Racism and Jay Z - Does it matter?

FlyersFan

scientist
Calling 5%/NGE Nation of the Gods and Earths a racist "whites are devils" group is extremely ignorant and oversimplifying a very complex topic.

Nope. It's very straight forward. It's a racist group.
THEY claim blacks as a superior race. THEY make women subservient to men.

This is just completely incorrect. There are people of all races and origins that are part of NGE. They teach that the black man was the original man(which by the way, is the most widely accepted model of modern humanity and migration theories). That is not racist, unless you are looking at it from a very myopic and xenophobic point of view. As for making women subservient to men... welcome to just about every single religion, ever. (and by the way, that's not correct either, in regards to NGE)

reply to post by scientist


Damn, that is some racist stuff. That link didn't help your cause any, I am off the fence now, and dislike this racist group, if that website is an accurate picture of what the group is really about. I am against racist hate that whites aim at other races, and I am also against racist hate aimed at white people. They are both wrong and repugnant.

scientist
There are people of all races and origins that are part of NGE.

That's more lipstick ... you are being disingenuous.

The Five Percenters are a spin off of the Nation of Islam. It's black oriented.
They claim the black man is God. They are a race based group. They claim
one group is God (black men) while everyone else is lesser. That's racist.

Black Apologetics - Fiver Percent

4.) How popular is it?
Well it is popular among many African-American male youth, especially in poor, urban areas. However, this thinking is also embraced by well off individuals. Its popularity is helped along by many R&B/Hip-Hop artists. Erykah Badu, Nas, Common, Wu-Tang, Busta Rhymes, and countless others have their lyrics laced with 5% doctrine. In addition to using these beliefs in their music some rap artists like Rakim, Big Daddy Kane and Lakim Shabazz have used the 5% flag on their album covers. Their numbers are believed to be in the hundreds of thousands, however they personally claim many more members. The concentration of Five Percenters is believed to be the highest on the East Coast, not coincidentally to be the location of the birth of rap and hip hop music. The major cities that boast the largest African-American populations can be known to have a significant number of Five Percent adherents. These cities include: New York, New Jersey, New Haven, Washington D.C., Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Baltimore and Atlanta (to name a few). This belief system has been embraced by some internationally as well.

NPR - The Tenants of The Five Percenters
Hint .. it's all black orientated ...

(7.) That the black man is God and his proper name is ALLAH — Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head.
(9.) That the unified black family is the vital building block of the nation.

Apologetics Index

Five Percenter Rap: God Hop’s Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission examines the phenomenon from musical, historical, and cultural perspectives. Such a kaleidoscopic approach is necessary given the Five Percent Nation’s complex theology—grounded in Black Muslim traditions, black nationalism, Kemetic (ancient Egyptian) symbolism, Masonic mysticism, and Gnostic spirituality—its historical ties to major movements and moments in American history, and its deep involvement with popular culture.

FlyersFan
The Five Percenters are a spin off of the Nation of Islam. It's black oriented.
They claim the black man is God. They are a race based group. They claim
one group is God (black men) while everyone else is lesser. That's racist.

If you're just blinding copying and pasting random quotes and not doing any true research into this topic, then so be it. But you are extremely misinformed on multiple levels. 5% is a spinoff of NOI in a similar way that Mormonism is a spinoff of Judaism. They share similar origins (on a big enough timeline), but come to completely different conclusions, and go about it in different ways, for different reasons.

The "Black Man is God" claims are accurate, but wholly out of context. If you look at the time period that NGE was created, it was the during the rise and height of civil rights issues. Every other religious option at that time was pretty much worshipping a white god. So in that sense, part of the Black Man is God mentality was reactionary, and a way to connect to the african american communities. Equating NGE to KKK is truly beyond absurd.

reply to post by scientist


Doesn't matter. Racism, by definition, is putting one race on a pedestal in such a way as to make place it above others and carrying that belief forward into your daily life.

Calling all black men "god" is doing just that, putting one race on a pedestal.

reply to post by scientist

"worship a white God' ... oh stop it. God is pure spirit and colorless.
These people worship a race - the black man - as God. Everyone else is lesser. That's RACISM.

All one needs to do is look at his lyrics to know Jay Z is NOT a good person. He glorifies rape, spousal abuse, and murder.

Someone to really look up to there.

reply to post by FlyersFan


again, it's easy to read this out of context, which is exactly why the headline was phrased as such, and I suppose why it's futile to expect any real discussion to arise from this here. So if thinking of 5% as a black version of the KKK is the easiest way to go on with your day, don't let facts or context spoil that!

captaintyinknots
All one needs to do is look at his lyrics to know Jay Z is NOT a good person. He glorifies rape, spousal abuse, and murder.

Someone to really look up to there.

Agreed 100%.

FlyersFan
reply to post by scientist

 

Lipstick on a pig attempt.
It's a racist group.

Your pig lipstick excuses could be used with the KKK as well.
But that wouldn't make them any less racist.

And if a white guy ran around with a KKK hood on and he said 'it means something to me',
it would be no different than this Jay Z fella running around with the racist 5% symbol bling.

Nice try. I see white guys down here fly their confederate flags on their trucks. Not everywhere, but in the very rural areas. They like to say that it's about heritage and not hate. Maybe that's true for some, but when rowdy white dudes start waving that thing around at certain times, and I've seen it happen, it has nothing to do with heritage and most know that. They fly that flag and wear those confederate shirts to let you know where they stand. And funny you should mention the kkk (and I did smaller cases on purpose) they proudly display that confederate patch on their robes and that has everything to do with heritage all right. That having been said, any idiot that thinks their race is superior and I care not the hue of the skin, can bite me.

The first lesson I learned from the Five Percent was simple: # white people. Seriously. White people are devils. I don’t mean this as a statement on biology, because the category of “race” is only political fiction and bad science. I’m using the term more in the sense of what it means to be marked as white in an unjust society. The fact is that I benefit from being white in several ways that I recognize, and many, many more that I usually fail to see. Because I am so often blind to the benefits of my whiteness, it is possible that I unintentionally reenforce those benefits, no matter how vehemently I say that I oppose racism or shower white affection on groups like the Five Percenters. When people want to sound like they’re theoretically sophisticated, they describe this phenomenon with the term, “white privilege.” I call it Satan.

Wake up people, seriously. You are being made fools of, you are all being laughed at. People in the ghettos are predominately minorities, there are white people there too, but not a whole lot.

But guess what? There are white people ghettos too, they are called trailer parks. People who live in these white ghettos are often referred to as white trash. They get the same poor treatment and discrimination and dehumanization, that the minorities in the ghettos of the city do. It is not about black or white, it's about scumbags in power. Keep all the poor people at each others' throats, to make sure them and their family are never at the receiving end of the anger as they should be. It has worked up until now, and will continue to work as long as people buy into these stupid ass racist groups, and their tempting propaganda.

reply to post by TKDRL


Amen!!!! You hit the nail on the head with that! The problems are not about race and they never were, That is the tool used to divide us to keep us in a poor state never making it to the level that the masters (meaning those in power and control keeping this bull# system going) have!

reply to post by scientist


My bad, then if a white person walked around in a KKK outfit or a wore a little swastika badge on their jacket , is that better

The necklace he is proudly wearing, and he has every right to wear it, is making a statement. I'm personally just tired of the double standards.

reply to post by poloblack
And another thing, if most of you very enlightened people on this thread knew anything about the wealthy, powerful WHITE men that Jay Z aligns himself with, that racist s#!t would be as stupid to you as it is to me. Do some research instead of buying into a sensationalist thread title. Jay Z knows who made him and who could break him and it ain't blacks.

TKDRL

The first lesson I learned from the Five Percent was simple: # white people. Seriously. White people are devils. I don’t mean this as a statement on biology, because the category of “race” is only political fiction and bad science. I’m using the term more in the sense of what it means to be marked as white in an unjust society. The fact is that I benefit from being white in several ways that I recognize, and many, many more that I usually fail to see. Because I am so often blind to the benefits of my whiteness, it is possible that I unintentionally reenforce those benefits, no matter how vehemently I say that I oppose racism or shower white affection on groups like the Five Percenters. When people want to sound like they’re theoretically sophisticated, they describe this phenomenon with the term, “white privilege.” I call it Satan.

Wake up people, seriously. You are being made fools of, you are all being laughed at. People in the ghettos are predominately minorities, there are white people there too, but not a whole lot.

But guess what? There are white people ghettos too, they are called trailer parks. People who live in these white ghettos are often referred to as white trash. They get the same poor treatment and discrimination and dehumanization, that the minorities in the ghettos of the city do. It is not about black or white, it's about scumbags in power. Keep all the poor people at each others' throats, to make sure them and their family are never at the receiving end of the anger as they should be. It has worked up until now, and will continue to work as long as people buy into these stupid ass racist groups, and their tempting propaganda.

They do get treated poorly, but part of the problem is that they have a culture, no matter the racial background, the doesn't inspire much compassion because it's hard to feel sorry for someone who will turn their back on every tool and behavior the middle class uses to be and stay middle class and do it proudly.

And by they, I am talking about a universal attitude of any ghetto, urban or trailer park.

reply to post by poloblack


So he works with them? Big deal. That doesn't mean he can't hold private contempt for them in his heart.

Look, I'm not advocating Jay Z get fired. He has every right to hold his beliefs.

However, we are talking about a country where Paula Deen got fired for things she said decades ago, and Brendan Eich was forced to resign from his job for a private political monetary donation he made years earlier. They were forced out over their private, personal beliefs which were not aired while they were on the jobs they currently held.

So, what about Jay Z? Are we a country that is fair or do we hold double standards?

reply to post by FlyersFan


Does it matter? Sure it matters to me.

Just further evidence that incredible amounts of stupidity/ignorance no no boundaries.

Now is it any where near the top of my list of important matters?

Not even remotely.

But it is an indicator of issues that still, in the century plus since the civil war, fester in our society.

reply to post by ketsuko


Middle class america has just started to get a taste of what "ghetto trash" and "trailer trash" have been dealing with forever. And they don't seem to be very happy about it either. They aren't happy the police are treating them like animals now, they aren't happy being marginalized and used by employers for crap pay, I can go on and on. Now that the middle class is being eliminated, the ex-middle class gets to experience what it has been like for the poor people all along. They get to see what they have been brushing off, marginalizing and ignoring for decades if not longer.

reply to post by FlyersFan


It's OK if a "person of color" hates the white devil cracker, but boy will hell fire rain upon you should the tables be turned! Reminds me of the old saying from "Animal Farm", "Everyone is equal, but some are more equal then others".

How about we go back to "Separate but equal"? I have a feeling people like Jay-Lame, er I mean Jay-Z would just LOVE it.

reply to post by FlyersFan


When I saw this and read more about the Five-Percent Nation, I was floored ... I thought the Nation of Islam was out there. The Five Percenters make the Westborough Baptists look like Quakers.