Music for Love

Based on selective readings it appears there are many concerns within the African American community. Some of these concerns are the disregard for children and elders, lack of positive relationships between gender, black-on-black crime, and disunity. The African American community is well aware of these issues, however, when the worst of these are exposed; the Caucasian community uses this information to confirm their pre-conceived stereotypes. Many writers and comics completely avoid revealing such discussion to avoid ridicule and criticism. Recently, there have been a number of black writers who have suffered significant and unforgiving attacks by other African Americans because they dared to wonder into this heretofore susceptible territory. As a result, it is evident that these African American writers who ignore the criticism and ridicule to endeavor down the path of publishing these sensitive issues or make statements acknowledging these unpleasant truths about African American life, culture, and history run a great risk of wrongfully being accused of racial treason.

In the Webster's dictionary treason is defined as: "Betrayal of ones country to an enemy" (Webster 629). When racial is placed in front of the word treason, the meaning unveils a completely different connotation. It means that one is betraying their own race.

One of the many authors who have been ridiculed of his decision to venture down the path to publish works of the African American lifestyle was Nathan McCall. Nathan McCall is an author who has been on both sides of the betrayal controversy. He received numerous critics for his autobiography Makes Me Wanna Holler. The memoir documents the life of a young black man in America who grew up as a student on honor roll in a middle-class neighborhood. In attempts to be socially accepted, and have respect in a violence driven community he begins traveling down the wrong path. He demonstrates a lack of respect for women and grows an obsession for guns. The book explains how many African American men drop out of school, eventually leading them to low wage jobs and more then likely ending up in prison.

An important issue McCall illustrates in his autobiography is the mistreatment and misrepresentation of African American women. He states many African American men continue to nourish misrepresentations and young boys are taught to demean women by identifying them with vulgar names. He also illustrates how young men are raised being taught women do not deserve respect. In addition, he puts across the point of how men view women's bodies; he explains how men perceive women as a game:

Corner conversations helped shaped our views about women, love, and sex. The old-heads said there was no place for love in a real mans life. The pursuit of bitches was a macho game. The object was to "get the pussy" without giving love. If a guy was able to do that, he won the game. If he fell for a bitch, developed genuine feelings for her, he lost. Whenever one of the fellas acted like he was down for a heartfelt, monogamous relationship, the old-heads made me feel that he should be ashamed of himself. "Aw, niggah, you fallin in love! You weak! You pussy-whipped!" (McCall 42).

The degrading of African American women by African American men McCall writes about which is shown here can be perceived as a form of racial treason. In the Webster's dictionary the term bitch is described as, "The female of the dog or some other carnivorous mammal or as a lewd or immoral woman" (Webster 113). By slandering woman, especially your own race down to the point of being non-human helps confirm early allegations stating African Americans are just animals. This relates back to slavery were people were chained and sold as property. They were abused and tortured in the way some domesticated animals are today. Another example of how women are degraded and compared to an animal is where it states, "Get the pussy". In the Webster's dictionary pussy is defined as, "the female partner in sexual intercourse and is to be considered vulgar" (Webster 938). Pussy is in fact the root word for pussy-cat which is indeed a feline. This demonstrates African American men subconsciously accept the fact African American women are portrayed as animals. By showing the mistreatment of African American women it can be assumed that African Americans lack respect for one another.

However, McCall cannot be charged with committing racial treason because the vulgarity used in today's society may be conceived as a social norm. McCall explains that women are raised to sit back and accept the degrading things men say. He explains the significance of social conditioning to make women believe their sole purpose is to satisfy the needs of men. His exact words were:

It is no mystery why so many females are so gullible. While the boys were conditioned to be sexiest oafs, the girls were socialized to seek happiness by providing the services men value most. Almost from birth, they are well primed by the likes of Barbie dolls and Suzy Homemakers to cooperate in this sex-oppression thing. And you have to know that for young girls there's a cumulative effect of seeing so many women everywhere serving so many men's interest--all the time. At some point, the message sinks in: Gals exist for the sole purpose of pleasing guys, whether they agree or disagree (McCall 33).

With young women having the message instilled, that they need to serve men, many do not come forward and speak against such degrading expressions. In today's society dishonoring words are viewed as positive messages. Examples of this can be found in the urban music industry where one can hear artists both male and female expressing love for women who are 'bad bitches'. An excellent example comes from lyrics taken from a song titled Bad Bitch by a multi-million dollar African American male rapper by the name of Webbie who writes:

Man I love them bad bitches with the sexy ass tattoos/them bad bitches with them bad bitches attitudes/she a damn fool, gotta crib she'll let me camp/make sho' her nigga stay filled with them food stamps (Azlyrics 1).

In his music Webbie is expressing his love for a female or in his words a 'bad bitch' and how the female supports him. This allows listeners to believe that it is acceptable to be recognized with a degrading phrase. Unfortunately, not only do men degrade women, but women also take a large part in degrading themselves. A fine example of this can be heard in the music of a female rapper by the name Trina. Trina shows examples of how women are accepting and admitting to the fact of being a bitch. In her song titled Da Baddest Bitch, she states:

I'm representing for the