; instead it is causing a larger void. If rap were to be cleaned up, or more African Americans were to break from the norms that seem to plague African Americans, maybe inequality can be squashed.

This is a Rap Video that shows those stigmas.