KRS Keeps the Boogie Down after Smackdown

16. Why are people talking horribly about black people under a semi-positive article....krs-one(whoever he is i'm not really a rap fan) preached a positive thing when he could have done a lot more....eg send his bodyguard to get the person or go into the crowd and get the person himself and then throw him off the stage like a certain fake rapper with fake credential (you all know who i'm talking about).....so let's dwell on the positive and forget the negative

Posted at 1:08PM on Apr 20th 2008 by JAMZ

17. "Had Enough" you make some interesting points that I feel compelled to agree with on many levels. As a black man in America i've often been called a sellout and much worse for my views and opinions on race. However; as compelled as I am to agree with you I can only hope that you are not one of the white people that perpetuates the problem on the opposite side of the spectrum by assuming that a book can be judged by its cover. Racism is still very alive and well in America, and I fear that there is no immediate end in sight. Blacks do little to improve the situation. Whites tend to do even less.

Posted at 1:25PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Mr Till

18.
well it goes to show you it's better to have a

bottle in front of you than a frontal lobotomy !

Posted at 1:32PM on Apr 20th 2008 by james earl ray

19. HELTER SKELTER.

Posted at 1:37PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Charlie

20. I find that people who speak in absolutes are either (a.) trying to be provocative and don’t really mean what they are saying, or (b.) mean what they are saying, and don’t really know any better. I’ll operate under the assumption that #’s 13 and 14 fall into the b. category, and try to them you become informed. (For the extended version, try to get your hands on Obama’s soaring speech on race from last month in Pennsylvania.)
All African American males aren’t morally bankrupt, just as all white males aren’t upstanding citizens of society. What your posts seem to be getting at is that as a percentage of the overall general population, black men seem to be on the underside of moral depravity (i.e., higher rates of incarceration than the general population, higher unemployment, less education, bad words and themes in urban music and film, etc.). And you make it seem that by our very nature, we’re prone to do these bad things (see #13’s “Why do blacks fill our prisons but are absent at school” and #14’s “Blacks by nature are a violent and desperate race. Its in the gene pool. Overly sexed, and with a tendency to want to maim and kill”).
I disagree. It’s nurture, not nature, that influences the bad behavior of many young, inner city African Americans and, by extension, is largely responsible for the majority of these troubling statistics that I cite above. I’m black, and have “made it” because I was insulated from many of the negative influences that many other blacks were subject to. To be sure, I come from a morally responsible middle class home, with parents who love me, care for me and who worked to keep me safe. Consistent with their expectations and that of the larger community (black) in which I was raised, I went on to a four year college, graduating in the top 25 percent of my class. I then attended a top law school, where I was elected to law review and graduated in the top 10 percent of my class. After graduation, I worked for a federal judge. I now am an attorney at one of America’s premier law firms. I’m 29 years old. I have never been in prison or in trouble. Neither I nor my wife (who got her master’s degree from an ivy league university and works as a school psychologist) are statistics. While I don’t condone or excuse many behaviors often associated with young African Americans, I think my background, when compared to their’s, does begin to explain how they have ended up where they have and how I have ended up where I have.
Something tells me though #’s 13 and 14 that my background and profession will do nothing to change your mind. You have it in your head and heart that I’m, as you said, prone to go to “prison” and “by nature … violent[,] desperate[, o]verly sexed, and with a tendency to want to maim and kill[.]” I hope and pray for all our sake that I’m wrong.

Posted at 1:54PM on Apr 20th 2008 by ant

21. Jesus Christ, everytime a black face is shown on here I don't even have to look at the comments because they are so predictable. The racists immediately come out and say how violent the black man is and blah blah blah. I say thank your lucky stars black people aren't as actually violent as white people! Cus we all know what happens when white people get violent and commit white-on-white crimes...only it's not called violence, it's always under the euphemisms of war or state security and millions upon millions of people get killed...just look at world war 1, world war 2 and all the other countless wars! Also not to mention the rape, kidnapping and enslavement of millions people from Africa! Now that is violence on an EPIC scale! I'm just sayin.

And no I'm not black, I just hate the ugliness of racism and the hypocrisy of those who espouse that view!

Posted at 2:19PM on Apr 20th 2008 by No1

22. No 1, I'm with you.

Posted at 2:39PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Al Jolson

23. I cannot believe how many people talk out of their asses about things that they do not know. First off, this was a crime commited by one person against another, not the entire African American race. Secondly KRS One is a Hip Hop artist who's been around for over 20 years. He has never been connected to any violence in his music or in his real life . Thirdly, I cannot understand why is he being blamed for being a victim of a crime?
Know that violent Hip Hop lyrics seem to be enjoyed by(purchased by and cacted out by) white teenagers at almost a higher rate than their African American counterparts.
Lastly, please note: Crime was not invented by African Americans. As long as their are imperfect human beings on earth, there will be crime and ignorance.
By the way, a riot broke out at the French primere of Igor Stravinsky's Rite of Spring in 1913, and their wasn't a Rapper in sight.
P.S. Read a book on African AMerican History, culture and scientific contributions. Please note that its not just the history of us Black people , its AMERICAN history.

Posted at 3:27PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Whatever-One

24. How are you people so sure that the assailant was black? The concert was on Yale's campus, so I wouldn't be too hasty to make that assumption.

Posted at 3:03PM on Apr 20th 2008 by AJ

25. Let's not get lost in this race-forest for the trees.
Why didn't someone ever tell this little a*swipe that you don't throw a bottle at a performer on stage,
simply because you have some kind of grandiose illusion that you should be allowed up there too? Maybe he was on something. How many of you, black or white, think you deserve to jump onstage with a touring artist?
Right. Everyone on here knows security will haul their butt off before you can get within 10 feet of the artist.
This little turd is in need of some manners, clueing in, and a lesson in basic reality.
He absolutely should have been charged, or at least removed to spend a chilly, blanketless night in the pokey before dropping the charges. If there are no consequences, the behaviour will continue. I've raised kids. This is true, true, true.

I say it's not a black or white issue. There's always one moron who tries to jump onstage, race aside.

Posted at 3:45PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Flames Fan

26. # 23 & 25;

jesus christ & pray to god ?

god is an absentee landlord.

period.

but rest assured come every sunday, the almighty
" minions " will be passing the baskets collecting " rent "...

Posted at 3:50PM on Apr 20th 2008 by james earl ray

27. first of all KRS-One is a positive rapper and an anti-violence advocate (look him up GOOGLE IS YOUR FRIEND) and no one even mentioned that the assailant was African American (you know what the say about people who make ASSumptions.
Oh, by the way thanks for furthering the racial divide, you are providing just what this country needs, more hatred and more dichotomy (google sarcasm if you are scratching your head)

Posted at 4:10PM on Apr 20th 2008 by get a grip

28. #14 Color has nothing to do with it. People of any color are prone to violence, crime and addiction when they are poor and uneducated. I moved back to the small, rural town I grew up in, and too many people here (white) cling to their ignorance as though it were a badge of honor. People are too afraid of growth, change, and personal transformation. You don't think white people are violent, also? Think Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Speck, Charles Manson, Hitler, the Crusades. Real peace has to start with inner peace. KRS-ONE showed real courage.

Posted at 4:35PM on Apr 20th 2008 by cheflady

29. #24 ant:

Ok, I guess background and opportunity and nurture play a larger part in all of htis than mere color. The question remains, why are those in the Black Culture, on the poor end of the Culture still glorifying a Prison Culture and anti Education---when there are many examples of people like you and your wife who have made it when taking the chance? Why are there not more Black Parents, that dont take that extra step to get themselves and their families out of that poor level? They are given opportunities, special treatment, etc. more so than any other Immigrant group yet decade after decade remain mired in the muck of poverty.

You've proven it isnt color, but why is your Culture and its unelected leaders not pushing education and using role models that have made it as the real heroes? Instead we get Russell Simmons and others telling us its poetry and we should respect it.

Someone needs to take charge in the Black Culture and get it focused on Education and Family instead of where it has been. Arthur Ashe was so right so many years ago, as is Bill Cosby and Juan Williams.

LIke Juan says "enough".

Posted at 4:21PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Had enough

30. The kid threw a bottle. He needs to stand in a corner somewhere, and say sorry.

He's just. not. the poster boy for all that's wrong with race relations in America. Have you all lost your marbles?
He's one. misbehaving. rude little twit. Period. Who needed. a good. spanking. at some point. and prob. didn't get it.

Next.

Posted at 4:40PM on Apr 20th 2008 by Mi-doll