Over the last month I’ve noticed that the local (Dallas-area) Rap and Hip-Hop radio stations have been featuring audio clips from Obama speeches in their station identification spots.
The basic outline is this:
A recognizable beat from a popular song begins to play, as the radio station’s typical voice-over guy let’s you know the call sign for the station you’re listening to. Then, audio excerpts from Barack Obama’s speeches begin to play over the beat. These clips can last anywhere from a few phrases to a lengthy minute of Obama. Lastly, the station’s voice-over guy again identifies the station and they go into the next song on the rotation.
This started as the Democrat candidates started campaigning here in Texas and is still continuing, though the individual spots have lengthened and increased in frequency.
Honestly, I’ve got no problem with this, just like I wouldn’t care if country music stations did the same thing for Republican candidates. If they want to do this, and it doesn’t break any election laws, then I could care less. I’ll even sit through the spots, just because they’re unusual and innovative. Maybe that’s just me though, because I find a considerable entertainment in campaign activities.
However, last night I heard something that could be going a little too far in my opinion.
As the Rev. Wright scandal (if you want to call it that) has caught the national spotlight, one of the area rap stations decided to play several excerpts from his most hateful sermons with a little hip-hop music in the background. When it was over, after what felt like several minutes, the DJ came back and said something to the effect of “Man, that’s real passion right there! I’m glad somebody is saying this!”
What followed was roughly five minutes of the DJ praising the words of the reverend, taking opinions from callers that ranged from “Amen, that brother is telling the truth!” to “Well, white people may not like this, but this is reality!”.
The specific example that most callers referenced was Rev. Wright’s absurd claim that the government invented HIV to kill black people.
Now, I’m all for the free expression of ideas and opinions, but many of the references to Rev. Wright cited were patently absurd and obviously false. Yet, an entire segment of the population is echoing his hateful passion with veracity that borders on mass hysteria. Is this an accurate microcosm of an Obama supporter, or even of the larger black community?
I just don’t know. It’s possible that nobody really knows, or could know, and even more likely that nobody really wants to know.
