Is Hip-Hop Making Black Males Unemployable?
In a recent article for YourBlackBloggers.net, Chico C. Norwood postulates that hip-hop music on the radio is conditioning an entire generation of African American males to be unemployable. Through a long and well thought out argument, Norwood explains that men who go into the world without education good values or a productive money management system have a very difficult time integrating with the rest of society.
Who wants to hire a black man who stays high and drunk, walks around in saggy pants with his underwear showing, can’t get to work on time because he’s up all night having s*x with everything that moves, is hanging out on the streets all night looking to shoot or stab someone or popping bottles at the club.
Who wants to hire someone who greets customers and/or co-workers with a mouth full of gold teeth, a dozen different tattoos crawling up the side of their neck (the only possible piece of clothing he could wear to work would be a turtleneck sweater) and ten gold chains and a gigantic cross dangling down their chest?
Are Norwood’s words factual or is he supporting racists who seek to oppress black males? It’s hard to tell, but the article is certainly worth reading.
You can read the rest of the article by clicking here.
52 Responses to Is Hip-Hop Making Black Males Unemployable?
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It’s not “hard to tell”…..the truth makes itself known! The racists (and they don’t even know it)are the hip hop artist because thru their lyrics, they are impressing a message of self oppression to the youth! Anyone who encourages others to be derilicts, menances to society, corrupt, drug users and sellers, murders, jailbirds, be a baby’s momma, telling women the only thing they worthy of is being bent over and screwed, and the list goes on; are indeed trying to kill off their audience by arming them with ideas that devalue life as a whole!
It’s clever to send someone into your enemies camp that looks just like them…that way they’re less likely to have their guard up so that killing them off wouldn’t even make you break a sweat!!
But the youth of tody are too blinded and hard of heart to even pay attention to the warnings that are placed before them!!
Here here!
Well said!
Yea Ok, plenty of blame to go around but I see the same message on tv, beer ads, etc. Dont hate the player, hate the game.
There is no game without players!
in an age where even Peta puts clothes on our 4 legged friends ,, I’m not much for exposed rewr ends ,, End of story for me
No matter how well thought-out the argument is, it could just as easily apply to any other ethnicity. This is just food for White supremacists.
Wow, you hit the nail on the head and a lot of people are going to argue with you because too many live in a feel good stage of life.
If it feels good do it even if the chances of becoming a drug addict are strong.
If it feels good do it even if you produce a child who like you was stuck in governement housing, uneducated, addicted, unemployable, with ugly manners, without social graces, and every other word is prafane.
The other side of the story is that doing the right thing often does not get rewarded. The only thing worse than not succeeding is not trying.
OMG I can not tell you how many times I have said that the youth today have lost their cultural, religion and pride famous words and by the way some of them act they have even lost their minds. I see the tats I think the women have more than the men, I am so sick of sitting on public transportation and looking a womens b**t cracks looking at young men underware. I ask myself why what message are they sending “I get high and I dont give a d**n” tattoos on the face, high school drop outs, cant read or write cant hold an intelligent conversation. In the hood the youth think it is uncool to have an education. You can not speak to them, but I blame the parents who stop being a parent and start to be a friend. I am in my 50′s me and my parents just became friends. There is no fear (respect) for the law for the adult for nothing. I dont believe they value life, all we can do is keep praying…..God does answer prayers.
First of all, how you gon blame ppl the country forgot, and swept under the table? I am mad intelligent and got kicked out of school for wearing a hoodie after lunch, three mobths before graduation. ( Birds love s******g on me, who knew?) We don’t learn s**t about anything in school but how to follow the white man And make Him money, yeah…..every last one of us. so, I don’t blame those kids. Mass media hates everybody! There is just so few black people in this country, With backbones, With real knowledge and Love, its easy. And yoy say unemployable as if there were going to get those jobs anyway. Instead of hating on them, let’s get creative and create jobs for these angry disenfrancized? Patrolling our neighborhoods and gardening? That sounds fun. Raising neighborhood kids. If the youth lost it, you traded them in for status. Everything in existence comes from cause and effect. Something made the conditions just right. Don’t blame these kids, help them you self rightous a******s.
Given your explanation of actions in cause and effect, it would debatable just how “mad intelligent” you truly are. The employable nature of an individual is represented by their dedication to bettering themselves and becoming providers and productive members of society, however with the current state of “Hip Pop”, it is truly a message of apathy for the blue collar career path, an apathetic perspective on one’s own traditions and self respect. This is evident by the lack of care that many take in regard to their appearance and the way in which they are viewed as a result.
P.s. we should build our own schools. Intergating f****d us over.
@Erica…What is “mad intelligent?”
Let me guess…you’ll need a government grant to pay for your new schools. Integrating certainly didn’t help you learn to spell. Perhaps, the schools weren’t the problem but the behavior of the students and their demonstrated unwillingness to learn. As a management consultant with a large company that employs tens of thousands of people, I can certainly tell you that employers struggle mightily with needing to hire “diversity” but not being able to because of the candidates’ obvious limitations in ability. A 25 year old candidate that can’t read, speak,or show up for work…and constantly badgers co-workers and customers will prevent more employment than “racism”. But it’s all okay…the government will take care of them. For heaven’s sake don’t accept responsibility that might be a good first step toward employment.
Great article , this has been a long struggle because there are parents that will go to bat for their children to appear in public looking in this manner it is very sad to see youg black males that look like a Ga., Alabama road map with all the tatts from face down after years in marketing and seeing business managers put young black male and female application in file thirteen because of their appearance elvira fingernails ,giant bling blings twist ,dredlock that look un kept or unclean there must be an awakening it is our job as parents to rescue our young people.
These kids are sick, sick, sick, and more sick. The only way to get their minds on the right track is to give them high power therapy. Now how do we do this without locking them up in order to heal them. They are now wearing their paints down to their knees. Our leaders are out there supporting gay marriage and neglecting our children who have truly gone mad! Mad with no education. And we black folks are blaming the white man for everything our children do because some of you have failed as parents. Thank God! that not all our children are like the one who care less about themselves or you. These kids leave home with their pants down to their knees, competing for who have the cutest butts, that most give up to the “down-low.” How many of you parents know that your child is involved in crimes, drugs, and even murder and not saying a word to them or to the law, because you are either afraid of your own child madness or you just don’t care. No one, black or white are in a hurry to hire this crew, thus they are out there to rob and kill and sell dope. How can you hire people like this when they are lazy and have no order? You can’t tell them anything. It is not the white man fault that they have turned out to be dummies. The prison system is full of them. These kids need tough counselors counseling them, counselors who are ten times tougher than they are, who show no simperty for them other then their rehabilitation.
Why do we spend so much time worrying about thugs, jailbirds, and hip hop? What about the thousands of educated professional black males that can’t get hired because america’s policy is to only hire women and white males.
Any brother who dresses like a thug is a waste of time. He is not able to give back to the community anyway.
When are we going to see articles on educated black men who can’t get that job promotion.
Come on. Has this guy checked the unemployment stats for Black Males in the last 10 years much less the last 3-5 years. Black Males are unemployable whether you “supposedly see their underwear or their hugo boss wear. This guy did a good job of pointing out an issue, but it clearly plays into age old stereotypes.
Perhpas we wouldn’t have to ask the question if the haves would consider creating companies and businesses to employ black males instead of trying to one up Mr and Mrs. Jones with the newest Lexus or two seater Bennz.
It’s funny I work with folks that have made a six figures an guess what they drive… so the Black Male hip-hop lovers don’t have a monopoly on silly. Just my two cents.
the kkk is make black men unemployable….i don’t like the look on blacks…but it’s the kkk if they can go get people from mexico and work them then…what
if we don’t build our own we will be dead in 20 year it the kkk system…racism is about money the kkk is about money….under land occupation
As with any story, there are, at the very least, two sides to the equation. Given this fact, I can understand that there is a bit of miscommunication and misunderstanding in regards to the “Hip Hop”, “Hip Pop” and just all around urban fads of this upcoming generation.
The music does not hold a gun to a child’s head telling them to act this way, but simply states in an almost pleasing way that by acting like that will get you the attention and respect that you seek. By society’s and, even more locally, family/neighborhood disrespect and inattention that is given to this particular thought process, it in fact encourages many to keep it going in order to receive the attention and respect they are looking for. This illogical line of thinking is what is causing a perpetuation of the ignorance, but we aren’t attacking the root problem, but rather the symptoms and expect the cure to work at the surface when that is rarely if ever the case. This is not even to include the influence of peers or the lack of positive reinforcement within the education system.
Moving on to one other side, there is the side that says that the youth should be stronger in essence to resist the temptation of the streets and the fast money. Parents working hard to give the child a chance to get their own in their life should provide a role model for the child to follow. How about the schools? Shouldn’t they be helping to educate our children in manners that would help to progress their minds? These are all valid questions and should have answers, however the question that you should be asking is whether or not your influence is having the effect that you desire it to have.
To me the bottom line is any male that buys into that “macho thug” illusion is destined for a life of poverty. I have friends that have teens and trust me, they understand the consequences of the decisions that they have made. That is why they all are trying to be rappers, and “slangin” drugs, and trying to get their “grind on”, etc. They are acutely aware that they, in their eyes, have just reached the end of the road, so, they think, that there is no second chance for them to begin again because they have made complete fools of themselves the first time. So now, they have to talk a bunch of bullshit, degrade themselves, degrade women, and when someone calls them on that s**t, then they become victims. “The white man did this to me”.
To be sure, there is plenty of racism at the hands of whites, and ourselves as well. Taking full responsibility for your life is how you get back to the place where options and opportunities show up for you. The black youths that scream that they can’t find a job have put themselves in that predicament. I just read a story circulating on the internet within the last week or so, of a young, black man, that IS, (not was…IS) HOMELESS, AND HE GOT A FULL RIDE SCHOLARSHIP TO A PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY! Who do you think he’s blaming?
this is a bunch of bull s**t stop blaming everything on hip hop in the 70,s they had all these black exploitation movies but there was no complaining then now yall wana blame it on hip hop if a mother f****r wana shot kill stab and not work sell dope it has nothing to do with hip hop cause the s**t was going on before hip hop even existed
Hip Hop per se is not the problem.The problem here is the negative self-hating lyrics being made and promoted in Hip Hop.The positive lyrics and artists in Hip Hop must be promoted by the conscious Afrikan community to defeat the negative artists who are deliberately promoted by our enemies,the racists.It is our duty to defeat them.We must combine this with actions to employ our conscious and educated brothers who are denied jobs by the racists by creating and running our own self-reliant businesses in every field as Marcus Garvey said.This is a duty and task that only we can do for ourselves at all times.SELF-RELIANCE IN EVERYTHING.We have to start to get it done for ourselves because we are our only SAVIOURS.
to some of you folks get real!! the bros should get serious about school.the asian man is! the pakistani is! the east indian is! and they get hired in droves by big business.go learn Catiav5, go learn SolidWorks, go get the FAA airframe & powerplant license and get a mechanic job at the airlines,learn CNC programming stop apeing rappers and get trained and get paid.at the end of the day it is your fault if you do not have a plan to get paid.and forget about c**p like 22 inch rims that c**p takes money you could be paying for tech training with
Im 31 years old college educated and has a good job and my IPod is filled with Rap music . Bad parenting is to blame for my generation and the ones following being unemployable . I don’t think Gucci Mane is worse than NWA or Master P , rappers are living in fantasy worlds and a lot of these kids know it , the parents mostly fathers and uncles are involved like they used to be. My 9 yr old Rick Ross lives in a gated community somewhere and tats and chains are part of his rap uniform because I told him . Music can’t raise men parents have to take the lame on this one.
This is the craziest article ! No one is responsible but their PARENTS, this is dumb as heck to blame everything on RAP music. The Rappers should not be raising your kids! Are u serious, this propaganda that you are spreading is more harmful than RAP music could ever be. Are u serious ? You tell them that they will not stay in your home and you refuse to take care of them…………watch how quick the pants come up. Take responsibility for yours. Everything that is wrong with the world you blame it on the rappers. Wake up and spell the coffee !
The ppl that promote this very ghetto urban attire are already rich. They can wear whatever they like.It’s sad that the young are choking on it’s own extremes, and they resent it when you talk to them about it. They have little experience beyond their small world.
YES! They are being brAINWASHED THINKING IF THEY ARE NOT A PART OF THE WORLDLY WORLD THEY WILL NEVER BE ACCEPTED.BUT IN REALITY THEY ARE ONLY HURTING THEMSELVES GIVING OFF THUG TYPE STYLES THINKING THEY GOT IT GOING ON. I WOULD NEVER EMPLOY THEM. Who wants to be represented represented like this? Would you employ them? I would want to school them within my out patient institution but everyone doesn’t want or desire change for the better.
Who wants to see all that crack? We know crack kills and especially ashy crack. It’s easy for the rapper to dress that way, he’s getting his benjamin’s. These young men are deceived and it’s sad how we allow people to influence us. I’m so tired of seeing folks draws I could scream!
It’s the music. I can’t listen to that c**p all day.
Good parenting or not Hip Hop been influencing our children since Kangols and Adidas, notice how they shut down xclan, poor rightious teachers, Public Enemy and even the old Queen Latifah, and all the other positive Hip Hop and Rap artists cause they realized how powerful and important that voice was to the black community so the music industry turned everything “Gangsta” and we accepted it. Even I knew the gig was up when they started pushing Luke Skywalkers music to the “Mainstream” back in the day. Think about if they still made rap songs like U.N.I.T.Y.
This article is a carrier for RACISM , hip hop is exactly what it is , nothing more or nothing less. The fact that black men not getting good jobs isn’t because of hip-hop, but because of IGNORANCE. Not saying that every black man is ignorant but there are some who fit the bill, tatoos on the neck and hands (CRAZY) kills chances by 55% of getting a good job. As far as late goes, i am late to work sometimes, not because i was out popping bottles or SEXING, but because i work two jobs and go to school fulltime and along with having 4 children. Watch what you say, many claim not to be RACIST , but your words demonstrate another understanding. If your mad about black people getting by and you have done more than them, don’t down it find out what they are doing to make it.