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More bad news for New York's radio station Hot 97 came yesterday, which in the past few weeks has seen rapper Gravy shot outside its offices, a motion filed to have the station evicted from their Manhattan office and a feud between DJ Envy and radio personality Star gaining nationwide attention after Star stated that he was going to do an "R. Kelly" on Envy's daughter. The latest controversy arose when on-air DJ Raqiyah Mays became the subject of articles by the Daily News after she was invited to a Brooklyn high school to serve as Principle For A Day. Raqiyah was chosen because the administration believed that she was a good role model and an example of a succesful member of the hip hop community. Things went sour when a reporter for the Daily News began questioning whether she was a good role model for the children, as she has made a name for herself by decrying interracial relationships.
Many of you not from this area may not be familiar with the on air personalities of Hot 97 (though a recent discussion with my Canadian informant SweetP has shown me that even the poor souls stuck on the north side of America's borders are familiar with the radio station). Raqiyah first started out in New York on Power 105.1, the rival station to 97.1 in NY. I remember hearing her very first show on Power 105, cohosted by Egypt. Egypt asked her how she had earned the name "Raqiyah the Racist," which led to Raqiyah stating that she hated black men who dated white women, yet admitted she dated white men and didn't think it was a problem for a black woman to date a white man. She justified this with some nonsense about it being the black man's responsibility, not the black woman's, to hold the community together. Within a couple of weeks, she was fired.
I don't expect everyone to share my enlightened views on race relations, but I do expect some internal consistency in their prejudices, so I can't say I shed any tears when she was fired at 105.1. I also think she is entirely deserving of the criticism and exposure that she is currently getting from the Daily News. Everyone's entitled to their own ignorance, but if you go on a radio station and promote your views you have to expect to be challenged on it.
Raqiyah isn't the first member of the hip hop community to share her inconsistent views on interracial dating. Last summer, Common did an interview with British magazine Touch. During the interview, he was asked about his lyric: "State senators, life twirls, most sell out like a dread with a white girl." This led to a discussion of why black men should not date white women, with Com's reasoning being that black men needed to strengthen and raise the community's "consciousness" -- the implication being that bringing anyone but the darkest of skin tones into the community somehow diluted it. In the same interview, Common admits to sleeping with white women, though he says he would never have a relationship with one.
This makes me wonder who Common thinks is actually buying his music. He's kidding himself if he believes even 50% of the people buying his music is black. Is there any difference between a black rapper making music that is popular among white people, and a black man dating a white woman? Not in my eyes. Either way you're bringing another group into black culture. I don't think that dilutes the culture or weakens the black community, it just breaks down the barriers between whites and blacks. That isn't a bad thing.
In any event, Common's interview led to a minor controversy over in the U.K., where interracial dating has less of a stigma attached to it. A trio of U.K. rappers, Rising Son, Yungun, and Doc Brown (all three of whom are biracial) put together a track responding to Common's statements. Here it is:
UK response to Common (mp3)
5/24/2006 10:37:09 AM posted by Fresh