I’ve been frustrated with Phil Mushnick for the past five days. If you didn’t know, the NY Post writer wrote some rather inappropriate and disrespectful words in a piece on not relying on the media to evaluate bad behavior (as related to sports figures), and in the article he took a special non-liking to Jay-Z when he wrote:
“As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots — what a shock that he chose black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new “urban” home — why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?
“Why the Brooklyn Nets when they can be the New York N——s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B—-hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!”
It’s amazing how something as simple as new team colors that ironically would have been a symbol of racial equality in another point in time or context could spark such hatred—hatred the author fails to see, further making the case for his ignorance. As you can imagine, the piece went viral as quickly as charges that Mushnick is nothing but a racist bigot did, yet his only response has been if you want to find the real racist, look no further than Mr. Shawn Carter.
“Such obvious, wishful and ignorant mischaracterizations of what I write are common,” he wrote in a rebuttal. “I don’t call black men the N-word; I don’t regard young women as bitches and whores; I don’t glorify the use of assault weapons and drugs. Jay-Z, on the other hand…..Is he the only NBA owner allowed to call black men N—ers?
“Jay-Z profits from the worst and most sustaining self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture and I’M the racist? Some truths, I guess, are just hard to read, let alone think about.”
Mushnick’s argument isn’t new. Every so often, a white man who’s been overcome with an uncontrollable thirst to use the word n*gger verbally or in writing without being politically incorrect has used rap as the crux of his argument. It’s a juvenile, two wrongs make a right stance they wouldn’t let their 6-year-old child get away with if he hit someone on the playground for calling him names. Yet every other day, week, or month, a white man tries to prove he wants to show us n*ggers the err of our ways by pointing out the self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture we’ve subscribed to. Thank you, white man. I don’t know what we’d do without you showing us the light.
The thing is, what Mushnick isn’t saying is the real reason he has a problem with Jay-Z: because he can’t stand the fact that a Bed-Stuy drug dealer made it from selling heroine in the Marcy projects to being a part owner of the Brooklyn Nets and the power that comes along with that. Moving the team to Brooklyn, building a stadium there, changing the logo—all of these things are nothing more than a sign to Mushnick that n*ggers are taking over and I can only imagine how many times he crapped his pants trembling with fear over the threat of the growing power of the black race as he wrote that article. And that’s exactly why he wants to reduce Jay-Z to nothing more than a thug who calls black people b *tches, h*es, and n*ggas all day long.
No one is in denial about Jay-Z’s past. His lyrics are an open book to the lifestyle he lived and while I wouldn’t go so far as to say he glorifies it, he never hid it. There may have been a time early in his career when he did, but let’s not forget this man is 42-years-old and far removed from the drug game. Are the choices he made as teenager and in his twenties going to follow him for the rest of his life because white America can’t stand the fact that white men aren’t the only ones who can pull themselves up by the bootstraps? Jay’s straps may have been on a pair of sneakers he purchased with drug money but it’s unfair to let that distract or take away from the man he’s become and the man he’s been for several years/decades now. It’s cool if Mushnick wants to believe every other white sports team owner got all of their money through legit, unselfish, non-discriminatory business practices but we all know the likelihood that they have a little dirty money on their hands. The post writer is hardly concerned about the detriment Jay-Z’s lyrics are causing the black community, he’s concerned about his encroachment on the 1 percent.
It’s that fact that makes it so frustrating for me to read black people’s comments defending the words of Mushnick and other like-minded people. Would I like it if Jay-Z shared his $400 million-plus fortune a little more with the black community? Absolutely. Do I respect his ability to do with his money as he so pleases? Absolutely. Do I admire the hustle and the empire he’s been able to build after rising from a kid born into less-than-sub-par circumstances in Brooklyn? Without a doubt. I’m of the same mind as Jay when he says, “If you don’t like my lyrics you can press fast forward.” His music, specifically his lyricism, is only one part of his success and I hardly think black (or white people) calling us n*ggers or n*ggas is one of our gravest concerns as a community. I also don’t think in this day and age any white person needs the problem with them using that word explained to them no matter who else they hear using it. What the real issue is here is that no matter how far you climb there are going to be people who try to reduce you to being nothing more than a n*gger, as in an ignorant person, even when your accomplishments, as Jay-Z’s do, show you are far more. My simple advice to Mushnick would be to get comfy. There are plenty more so-called n*ggers, Beyotches, and h*es where Jay-Z came from and we want that same success.
Do you take issue with Mushnick’s comments on Jay-Z and the Brooklyn Nets or do you agree with his commentary on the rapper?
Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.
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