Yeah, I’m going there. I realize I’m a white-bread sub-urban college educated person—hardly an authentic Compton gangsta. But then again, that’s the point, isn’t it? If we’re going to grant that gangsta culture is something more than just adolescent posturing and talking fast—if we recognize it as a valid art form—then we must also grant that very, very “white” people can, ultimately, appreciate it.

This subject also touches on the fact that I believe white people should be allowed to say the word “nigga” without potential embarrassment when quoting classic literature. See, because if we’re going to admit hip hop stars to the “canon” then we must make their work freely accessible to everyone. This means, no more racial hipster posturing—you don’t have to be a certain shade of skin or darker just to appreciate good lyrics.

Now, I realize, sometimes certain white people take things a bit too far. But you know what? Just like there are a lot of unfair stereotypes about African Americans, most white people who appreciate hip hop do not belong in “Malibu’s Most Wanted.” And on the other end, I’ve seen people from all races make ham-fisted efforts at quoting Shakespeare—part of having culture means some people won’t “get it.” And, as a white person, I realize that I won’t ever “get it” totally, which is part of why I feel comfortable saying I “get it” artistically.

Enough babbling, though. Mark my words—100 years from now, bored English major freshmen will be glancing up from their textbooks, begging the professor to know if the lyrics to “Still A Nigga” will be on the test.

Oh yeah, and for a recommendation? Most everything by Eazy E is good, but the later stuff is best (most all of “187 um Killa”). The feud between him and Dr. Dre is legendary—seriously, when I hear young hip hop artists “beef” with each other these days, I think to myself, “man, Dre was LUCKY to be part of such a skilled, witty exchange.” But then again, that just goes to show that I understand Eazy E, NWA, et al on a level that today’s African American youth never can: as a Generation X’er.

…but at the same time, I’m glad poetry is still this important.

For the record, I do believe that Palestinians should not be treated as second-class citizens. For the record, I do not believe Israel has the “right” of first strike (I also believe the United States doesn’t have that “right,” but that’s another topic). If that makes me an anti-Semite—in much the same way that hating Obama for continuing Bush’s policies somehow makes me racist—great! I love intensely-charged labels mis-applied by random jackasses.

I saw “it” once, in person, myself. At a poetry reading, no less. Here everyone was reading poems about lost loves and daily life and so on, and then all of a sudden, like a giant dump taken on the podium, this guy unloads a “poetic” essay-diatribe about how Palestinians are all evil, and how by demanding civil rights they hate all Jews everywhere. Now, I realize this person is in no way representative of “all Jews everywhere,” in much the same way that the handful of bigoted African American pastors that supported California’s Proposition 8 (which passed largely due to the support of the mostly-white Mormon church) don’t represent “all African Americans everywhere.” Being neither black nor Jewish, I recognize that I am probably not the first “go-to” person to speak about racial issues. At the same time, I believe the truth is the truth. I also believe that being from an oppressed minority does not give one license to bigotry. Against gays or Palestinians or whomever. Sorry.

It’s kind of ironic; I swore off ‘The Atlantic’ (to the extent that I ever read it) after it published that vile, nakedly partisan Harris-Perry nonsense. Someone somewhere at that publication apparently has balls beyond just white-washing Obama’s fascist policies with charges of racism. So, kudos to them. It was, indeed, something that must be said.