In an interview with CNN yesterday, Jay-Z revealed to the world that he is a proponent of gay marriage:
“I’ve always thought it as something that was still holding the country back. What people do in their own homes is their business and you can choose to love whoever you love. That’s their business. It’s no different than discriminating against blacks. It’s discrimination, plain and simple.”
It’s no secret that the black community, especially the black church, is strongly against homosexuality. Which is surprising when you consider that African Americans have been discriminated against since the foundation of America, a trend that continues to this day. Rather than looking at the ignorance and saying it needs to change because it’s wrong for people to think like that, we should be looking at the larger picture and see what causes that mind state in order to change it in the most efficacious way. How can a people who have been discriminated against since they were forcibly brought into this country, and have shed blood for their civil rights have the audacity to discriminate against a different group and seek to deny them their civil rights? When you take a look at some of Jay’s masterpieces, the answer is right in front of your face.
Take a look at some lines from Jay’s classic “Where I’m From:”
“Your word was everything, So everything you said you’d do/
You did it, Couldn’t talk about it if you ain’t lived it/”
As a consequence your manhood is brought into question. For a man coming up in a community where most people have little to nothing, your manhood is the most important thing you carry around with you at all times. A man is viewed as someone who is honest, courageous, loyal and virile. If a man carries himself in any other way, he will live life without respect and in some cases, acting like a “bitch” can be the cause of his death. This leads to an abundance of African American males who grow up feeling like any aberration to the social paradigm of masculinity should be treated with disgust.
From Jay-Z’s “Ignorant Shit:”
“Scarface the movie did more than Scarface the rapper to me/
Still that ain’t to blame for all the shit that’s happened to me”
The analogy of Hollywood and hip-hop is the perfect comparison for the influences of White America on Black America. America is a hyper aggressive society. If you need evidence, look no further than our defense budget. A subculture will always share values unique to itself, but the values of the larger society will still be present.
Discrimination has been a part of American society since its foundation, yet no one ever asks why. As a capitalist country, class inequality is integral to America’s survival. It is impossible to subjugate such a large number of people if they amalgamate to attain complete social and economic equality. In order to maintain status quo the subjugated class must be distracted. I can’t think of a better way to distract people than to have them focus on superficial differences such as the amount of melanin in someone’s skin or sexual preference.
Because America will always look for something to discriminate against, the subcultures will as well. If it’s not blacks, it’s gays. If not gays, then it’s Jews. If not Jews, then it’s either rich or poor people, and since most of America is heading to the poor house, then logically the former will be the most suitable candidate.
As a human race it is imperative that we wake up and realize that we share more commonalities than differences. If we don’t we will continue to be subjugated. If you believe that right now all Americans are equal, then look at the prison industrial complex, and look at the economic differences between those who it benefits and those who are affected by it. It is time to wake up.
Jay-Z is a trendsetter. He killed Auto-Tune, he killed throwbacks, and hopefully with this proclamation, he makes it cool for us to accept one another despite superficial differences.
