Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1995)
EDITORIAL First Amendment decision misguided Jus! one dav after thousands of gay man and lesbians paraded through San Francisco, the U.S. Supreme Court permitted them to bo banned from doing the same thing in Boston. The Court ruled unanimously that the sponsors of Boston's St, Patrick’s Day parade could bar an Irish gay and lesbian group from the event because being gav is 'Inconsistent with the message" parade sponsors want to send. While the ruling may be an accurate interpretation of tint First Amendment, the problem lies in the assertion that being gay or lesbian is somehow in opposition to heina Irisn —.... The parade, funded and organized bv the South Boston Allied War Veterans Count II, has been a bone of con tention between parade organizers and gay com munity members sin< o The problem Hex in the assertion that being gay or lesbian is somehow in opposition to being Irish i i jj, when tno Irish* American (>ay, Losbian and Bisox ual Croup of Boston (Cl.IB) applied to march in the event ami was rejected Because the parade is privately funded, organizers can decide who marches and who does not. even though the event takes place in a public forum The First Amend moot protects that right liven organizers of San Franc is i o's gay pride parade have excluded groups that pre sented messages seen as antithetical to the gay rights movement However, the parade is an Irish celebration, not a vet erans’ or Catholic event. Regardless of who sponsors it, the event is an opportunity for Irish-,\moricans to t ole brato their heritage. To insist that being gay or lesbian - and wanting to declare it excludes someone from membership in a racial, ethnir. religious or political group is ignorant and discriminatory. At tile heart ol the matter is the perc eption of the parade sponsors end the Court that homosexuality is an ideological rather than biological distinction I he ruling permits groups to exclude people whose \ jews ( onflict with those groups It does not allow an organization to rejo< t a participant because of their race or ethnicity. Thus. Catholic organizations can exclude atheists from their activities, but they cannot deny access to African-Americ ans. As it .should be. But being gav or lesbian, or being a member of a gay organization, does not imply n c certain politic al or moral position. Gay and lesbian people are liberal, moderate, and conservative. They are devout Catholics, Buddhists and Jews. They are members of every country, every race, and every city. Being gay or lesbian should not pro hibit thorn from celebrating all of the other aspoc ts of who they are and participating as full memlrers of all the groups to which they belong. Sexual orientation is only a part of self-definition. Cay men and lesbians are an integral part of every commu nity. and they should be allowed to openly declare and celebrate all of who they are without hear of rejection. The Court’s error lies not in its interpretation of the First Amendment, but in its assumption that homosexu ality is a belief system in conflict with the veterans' rights. It may be good law. but it isn't justice. Oregon Daily Emerald PBMIlilML’Em_ Th« OdQon Oa**> i t* put* shed daily Monday through f rwj*y during tr%* tchac* viw *n<3 Twe»d*» and Thursday dur.ng the py ih« O»gon Dmy Em#»aU) rU*#»ftd Co Inc «? IN* Uf*vfl*My Ql Oagon l u^-«r. O <*>.*•• f-•*•.**.! i <v.i'r. •-Vjofxvvm''!-* 01 f^r Un ,«viy ««h i -.%' V.-l* 300 .>♦ «* e * '■ • ^ •• •» ■ ■ ■»••.•.} .* a .f ttm 4v» f’lMi lN» f «* prtv*fce proptuty The untHaHoi i » paper* 4 prfOSes', uatm Ed<tofinChnf D*v«d Thorft A*«oci«t« Editor % M.v ?* , \.i , OtligiW A , Photographer Me^xjy ( . •• , Night EdMor Davd IK • ’ General Manager *.jy fired Adv*fti*mg Director Ma * Wa»i« Production Manager M^.fxwe Rom Aclvertt*.ng Ann® AwaJ,: lee Vr B«h. J.V (ioCer, Heather ;.:-*• •'>t. ■ Ke^y lyOrvTma Shonaman CtawMfted Dec* | Mr* 7va >t M.t Bu*me**: Kathy Cartoon* S*4p«rv*ftv attribution Jo»w long, » «r*rc Raaocn Production Ta*a QluAnty. Jarvvkw Rcnand M»*voom Burnett Of1»c« 346-SM1 346-SS12 D***>J*y Advertising Classified Advertising 546-3712 346-4343 Ok Run this by me One more TIME. THE FIRST WOMAN AND THE SECOND AFRICAN AMERICAN EVER appointed totwe supreme Court ape against affirmative action? A ) ■ OPINION Gangsta rap kills truth for profits I JfVd 1. BoilKf.K- (j \M t f you wen! to ask somoonf Jus or tier opinion of rap JLmusn tin'll' da vs \ou would probably gel two answers It sinks*" or ”1 like it." It is the rare answer "It depends on the artist." Usually, those who hate rap have either never given it a lis ten or derive their opinion from the few songs they have heard without giving it a chance I hen, there are those who have listened to it and simply do not like it aesthetically, just as many people hate the tw ang of court try or the jackhammer pace of metal Those who do listen to rap would most likely say they listen to it for the beat, the rhythm or the message. Hie aesthetic rhythm and beat of rap is dependent on the lis tener's taste. The message, how ever. is another point entirely It differentiates "good" — albeit sometimes hard to come by — rap from the more commercial “gangsta" rap that gives the genre a had name Gangsta rap is supposedly the message or truth from the ghet to. w hether it bo frum the streets of South Central Los Angeles or the alleys of the South Bronx and Chicago. It glorifies vio lence and objectifies and demeans women. Apparently, according to gangsta rappers, their musii is "the voice of the streets," and the truth from the ghetto While violence is preva lent in the inner city and the ghetto, gangsta rap is a far cry from an accurate depiction of the streets Gangsta rap is about making money — pure and simple. For example, if you look a cross section of "hard-core" gangsta rappers, you would find that hardly any of them still live in “thi! 'hood" — if they ever lived there at all. “Snoop Doggy Dogg," whose real name is Calvin Rrmuius. is a self-professed gangsta rapper and the poster hoy for the Parental Music Resource ('.enter (PMRC), a c onservative organi zation that watc hes the music industry like a hawk in an attempt to make music, "safe" for the c onsumer Mr Hroudus is also from Brentwood, (aid — hardly from the "streets" he claims he is from and that lie raps about. Some would say that his upcoming murder trial gives bun street i redihility Hut Mr Hroudus is not accused of shoot ing someone He allegedly drove the getaway car after his body guard allegedly shot the victim in the back, making Mr Broudus an alleged accessory to murder. Does being accused of a cowardly murder glorify him and the gangsta rap genre? Unfortunately, in the eyes of those who purchase and listen to this type of rap. the answer is yes The typical gangsta rap mes sage* are to shoot anyone who disrespects you and that women are useful for only one thing sex. Gangsta rappers frequently refer to women as "hitches" and "hos." and like to give lengthy accounts of their sexual prowess and the si/e of their genitalia. While the latter is nothing more than arrogant posturing because the rapper feels he must make up for a shortcoming or inade quacy. the former is nothing hut pure nonsense It is impossible to believe that any woman, much less a black woman, would stand to lie degraded in suc h a manner so frequently. Next, of those who primarily buy and listen to gangsta rap. 75 to HO percent are suburban, mid dle-class. adolescent, white males This leads to the curious conclusion that suburban blacks are rapping about something they have never experieru ed. and white males are buying this product so they can live out a fantasy vicariously. However, the truth of urban life i'. missing, therebymaking gangsta rapping not an art, but a carefully < rafted, fictitious prodm t. which is then market ed. The more violent and explic it. the more it sells In fact, gangsta rappers are not artists at all. but very shrewd business men. They sample music from other sources and rap about sub jects they know nothing about Nothing they do is original. However, the desire of con servative groups such as the t’MRC; to ( ensor music. and gangsta rap in particular, usual ly does more harm than good. Many rappers wear the Parental Advisory label like a badge of honor, and in some cases, the presence of the advisory label is the primary factor in motivating someone to purchase an album Hut the responsibility of cen sorship does not lie with the government or with the ranting and raving of conservative watchdog groups. It rests with the individual consumer who, we hope, has the wisdom and intelligence to discriminate between art and a prepackaged product This is not to say that all rap is hud. In fact, a lot of rap is quite good and original — from the humorous Pharcyde to the bizarre Justin Warfield to the socially conscious works of The Disposable Heroes of Hiphopri cy and Rasehead Being o young, black man in the ghetto is not about “bustin' a cap is some punk's ass" who disrespects you. It's about pro v iding for your family, being a father if you have a child and rising above the violence that permeates the inner city. It's about respecting women and building community rather than tearing it apart with violence. Perhaps people need to real ize that gangsta rappers are motivated only by greed and have no desire or ability to spread the truth about what really occurs in everyday urban life. /esse / Bohrer-Clancy is a columnist for the Emerald.
