gold digger

for the vast majority of those who witnessed kanye freestyle his way into national controversy, these were probably the common reactions.

1) AMEN BROTHER
2) sigh. another misguided young black male.

a quote from new orleans may help put things in perspective:

"The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home, and every day she called him and said, 'Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?' And he said, 'And yeah, Momma, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday' — and she drowned Friday night. She drowned on Friday night," Mr. Broussard said.

now, we all know it's not the presidents job to save every granny in the state of louisiana. but it is indisputable that the help that arrived in the big easy was far too little, far too late.

was the cause racial? lets explore...

this whole situation really has been a microcosm of the divisions in american culture. be it racial, or socioeconomic -- the rifts between rich and poor, republican and democratic, the powerful and the powerless -- are growing wider everyday.

how else can you explain this ridiculous media exposure of poor black citizens left to fend for themselves in the middle of mayhem? or the media circus literally buzzing overhead capturing it all for the 24/7 news consortiums?

how is it, that though one of the most historical and treasured cities in the united states has been ravaged, the majority of the united states is watching the news as if there was just a horrible genocide in cambodia?

indeed, for those who've seen the movie "hotel rwanda", don't you find the raction of the general public eerily similar?

lets send some money. poor guys, i feel so bad for them. it's terrible whats going on down there.
so whats for dinner?

yes, this is a study in media and communications.
yes, this is a spectacular tragedy of massive proportions.

but what took so long for the help to arrive? was there a delay on mailing the president his memo? was it sent on a friday therefore requiring several business days to get to him?

michael moore lambasted mr.bush for sitting still after hearing news of the 9/11 terrorist attacks for a good half hour.

one can only wonder what people will say about this almost paid-vacation of foot dragging.

the fact of the matter is, there is no political brownie points to be won by posing heroically with the poor black ghetto in NO, or the white trailor trash in Ole' Miss.

there's no rush to help them. no rush to save them. no rush to acknowledge their plight.

racial accusations are never taken lightly. perhaps mr. west was a bit knee jerk in his reaction, but the truth of the situation is painfully obvious every day as i watch mainstream news channels propgate the same cliche's over and over again:

the chaos, looting and crime should be blamed on no one but the people present. they have no idea how barbaric they really are. silly rednecks with their shirts off, yelling at the camera. silly black gangsters (with their shirts off), stealing booze and food. and everybody...everybody it seems -- is shooting guns off in the air.

how did we get to this point? is it as simple as blaming the fat poor women who had to watch the white kid in his AE blasted jeans and lacoste polo board the first buses for evacuation? doesn't it seem too easy to just think that it must be some sort of civil unrest and complete and utter social breakdown in new orleans?

and so a nation shakes its head. it grieves. but it does not extend as full a helping hand as it should, because frankly -- like a homeless man begging for change -- those in this problem have really made things worse than they really are. this isn't our homeland.

it's bagdhad.
it's rwanda.
it's somolia.

how did we get here? how have we become so vague and irrelevant to each other that as long as the news doesn't affect our daily commute, it can no longer be personal? are we so emotionally devoid? so callous and jaded?

~

perhaps it's futile to say "the president is racist", "the news is biased and sensationalized", and "there is an unwritten caste system" are the roots of all our problems.

but sometimes, it's hard to deny the truth when it slaps you in the face. and what can we do, asides from change the channel, and hope fear factor is on to numb our minds from thinking too much.

as much as kanye jumped the gun on friday, i think deep down we know that he is simply reacting to the truth behind every chris rock and dave chappelle joke you've ever heard.

besides, maybe the college dropout knows a bit more about character judgment then we give him credit for.

"Now I ain't saying she a gold digger
But she ain't messing with no broke niggaz"

~kanye west


ain't that the truth.