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I agree with some of your points but would also caution you to tread lightly with your personal opinion of false idolry taken up for blacks who have achieved success in music and athletics. It's far too easy (and bordering closely on yet a third form of slavery) to cast away African American hip hop artists and professional athletes as "false leaders" while eschewing "BETTER" leadership in the religious, political, and economic sectors that YOU (AND WHITE AMERICA) find more indiciative of true leadership. First off, I'd strongly challenge the ridiculous claim that Barack Obama, as the first black president thrust into a difficult rebuilding role at best, somehow doesn't qualify as an invaluable political AND economic leader, not to mention his wife, Michelle or even Herman Cain from across the aisle. You also haven't been paying attention since BEFORE the civil rights movement came to be if names like Martin Luther King, Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton don't strike you as religious leaders, teachers, and role models.

Nevertheless, who are YOU to question the powerful worldwide success of Rap/Hip-Hop as another American-born form of musical expression. Black voices stepped over and around the white/right-wing installed ceiling of advancement by inventing a new genre that TRULY gave expression to their personal struggles, afflictions, and insight on society. You merely "pile on" to that "Right-Wing-Whitey's" racism by simply casting it off as "THUGGERY". Fortunately, foreigners that have mightily contributed to making rap the most listened to and purchased form of music in the world, don't have the same narrow, racist view. Isn't it just a third form of slavery to insist that the only real path for blacks is by perpetuating and teaching themselves the three most outdated, corrupt, and divisive sectors in world history: politics, economics, and religion?????? Hip-hop was the black man saying "We've got a better way of getting the world's attention", which is working just fine. Yes, much of those early forays into free expression dealt with anger, gang life, anti-police sentiment, and murder... because they'd had enough AND because it IS a fact of life in their communities. Still, you don't hear anyone lableing rock and roll as "thuggish" music just because Ozzy Osbourne ate snakes on stage and endless numbers of metal bands reference Satan worship.

Similarly, nobody complains about the terrible impact rich white athletes and entertainers have on the future success of their race, simply for choosing THAT career path. No, it's the "thuggish BLACK athlete" label which reminds us of old racial stereotypes like "gorrilla" and "jungle bunny". Barry Bond is the ALL-TIME baseball home run king. THAT IS LEADERSHIP, no matter how much white America wants to beat him up for juicing like 90% of his contemporaries. The fact that he's rich and unapologetic makes white america throw him on the "thug" pile along with Jim Brown, OJ Simpson, Muhammed Ali, Mike Tyson, Michael Vick, Marion Jones, Tiger Woods, Wesley Snipes, et al.

Find an emerging theme, yet? Hmmm...., how about: "Attention blacks: Athletics/Entertainment is no path to success and riches for you ... White America will still vilify you for doing the same things that it gives its own a pass on...."

These examples I gave were the best of the best ... each one taught his own private white lesson.... if we can't beat you, we'll find other ways of bringing you down...So, that you can summarily decide that these are false leaders for their own kind.

Happy African American History Month. Continue your successes in ALL endeavors....

[QUOTE=larenman;bt55]I agree with some of your points but would also caution you to tread lightly with your personal opinion of false idolry taken up for blacks who have achieved success in music and athletics.<snipped for brevity>
Happy African American History Month. Continue your successes in ALL endeavors....[/QUOTE]

[FONT=Book Antiqua][SIZE=3]Thank you for your comment, however, I think you missed a key point of my post. I am viewing Black History Month from my perspective. My experiences with my black friends, coworkers and acquaintances is from a street level, not some projected scenario. You want to bring in, for example, Obama, which is something I did not mention because many blacks I know do not like him but feel trapped in supporting him and he has little to do with Black History Month anyways.

This has everything to do with the current situation for American Blacks, which to many, even having something called a “Black History Month” is an affront. This isn’t about the music (Hip-Hop in this case). While the hip-hop culture is justifiably associated with violence, that isn’t what I’m driving at, nor is it the black athletes, it’s about the majority of black youth, mainly young males, whom set their sights on becoming rich and famous via music and athletics, at the price of completely forsaking a good academic education.

Educators, especially in urban areas, are watching sharply increasing dropout rates and a declining graduation rate for black youth who cling to this unrealistic idea that their only ticket to economic freedom is by being a musician or commercial athlete. When they fail, and let’s be honest here, most do, they have nothing to fall back on and as a result, many turn to crime and the cycle repeats itself. Our prisons are grossly and disproportionately housing way too many black men and the common denominator with them is lack of education.

Also, I don’t see black leadership taking a firm stance on this. Most of today’s iconic black musicians, politicians and athletes are extremely poor role models and emulate the same selfish hypocritical values many whites cling to; greed and power. Tiger Woods, a Family Values man? Michael Vick’s dog fighting fiasco? Wesley Snipes, in prison for tax evasion? What kind of message do you think this sends kids? I’m not even going to mention the hip-hop personalities that have been killed and involved in anti-social and anti-female behavior.

You also realize that black teen pregnancy, per capita, has the highest rate in the US along with becoming single mothers whom are not being supported by the fathers?

No, becoming a successful musician or athlete is a pie-in-the-sky dream that regardless of race, few achieve. There are many stories of blacks whom are successful at ventures that require at least a high school education. Aside from Oprah, Junior Bridgeman, for example, is an ex-Milwaukee Bucks player and was able to find success after sports by becoming one of the largest Wendy’s franchise holders in Wisconsin. However, one needs education to get to those levels.

Epilogue – A few years ago a met a black gentleman whom makes his living as a musician but way outside the accepted hip-hop/rap genera, he plays an [B]accordion[/B], is quite good at it and makes a very good living. I saw him at a traditional Polish wedding and he had everyone eating out of his hand, so to speak. He learned it in high school, despite the taunts he took for it. The man was thinking outside the box. In his own small way, he is what Black History Month should be all about. [/SIZE][/FONT]