Why Hip Hop Isn't the Problem

It's dangerous when a popular media outlet tries to avert our attention from the real problem. With the ability to reach over 87 million viewers, Fox News has the potential to influence a massive amount of people. In turn, a correspondent's opinions can impact the image of an entire news channel.

Above, rapper Kendrick Lamar opened the BET Awards with his new single “Alright”. In the next coming days The Five, a segment on Fox News, decided to criticize the performance and the song in general.

Below is a video of their broadcast:

Their main argument was that the song and the performance displayed an anti-police message. Their interpretation was due to a couple of choice lyrics taken out of context, and the fact that Kendrick was performing on top of a graffitied police car.

Then, long-time reporter and journalist Geraldo Rivera, made a statement that had me cringing: “Hip Hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years.”

Wait-what?

Then, he has the nerve to bring up the tragic church shootings in Charleston like there is any type of correlation at all between the two.

The biggest problem is, and has always been racism. It's proven that Charleston shooter had disgustingly racist motives for murdering the nine victims . He killed people, because he was a racist and a terrorist; not because he listened to too much Lil Wayne. And yet, Geraldo Rivera still puts hip hop in the same conversation as the Charleston shooting.

Another thing that I personally cannot believe, is the scapegoat. Of all rappers, Kendrick Lamar? As an avid hip hop listener, I know that some his songs don't have the best messages behind them. I wonder why they would use a Kendrick Lamar song to back up their claims, since he's a rapper that's well known for his promotion of positive messages. It shows that they didn't do any type of research.

If they had bothered to search for the song's lyrics on Google and read through, they would have realized that the song's overwhelmingly positive. With a quick look on the song's rap genius page, it's found that the song is about using faith in order to see the positive in any situation that you're thrown into.

Like come on! He says we're gonna be alright 27 times. Anyone with a 4 ^th grade level of reading comprehension could see that this song is not meant to be a “bad influence on African-American youth.”

Kendrick even gave his own response to Rivera's criticism, where he explains that Rivera is avoiding the real problem.

So, Geraldo Rivera, please don't make a statement before doing your research first.

Fox News shouldn't have let a correspondent share his opinion on a subject that he knows nothing about. He probably wouldn't know the difference between an Eminem and a Macklemore CD. It's taking attention away from the real problem: the terror of our reality.

The lesson learned here is, you should never rely on news outlets to make your opinions for you. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. 'Cause occasionally, these people put on a pedestal, with their opinions being broadcast to millions of homes, don't actually know what they're talking about.