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
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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?
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■ 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.