"Ghetto Nation" --A Journey into the Land of Bling and the Home of the Shameless..

[KoKo]

The Ghetto Mindset
What Don Imus said was wrong—but all too familiar, in a culture influenced far too heavily by the bad behaviors of the street. So says the author of “GhettoNation,” a provocative new book.

By Julie Scelfo
Newsweek
Updated: 7:44 p.m. ET April 10, 2007
April 10, 2007 - Cora Daniels has problems with the cultural legacy of the hood. In her new book, "GhettoNation: A Journey Into The Land of Bling and The Home of The Shameless," the journalist and writer examines how the hip-hop lifestyle and behaviors attributed to inner-city neighborhoods—celebrating gangsters and violence, revering fancy cars and bling, flaunting women's bodies—has permeated American culture and created a widespread “ghetto” mentality. From soda-filled baby bottles to black men calling each other the “n” word to MTV’s “Pimp My Ride,” Daniels chronicles the pervasiveness of “ghetto” thinking and shows how people from all walks of life engage in and celebrate ideas, language and behavior they should find repulsive. In a cable-news climate dominated by fallout from Don Imus’s comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, NEWSWEEK’s Julie Scelfo spoke with Daniels about why she thinks it’s wrong to celebrate the bad behavior of the underclass.

-snip-

What are your hopes for this book?

My hope is that we won’t be numb any more. That we will recognize what is going on in all our backyards: women are being demeaned, the worst stereotypes of African-Americans are being touted and embraced, and commitment is treated like garbage while instant gratification is glorified. I want us to raise our expectations and expect more of ourselves and each other. I think it’s time we put our foot down, and is the perfect example of behavior that is not acceptable becoming acceptable. Imus should be fired. There are no excuses.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18045635/site/newsweek/

[raccoon]

1. Thanks for the heads up.

"commitment is treated like garbage while instant (sexual) gratification is glorified." (The link had the word "sexual" bracketed.)

A lot of that is due to advertising. I agree it is deplorable.

[Joe Chi Minh]

2. A very important post. I hope the book sells very well.

I loathe it when African Americans and British of part-African extraction are stereo-typed in those ways on TV, on pop channels and in advertisements; while I found it very heartening to see a bespectacled, young African in French TV programme, dressed in suit.

On the other hand, I like to see African men of a less studious character, proudly celebrtating their "African-ness" by wearing dreadlocks.

Didn't those statuesque young ladies look so noble?

[lefador]

3. Dreadlocks are not African...

...how is poor hygiene supposed to celebrate their "African-ness"? If anything it is a Caribbean.

[Solo_in_MD]

4. perhaps. but they certainly African American

AA culture is a blend of things, with a samller fraction than many coming from African. Some of them are good, others are not. Then there are the ludicrous ones like Kwanzaa

[enid602]

5. "From soda-filled baby bottles . . ."

What does that have to do with hip-hop? I would think it might be more attributable to Madison Avenue.

[stormymonday]

6. Curtis Mayfield was singing about these issues

more than thirty years ago. Check out the lyrics of 'We People Who Are Darker Than Blue'.

Now I Know We Have Great Respect For The Sister, And Mother
It's Even Better Yet
But There's The Joker In The Street
Loving One Brother And Killing The Other
When The Time Comes And We Are Really Free
There'll Be No brothers Left You See

We People Who Are Darker Than Blue
Don't Let Us Hang Around This Town
And Let What Others Say Come True
Were Just Good For Nothing They All Figure
A Boyish Grown Up Shiftless Jigger
Now We Can't Hardly Stand For That
Or Is That Really Where It's At

Pardon Me Brother, I Know We've Come A Long Long Way
Let Us Stop Being So Satisfied
For Tomorrow Can Be An Even Brighter Day

http://home.comcast.net/~amaah/lyrics/curtis-mayfield-lyrics.html

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. First scary racist penguins...

now scary racist black people.

Oh, it's so hard to carry the white man's burden these days.

:crazy: