To Pimp a Butterfly

The Blacker The Berry Evidence II

          The most alarming thing about all these tragedies to people around the world is that this concept of race is what influences violent actions. The mere fact that divisions based on race is still socially accepted hinders chances at true equality because we are still engaging in colonialist dialogue from the past. According to the American Anthropological Association, “...‘race’ was as mode of classification linked specifically to peoples in the colonial situation. It subsumed a growing ideology of inequality devised to rationalize European attitudes and treatment of the conquered and enslaved peoples” (AAA 2). Thus, “race” is simply a social construction that was used to separate and rank people in a colonial context. Shockingly, when science is used how it was intended, the AAA found that, “Evidence from the analysis of genetics (e.g., DNA) indicates that most physical variation, about 94%, lies within so-called racial groups… there is greater variation within ‘racial groups’ than between them” (AAA 1). Therefore, race, as a classification tool, is ineffective because it does not accurately depict genetic differences, which further exposes the irony presented by Assassin. Unfortunately, this “‘racial’ worldview was invested to assign some groups to perpetual low status, while others were permitted access to privilege, power, and wealth. The tragedy in the United States has been that the policies and practices stemming from this worldview succeeded all too well in constructing unequal populations among Europeans, Native Americans, and peoples of African descent.” (AAA 3). Thus, when Lamar mentions “This plot is bigger than me, it’s generational hatred” he exposes that the works to belittle the culture of rap, and the rhetoric that places Black citizens in danger, are all apart of systemic and historical racism (Lamar).
 

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