On Blaming Rihanna: Um, Teens, Ur Doing It Wrong

There are actually a couple things I want to rant about this week - the whole Rihanna/Chris Brown affair and, of course,  New York Post Page Six cartoonist (and I use that term loosely) Sean Delonas's umpteenth failure in attempting to produce an image which reflects even the most minute trace of class or wit. I mean come on, if you've ever had the misfortune of viewing any of this man's work, you'd already know that he's a borderline talent or hack, at best. I've always found his style to be exceedingly repulsive and demoralizing in such a way that I'd experience a momentary lack of faith in humanity - and that is no mean feat. After all, as I mentioned in my previous post, I do have a taste for the horrific! That said, I'm glad the dialogue has been opened, and let's keep this up front - whether or not you find the cartoon in question to be racist, and it is, let us not forget that it also ran the day after the victim of the chimp attack had her whole damn face torn off!!

And speaking of battered faces, I find some of the reactions to the Chris Brown/Rihanna mess to be equally, if not more demoralizing. After gleaning the comments sections of some the most popular black entertainment sites, I started to feel as if there is no fucking hope for the current generation of African Americans, as I've read some of the most frighteningly idiotic comments from mostly female posters, who expressed their contempt for a victim of domestic violence. From accusations of "provoking" the attack to exposing Chris to herpes led the reasoning for such ignorant statements, and I simply had to stop reading in fear of my head exploding in frustration. I even got into a heated discussion with a few young female relatives of mine, who defended the perpetrator, all the while lying down on the tracks before the speeding train of perpetual ignorance and exclaiming that they don't believe everything they hear in the media. Granted. But why do I get the uneasy feeling that this is mostly the perception of mostly black teenagers? And throw in few young adults please, while you're at it.

Can this be the result of a basic lack of education? Home training? Perhaps it's contempt for the light-skinned black female, while simultaneously placing the light-skinned "fine" black male on a pedestal? Or is it the R Kelly Effect all over again? Why does the male, no matter what hue, always get a pass? Is it because of all the past pain and suffering and alleged burdens the black man has to shoulder play into it? My guess is it's a combination of all of these. I also believe that the way we perceive and portray ourselves in modern media culture, especially in music and television (hello Vh1!), has a lot to do with this. Constantly, in music videos and so-called reality shows, black females are shown debasing themselves to the extreme, eschewing any hunger and need for higher learning, professional achievement and self respect, all for the pleasure and entertainment of the male antagonist, in the hopes of winning his approval. The same applies to the whites in terms of these shows which portrays these women to be shrill, slutty, manipulative and lacking any semblance of integrity or class. Worse, we watch incredulously as they spout their own vapid reasons for wanting to participate in this sideshow. What's going on, people? Is it only entertainment? Clearly, much of what passes as reality TV is scripted, but I sincerely doubt that a lot of young kids who watch these shows can discern or even care to acknowledge this fact.

So, what can we do? It's pure and simple. Educate, educate, educate. Each one teach one. Make your kids pick up a damn book. It is the responsibility of the parents, got that? That's where it starts. That is all.

By the way, the Chicago Tribute has published an interesting article which touches on teens and their views on violence in relationships and the Chris/Rihanna affair. Check it out here.