Lee calls rap ‘dangerous stuff’

Director says music portrays blacks in negative light

ASSOCIATED PRESS PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 2 — Continuing his criticism of rap, Spike Lee told an audience at Brown University that popular music portrays blacks in a negative light. SPEAKING TO AN audience of more than 400 students Monday night, the director of films including “Do the Right Thing” and “Malcolm X” repeated the complaints he’s made at colleges and universities over the past year. “I’ve always felt you can feel the progress of African Americans by listening to their music,” Lee said. “Some of this ‘gangsta rap’ stuff, it’s not doing anybody any good. This stuff is really dangerous.” He said some black adults equate education, good grammar and good grades with “being white,” but when he was growing up, those things were seen as positive goals. “You were not ridiculed if you spoke correct English,” he said. Lee urged the audience to make their voices heard by not buying or viewing anything that portrays blacks in a negative way. “We buy all this stuff, not even thinking about what’s behind it ... Think about the power that we have,” the 46-year-old said. “We can’t just sit back and think it doesn’t affect us. We have to do something about it. We have to be more choosy about the types of stuff we support.” Lee also urged students to follow their dreams after graduation, “or you’ll be sitting around, fat, divorced and miserable because you took some job, or you took some path that you didn’t really want to do.”