Several prominent Black rappers have recently aligned themselves with conservative politicians and media figures, which the author finds concerning. Rappers like Ice Cube, Kanye West, and Lil Wayne have sat down with Tucker Carlson and supported Donald Trump. However, the author argues that right-wing populism threatens Black communities. While some see these moves as opening dialogue, the author believes shared values around money, religion, and distrust in institutions have brought these unlikely groups together against vulnerable people. As the hip-hop industry has become more commercialized and corporate, rappers have also gained wealth and political influence, but supporting policies that don’t help everyday Black Americans. The author maintains that rap artists have a duty to use their platforms responsibly by advocating for politics that materially improve conditions in Black communities.

    • Neato@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      “social conservatives,”

      Went to look it up just in case I was mistaken.

      Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism.[1][2] Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institutions, such as traditional family structures, gender roles, sexual relations, national patriotism, and religious traditions.[3][4] Social conservatism is usually skeptical of social change, instead tending to support the status quo concerning social issues.[4]

      Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I usually just call them bigots.

      • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I usually just call them bigots.

        I’m sure you have great success talking to anyone socially conservative lol

        • Neato@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          I’m sure you have great success talking to anyone socially conservative lol

          Why the fuck would I talk to people who want to oppress people? Stop talking to bigots. Ostracize them. They don’t deserve people to listen to them.

            • immibis@social.immibis.com
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              1 year ago

              @acastcandream @Neato You do not have to treat people with respect who do not treat others with respect. You do not have to advocate for civil rights for people who advocate for taking away civil rights. You do not have to tolerate intolerance. Tolerating intolerance makes society intolerant.

            • iAmTheTot@kbin.social
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              1 year ago

              I don’t speak to family members that are bigots. I don’t tolerate bigot strangers. And I don’t tolerate bigots that are coworkers.

              You do, in fact, have a choice.

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                  1 year ago

                  If I work with bigots, I don’t know about it, because I don’t talk politics at work. If I did find out I worked with a bigot, I’d make it clear that at cannot work together and ask for differing assignments.

                  If I find it that a stranger I’m dealing with is a bigot (also rare, because politics doesn’t come up often with strangers), I walk away. If a business owner is a bigot, I do not shop with them.

                  If I find bigots online, I block them.

                  The magical place I live is called being principled and using the tools at my disposal to ignore bigots.

            • Neato@kbin.social
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              I was mostly talking about online or in personal situations but let’s address.

              But I don’t get to choose who I interact with at work

              For most people this is unfortunately true. I would encourage people, when possible, to seek employment at places that prevent bigots. For me, my giant employer has an Equal Opportunity office. You’ll get fired for being openly bigoted, and people have.

              Do you have any family members with problematic views?

              I talk to my dad only to make my mom happy. A few times a year. If he starts in on politics, I leave the room or at least ignore him. Non-engagement.

              Do you open the door going, “Hey there, good to see you, bigot!”

              That’s just it: if you have to interface with a known bigot, stick to professional topics. If they bring up bigotry, leave if you can, ignore if you can’t. Ostracizing people also includes minimal engagement. There’s also tacts for dog whistling “jokes” like pretending ignorance and asking them to explain.

              But if you are frankly that just means you’re incredibly arrogant and/or have completely intractable view points

              Yes. I am totally arrogant and intractable for not wanting to hear about how black people, gay people and women should have their rights taken away. I’ll listen to alternative viewpoints until they dive into fascism and similar. Then they can fuck off.

              I promise you one of your current views will be dated one day and you will need to be able to change your mind.

              Lol. No shit? I’ve been doing that since my early 20s. I look back at my past and regret. I can only do better if I change. I hope I realize quickly when my viewpoints are dated and offensive so I can change them.

              I find it particularly offensive you are seemingly preaching civility in the face of oppression. Whenever you can get away with it, FUCK civility. Being polite while taking away rights is what American Conservatives have been doing since they lost the civil war. Don’t go lose your job, but nothing is stopping you in your personal lives from cutting out the cancer. Not doing so just enables them and that’s part of the problem.

                • circularfish@beehaw.orgM
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                  Speaking of civility, I think you are both coming from a well meaning place and are making interesting points, but you are starting to make different points. It is even likely you are visualizing two totally different interactions when you are typing out your replies.

                  I could be wrong about that, but what is clear is that there is a lot of “you this” and “you that” in the discussion. As this is the nice Lemmy instance, please depersonalize the interaction or consider disengaging.

            • Five@beehaw.org
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              The lesson to be learned from Daryl Davis is that bigots should be ostracized, ignored, and de-platformed. Once their movement has been defanged and members isolated to their anti-social groups, you can more safely reach out to those groups to deprogram the people on the margins, if that’s what you want to do with your life.

              The story would be very different if the KKK still held social and political power. A black man who didn’t support the KKK’s mission attending a KKK rally would not last very long. No one should give these people a platform, or treat them civilly when they’re spreading their brain worms in civil society.

              • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.ca
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                1 year ago

                Some methods will work for some, others for others. But what you said is the exact opposite of what he said. Like exactly opposite. Say what you want but please don’t misportray others messages.

                • Five@beehaw.org
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                  1 year ago

                  Sometimes people’s message is different from their words. Please don’t tell me not to say it like it is. And please don’t try and shame the oppressed for not being civil to oppressors.

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          To be fair, it appears that by definition anyone who disagrees with them might have a hard time getting through.

          skeptical of social change, instead tending to support the status quo

          A more polite way of saying they’re firmly stuck in their ways, unwilling to accept a different perspective.

    • shikitohno@kbin.social
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      Yeah, there are a lot of people in groups that one might think “Hey, you know the Republicans don’t like you and want to make your life miserable, right?” but are socially conservative and are not willing to let that stuff go. There are lots of predominantly Black or Hispanic churches from the “Fun is a sin,” denominations like the evangelicals, Pentecostals and Jehovah Witnesses whose members will not make any compromise on issues like abortion or gay rights. Even amongst the more secular people living in these communities can still be influenced by the folks that live around them. You also get a lot of people, especially older people, who are still on board with the law and order, tough on crime shtick, believing this is the sure way to get nice, safe communities to live in.

      Religious, older and concerned with security doesn’t sound all that different to the stereotypical white conservatives that serve as the base for the Republicans in rural areas. They just need a bit more of a nudge to get there because they have to overcome some resistance to voting for a party that explicitly targets things that are important to them in other areas.

      • acastcandream@beehaw.org
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        Can’t take all the credit. Someone used that term recently and it’s like a hundred lightbulbs went off for me.

    • Aesthesiaphilia@kbin.social
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      If, somehow, Republicans ever stopped being so freakin racist, they would have an unbeatable supermajority in the US. The racism of Republicans is the only thing uniting the various faction of the Democratic party. And it’s kind of funny that it’s very rarely talked about.

    • lolcatnip@reddthat.com
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      The people they’re aligning themselves with aren’t just social conservatives, though. They’re fascists.