Blame Canada!

cried when I found out that Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died. I’m not even a Redskins fan, but as a sports fan the loss of such an electrifying talent is jarring. Throw in the fact that the man was 24 years old and had an 18-month old little girl and a new fiancée to take care of, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

People have thus far viewed this tragedy from a wide range of perspectives. Some have considered this part of the disturbing trend of athletes as targets—in the past year, two major athletes have had themselves and their families taped up while their homes were robbed, and two others have died as a result of gun violence. Others have probed Taylor’s life for explanations. While his past was troubled—Taylor had a 2005 armed assault arrest, and a few incidents regarding team functions—by all reports from friends and teammates, he had turned around his life since the birth of his daughter. But no amount of speculation about the possible cause affects the fundamental nature of the tragedy.

That is, unless you exploit it like Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock, who used Taylor’s murder as an opportunity to bash his favorite piñata: hip-hop. Whitlock has a long history of railing against gangster rap and the element of black culture it represents—the “Black KKK,” as he calls it. To Whitlock, the evolution of this genre is a cause of black Americas’ high crime rates and low socioeconomic status. He puts some of the blame for Taylor’s death, as well as the gun violence that plagues the black community, on rap, declaring: “You’re damn straight I blame hip hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance, and incarceration, there’s no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance, and incarceration.”

Ironically, Whitlock disproves his argument with his own words. His theory concerning the detrimental effects of hip-hop is based on the premise that the behaviors follow the music. But any sensible person sees the endogeneity problem. The existence of rap music can be explained by the prevalence of the behaviors it glorifies. It may sound like a chicken and egg problem, but in this case, the causation is actually pretty clear. Misogyny, violence, and crime have all been endemic to and glorified in America since long before rap music ever existed. Specifically, the rise of the lucrative crack-cocaine market in America and the explosion of violence that accompanied it came and went long before the music that celebrated it ever became popular.

Really, how can anyone reasonably blame a form of entertainment for problems in society? Before it ended a few months ago, The Sopranos was one of the most TV popular shows in America—but I highly doubt anyone was compelled to become a mobster after watching it. The same goes for most cultural phenomenon during any given era, as The Nation contributor Dave Zirin writes: “Music and culture are reflections—sometimes very ugly reflections—of … harsh realities…Blaming hip-hop for our current state is like blaming the pan-flute and zither for the crusades.” In an economy where pop culture is marketed, packaged, and sold, the product must, by necessity, reflect society’s values. Obviously, misogyny, violence and crime sell—and to far more people than those that actually live the lifestyle hip-hop albums promote. But somehow, hip hop is supposed to be viable explanation for the fact that homicide is the leading cause of death for 15-24 year old black males? Passing the buck for one of society’s most complex and nuanced problems to a type of music is the epitome of laziness.

The fact that such inane and nonsensical arguments as Whitlock’s get major national attention and are repeated by many a pundit only points to the sad state of affairs we as Americans have reached when it comes to addressing our problems. In sports, our misdirected ire manifests itself when we write silly columns like Whitlock’s, or when we chastise Barry Bonds for cheating when our society prioritizes winning at any cost, or when we bad-mouth Alex Rodriguez for loving money despite this nation’s materialistic culture. And it’s not just sports. We hate Paris Hilton for her own fame while we continue to pay attention to her, and we blame President Bush for apathy towards hurricane victims and genocides while we as citizens ignore these issues ourselves.

The truth is that our sports, our music, our pop culture, and even our representative government are only reflections of the society we’ve created and the society that we want for ourselves. If we believe the problems that show themselves in these institutions are really worth fixing, we should probably spend some time addressing the actual causes. Instead, we choose to scapegoat easy targets, and then move along on our high horses as if we’ve accomplished something

It is a shame this is the standard reaction we have to our problems. And the even greater shame? That such foolishness had to distract us, me included, from the tragic end of a life that held so much promise.

Aparicio J. Davis ’10 is an economics concentrator in Leverett House. His column appears on alternate Thursdays.