Ebony & Ivory, 2013

THIS JUST IN! LL Cool J has decided that African-Americans should let the knowledge of the horrors of slavery simply fade away and get over it. LL along with country artist Brad Paisley has released a single entitled “Accidental Racist”. The title alone is ridiculous enough to make you cringe, as if one is able to trip on a banana peel and fall into racism. Racism is certainly not ever accidental and most always deliberate and should not be confused with prejudice. Racism is a structured process by which one group has more power or exercises more power over another because of the color of their skin. To imply that any person can be racist accidental or otherwise is absurd. African-Americans and other minorities simply don't have the ability to systematically deny people of other races access to jobs, housing and education…especially not by accident. So according to these two scholars of racial acceptance we’re supposed to just forget the monumental events that lead us to the situation we find ourselves in today. We should just forget the institutional, economic and political power to crush the aspirations of African-Americans and other minorities. In the song the two suggest that the problem of racism is simply people not understanding each other and that if we took the time to get to know one anotherrrrrrrrrrr zzzzzzzzzzzz…sorry bullshit usually puts me to sleep.

I might be less critical if this were a sincere attempt to construct dialogue on an admittedly sore subject but these two idiots simply trade verses back and forth in an ignorant, uninformed, preachy tone…oh yeah, and stupid. Sample lyrics from Paisley: "I'm proud of where I'm from but not everything we've done, and it ain't like you and me can rewrite history". Really Brad? I think the state of Texas is doing a pretty good job rewriting the past with their revisionist public school text books that pretty much deny the existence and history of slavery in the United States. He also feels the need to explain his peculiar fashion choices in particular his desire to wear t-shirts emblazoned with the Confederate flag, “when I put on that t-shirt, the only thing I meant to say is I'm a Skynyrd fan, the red flag on my chest somehow is like the elephant in the corner of the south, and I just walked him right in the room, just a proud rebel son with an ‘ol can of worms.” Uh what now? What the hell does that even mean and what happened to inserting a rhyme or two in a song folks? Someone should inform Brad of the history of his “proud” rebel flag. Explain to him how the Confederate flag regained popularity during the civil rights era amidst the struggles against Jim Crow laws, lynching and forced segregation. Explain to him that his red flag is not about “Southern pride” it’s about symbolizing racism, oppression and white supremacy and only an uninformed idiot would pretend otherwise…dumb ass.

And Mr. Cool J is no better. He actually wrote these lyrics, “If you don't judge my gold chains, I'll forget the iron chains”. WOW!!! Well, at least he rhymed. LL you should know that stereotyping a person for their ridiculous fashion choices is not something akin to the pain of being chained and shackled into forced labor and the comparison is both hurtful and offensive…besides, wearing tacky jewelry only hurts the eyes. But wait it gets better, “Dear Mr. White Man, I wish you understood, what the world is really like when you're livin' in the hood, just because my pants are saggin' doesn't mean I'm up to no good, you should try to get to know me, I really wish you would”…seriously what is up with this man’s fascination with fashion? If his pants are sagging at 45 years old somebody needs to check him. Dear Mr. White man?! Honestly if these lyrics were written by a 4th grader I would understand but this from arguably one of the greatest MC’s of all time? Later in the song he gives a shout out to Confederate Army commander Robert E. Lee, “RIP Robert E. Lee but I've gotta thank Abraham Lincoln for freeing me, know what I mean”. Seriously, somebody needs to snatch this man’s Negro Card.

Amnesia is not the means to end racism folks and ignoring the past is an insult to those who lived and struggled through it. Slavery may have ended 150 years ago but the resulting effect thrives. Stupid ass let’s all just forgive each other, let bygones be bygones and get along songs like this suggest that there is some historical equivalence between blacks and whites. What the hell do Blacks need to be forgiven for? The fact is people continue to suffer from racism and oppression every day and it's insulting to insinuate otherwise. The way we can all move forward and just get along is to acknowledge and reverse the damage done by slavery not pretending it never happened. Coming up next, Accidental White Privilege.