LETTER FROM THE SOURCE MAGAZINE'S FOUNDER DEMONSTRATES HOW HIP-HOP'S POSITIVE IMPACT ON RACE RELATIONS IS BEING DESTROYED

From BTN

In a powerful and bluntly honest editorial letter published in the April issue of The Source, the magazine's founder, David Mays, highlights the emerging divide between white and non-white hip-hop fans. This is the first letter Mays has published in his magazine in its 15-year history. "For over 20 years, Hip-Hop culture has been this country's single most powerful force in the battle to improve race relations and destroy the racism and racial profiling that continues to pervade our society," Mays says. "Thanks to the visionary insight of my friend and partner Raymond 'Benzino' Scott, myself and other leaders of the Hip-Hop industry are now focused on preserving our culture and its power to promote racial unity."

In a series of interviews and songs released in the latter part of 2002, Benzino drew attention to the double standards afforded to Eminem by the mainstream media and middle America, as well as the impact that Eminem's marketing is having on white fans and consumers of Hip-Hop music. While he was roundly criticized at the time for "attacking" Eminem as a publicity stunt, at a recent gathering of Hip-Hop industry leaders including Damon Dash, CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records, Jermaine Dupri, CEO of So So Def, Irv Gotti, CEO of Murder Inc., Joaquim Dean, CEO of Ruff Ryders and others, the "Eminem Factor" was discussed at length along with ways in which to combat it. Mays's letter was in part a result of this meeting.

In the editorial, Mays cites a letter he received from a fifth grade school teacher in Staten Island as simple and clear evidence of how the "Eminem Machine" is at work to rewrite Hip-Hop's rich culture and history. The teacher, Kelly Brown, recounts a recent class in which she discussed how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s struggle for civil rights paved the way for Hip-Hop by promoting freedom of expression for all races: "One Caucasian boy rudely stated, 'What are you talking about? Eminem created Hip-Hop and he's better than any rapper out there.'…It is sad that it appears mainstream America has embraced Eminem as Hip-Hop's creator and King, just [as it did] with Elvis Presley when he stole the credit for Rock 'n Roll from Chuck Berry…"

"When I was in fifth grade 24 years ago, Hip-Hop helped make sure that myself and my generation of White youth had a better understanding and respect for the struggles of African-Americans in this country," Mays adds. "Kelly Brown's letter pinpoints the real issue here: the impact of Eminem's marketing and publicity, through the double standards he is afforded by the media and wider society, is actually allowing White youth to dismiss the historical and current existence of racism, while embracing a so-called new form of 'Hip-Hop' as their own."

Mays concludes, "To allow this impact to continue is to open the door for Hip-Hop music to be co-opted similarly to Rock 'n Roll and other forms of popular Black music this century. This is an uncomfortable issue for many of us to discuss because it forces us to take a real honest look at ourselves and the way racism is programmed into our society. But we must have the courage and integrity to face it now, or it may soon be too late."