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April 11, 1991Advance-TitanDarnitia Fields, Editor Bridget Henderson, AssistantRap down on racism and identityBY BRIDGET HENDERSONMinority Affairs Assistant Editort ‘Hev wh at ’ s up Oshkosh I ” said Chuck D, as he cooly walked into the gymnasium full of fans shouting out his name and shoving paper toward him for his auto-graph.Chuck D, the leader of the rap group “Public Enemy,” along with Harry Allen, made a presentation at the Human Rights Festival, April 4 at Albee Hall.Although “racism” was the main focus of the program, both speakers addressed controversial issues ranging from inner-city life to rap to racism. The presentation was delivered on two different levels. Harry Allen, presented his oratory from an intellectual perspective, and Chuck D held nothing back with his “straight talk”format.Harry Allen,a free-lance writer for the “Village Voice” newspaper in New York, labeled himself as a “Hip-Hop activist, MediaAssassin.” In other words, he relates his messages through hip-hopmusic, which attacks the media for the misconceptions they portray about blaclcs and rap music.The same misconceptions that tend to distort the minds of those who don’t know the “real story” about minorities, often creating stereotypes and racism. “Understand racism, because if you don’t understand it everything else will confuse you,” Alien said. The best way to deal with racism, as well as spotting a racisL is by simply asking questions, he said.Allen also cited that the following suggestions will help to put an end to racism: pay attention to the words people use; racists usually lie; don’t call anybody anything they wouldn’t call themselves; never call a group racist; racism exists only in individuals, never say anything that is not true and. never have sexual intercourse with anyone of the another race. That suggestion caused the most uproar.Allen said that by giving names to particular things you become in control of them, which is often why many Europeans renamed things in America.Chuck D started on a different note.His speech confronted issues about the media and rap music. “Rap music is the CNN blacks never had ” he said. He explained ihe conceptof how the media show the elements of a story in whichthey intend to, which often depict negative images of minorities.According to Chuck D, rap is the only means of communication that actually tells the truth about events happening in black com-munitics. “When blacks began listening to rap music they got the latest news on what was going on in their communities, as well as others,” he said.Chuck believes that Hollywood is partly responsible for the racist images people create because they casted minorities in stereotypic roles in films from the beginning,Photo by Krissy SimmorrsRapper Chuck D was greeted by a noisy crowd awaiting his presentation on racism and black awareness at Albee hall.stereotypes that many minorities addressing many of the issuesare still faced with today. discussed at the Human RightsThe Tilan-TV program “Street Festival. The show will air AprilMusik” will air a taped interview 12 at 7:30 p.m., April 15 at 3 a.m.with Chuck D and Harry Allen and April 17 at U :30 p.m.
Newspaper Details
Oshkosh Advance Titan
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, US
Thu, Apr 11, 1991
Page 7
Full Page
Clipped by
Mariah S.
NA, 17 Apr 2023
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