Music You Should Know: Jasiri X

In spite of the progress made towards eliminating discrimination, there is plenty of evidence that the highly anticipated “post racial” era is more wishful thinking than reality.

Consider the double standard on some recent news items:

Flash mobs are innovative and fun gatherings when it’s white youth taking over public places. When black people organize flash mobs in Kansas City and Philadelphia, the police get involved and black youth are blamed for making flash mobs uncool.

Colton Harris-Moore amassed thousands of fans and movie offers for a two year crime spree of robberies, stealing planes, and antagonizing police. Would a black criminal be treated as a folk hero?

Scott Brown went from posing nude in Cosmopolitan to the Senate, where he becomes Boston’s most popular politician. Meanwhile, Alvin Greene is given no respect despite winning the South Carolina Senate primary as an underdog candidate.

But by far, the Tea Party is the greatest example of the racialized double standard. What other group has been given media credibility after bringing guns to public events and threatening violence against the government?

Thankfully, Jasiri X is speaking on this. The Pittsburgh rapper is known for addressing social issues in his music and his latest song asks what would happen if the Tea Party was black. I think the answer is obvious. Here is the video.