The Black Informant | African American Commentary, News and Community Building

Being the peanut butter fan that I am, a few years ago my wife brought home a box of hard to find peanut butter cereal that quickly became my favorite. Captain Crunch was always my favorite growing up, but because of the sugar content, I had to give it up. This new cereal used mostly natural ingredients and tasted good.

A few years into my “it” cereal and I noticed that the taste had changed for the worse. My worst fears had come to past: The recipe had changed!!! Instead of making a big deal about it, I simply decided not to buy it for a while thinking that perhaps I just happened to buy a bad batch or hopefully the company would revert back to their original recipe. Because if I noticed the change, I’m sure others did as well. Well, something happened because the cereal now tastes just like it did on the day my wife brought it home.

There have been other products in the past as well where we have stopped buying it because of some change in the formula used. If I ever wanted to make a complaint about these changes, what would it look like if I complained to the grocery store manager? He/she would just forward me to the manufacturer of the product–for the only role of the grocery store is to sell the product–not make changes to the content.

While it is very true that some civil rights activists as well as folks in the Black community have been very critical of rap artists who put out music that is oftentimes degrading to women, very explicit or violent, their criticism towards the record companies that produce these artists have been equal or greater. For example, how many times have you seen or heard of a protest march being held in front of the home of a rap artist versus the times marches have been held in front of a corporate building? When these activists take this two-pronged approach, no matter how good their intentions they are diluting their overall message to the folks who need it the most–the kids.

Like it our not, these kids who make up the rap industry are a product of OUR CULTURE. Record companies just take that product and sell it for profit. Relating back to my story above, if I do not like the product, the “store manager” is the wrong person to focus my complaint. I need to go to the product manufacturer–the Black community. In short, the responsibility to set the morality tone in our community does not rest with a few White men in a conference room, it rests with us.

I think that because many of us see this as an issue with a long term solution that requires serious commitment, including record company executives in our criticisms makes it easier for the medicine of truth to go down. It softens the blow of a reality we know exists, but to few of us are willing to make a lifelong commitment to it because even we have admitted at one time or another just how difficult it can be. Just listen to any Black talk radio show. The problem at times seems so insurmountable at times that we will funnel some of our frustrations to comedy. But even the stimulant of comedy lacks the ability to magically erase the home grown problems that have spilled over into the mainstream.

If you are over the age of 30, then there is a good chance that you grew up in an environment where your neighborhood was the village many folks only talk about today. For me, part of my childhood was spent in North Philadelphia and the other part was spent in a small suburban town in South Jersey. No matter what the color of the older villagers, they all felt free enough to play some role in my upbringing. In today’s world–even within our own culture–this is slowly becoming a rarity where thanks to PC, folks feel almost immobilized to intervene when they see a child being disrespectful. Demanding that record company executives begin to censor artists who willingly volunteer to portray negative stereotypes is nothing more than a plea to cover up problems we have been unable to control on our own.