Steve Gilliard on Memo to young black men: Please grow up
Ok, about 10 years ago, Calvin Butts decided to wage a war against rap music. Butts is the head of Abyssinian Baptist Church, the most prominent black church in New York City. He took a bunch of CD's and smashed them in the street. Al Sharpton was nowhere to be seen. Yet.
Now, he agreed with Butts, but not his methods.
So, when Butts got on TV, rappers ran to Sharpton and said "why did he have to disrespect us like that. We work, we raise our families, what did we do to deserve such treatment".
Now, even though Sharpton didn't like the lyrics any more than Butts, he had their respect. So when he made the same points, but without the grandstanding, they listened.
Steve does a good job with this one.
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