Racist?

Not his point. The next verse is the point. Libya's in Africa, but a black man
will lead a black man, to fight against his homelandBut thanks for breaking it down for me, cracka'. Then funny is definitely subjective. - Oni

First, it's Teacha, not Teacher. Theach(er) is racist.Second, "don't get it twisted, he got mad skillz"...? And you're calling KRS One a poser? Or was that you trying to be sarcastic again? It's usually not a joke when you have to explain it.- Oni

You're not from their culture, their race, their streets, you don't know their struggle, what they have to fight against, rise up from, deal with on a daily basis... You may not like to hear it, but you don't understand it enough to judge it that way.It's meant for a reason, a "don't forget where you and your people came from and struggled to acheive" thing to say, to remind those who think they've been accepted and have turned their back on their culture, streets and people.That's how it was explained to me... For the most part, your culture is determined by your race. At least the culture you get raised in.I'm cuban from Miami, Hialeah no less, you think I had a choice as to what culture I'd be influenced by?- Oni

AE wasn't addressing his point. He was making fun of the ignorance of the statement suggesting Libyans are blacks contrasted with the writer being a promoter of knowledge. You just don't get it! From Message 107: Sounded to me like he was saying that KRS-ONE is still a good rapper regardless of his mantras on knowledge being overrated.

Absolutely no such statement was suggested...at all. He clearly just has issue with a black person sending black troups to attack their motherland, regardless of what race, religion, color, etc. that particular country has in it. He never suggests Libyans are black, that's just your whiteness reading these words incorrectly. What, are you blowing him these days?- Oni

Ugh, whatever. Its still funny to me. Well I just can't help that then, can I? Damn whiteness... woe is me I'd never blow a black guy!

Yay! I win. Racist! But not homophobic, so I respect it.- Oni

onifre: 1
Catholic Scientist: 0..'bout as exciting as a soccer game Well...uh, its just the logical outcome of not blowing any guys. I didn't mean it as racist. I swear!

man I swear you are just not understanding me on purpose. He is a fine MC, his flows are tight, he can battle like no one's business, he is the blastmasta, but when it comes to knowledge he is a little lacking. Definately not lacking in confidence, because confindence is what you to to be successful behind the mic.the reason I swear you are misunderstanding me on purpose, is because Catholic Scientist get's everything I just said, and does most of the time when you do not. Maybe CS is just smarter, I dunno. being a fan of KRS One you totally knew what i meant. CS is obviously not really a fan. "YES Cuban-bee!--Samson Simpson" sry its to hard for me to resist quoting a favorite pothead movie. Cubano? My guess would be that you are raised by Roman Catholics, who are probably Republicans, well at least if your family was among those totally fucked by John F. Kennedy.Hispanic, Catholic, Republican: you should be on "OUR SIDE". Or are you just some sort of rebel, who like to go against his nature and culture? Still Libya is not the motherland for black people, and it never was. If you as a black man think all of africa is the motherland for all black people, then you should not have an alias that has anything to do with teacher or knowledge. It's wrong and incorrect, that aint droppin knowledge, that is droppin ignorance.

Word.One of my favorite talk-radio programs that I listen to everyday, and have for the past 10 years, is called "the Howard Stern Show". There is a commentator on this show named Robin Quivers. She is Black. She does, not "talk black", and does not "do black things", and works with "white people" and sometimes hangs out with "white people". According to many this makes her an 'Uncle Tom'. Its always funny when some one calls in and makes that claim (99% of the time a black person), and Howard clowns on that fool hard.I have come to think that 'Uncle Tom' is a slur used by haters, who are jealous of more successful black people than themselves, and that is it. They are just Hating, like KRS One in the before mentioned song.

That sounds exactly like I understood the use of the phrase, and is exactly why I find it so stupid and offensive. The expectation that somebody has to behave in a particular way or somehow owes something to 'their people' or 'their culture', based on skin colour or some aspect of their cultural upbringing, is nonsense, and seems to me a way of encouraging racial divisions. 'No, you cannot just think of yourself as a person and get on with things. You must always remember that you are a black person, must identify with other totally unconnected black people and their struggles, and must consider the history of this particular subset of dead people your history.'

Just be thankful that 12% of your nations population is not filled with these people. It is extremely anoying. You have to coddle them to the point of constantly patronizing them, and you can only say positive things, and talk about how they are growing up and getting better, and changing for the better. If you say anything negative (or truthful), give any sort of critism for thier ways of doing things (or not doing anything), then you are automatically a racist. Some genius out there on this site, thinks this post is racist, but all I am doing is "keeping it real".

And to repeat, I didn't say it would turn anyone into 19th century slave or master. But those titles/nicknames do have the power to symbolize someone.Ever heard of the sayings "go get them, tiger" or "you go, cowboy"? Ever heard someone say "go get them, you plant"? It doesn't mean anyone is literally going to turn into a tiger or cowboy. But those titles/nicknames do have the power to symbolize those people.

You keep repeating that "I'm not understanding on purpose," but I do understand, I just disagree. It's my disagreement toward your position that you are having trouble accepting.How would I know what the extent of KRS's knowledge on particular subjects are? Are you basing that on one lyric that you are digging deep on? How do you personally know how smart or intelligent he is?The point you and CS initially made was that KRS thought Libyans were black. My only problem with what you both said was that he never suggested Libyans are black. And you could not have come to that conclusion from that one lyric, that's all I disagreed with. Even CS has admitted that KRS never suggested that. The lyric in question never makes any such suggestion.Why do you keep contending that he did suggest that?However, to your bigger point... Do black people, when they mention the "motherland," exclude the non-black countries? I don't know. How would I know such a thing? I would have to know the opinion of every black person. But fuck, if that's how far you're digging in the lyrics... Libya's in Africa, but a black man
will lead a black man, to fight against his homeland...then you're on your own. To me, the way I heard it, he was going for the symbolic affect of a black man sending troups to his homeland. He said it, he's black, therefore HE (KRS One) apparently feels some-kind of connection to all countries in Africa.If you happen to disagree with how he feels, I don't really care. This is a personal disagreement you have with KRS One, not me. He apparently has a connection to all countries in Africa, you apparently don't think he should. Well, isn't that a huge who gives a fuck? Agreed! And that's also my favorite line. Well, they were truly screwed by Castro. Although my dad was fucked over during the Bay-o-Pigs, but that wasn't all JFK's fault...as my dad tells it. I'm on the side of humans. I'm hispanic, yes. Catholic, no. Republican, I don't even know what that would require from me.I'm not a rebel, just a free-thinker. But my point was, and you confirmed it, that you can, just by knowing where I'm from, know the culture that influenced me. Religion aside, because while I was raised Catholic, it never was a big deal, for many other issues I side very much with the opinions of many of my race. Granted, my generation, not the one who got here in the late 60's early 70's. And far less with those who got here in the 80's.But there was no choice as to which culture would influence me, and being that 80% of my friends think the same, the culture had a lot to do with shaping their adult opinions. I think that name of 'teacha' and that of 'dropin' knowledge' is given to him because, unlike almost all others in the hip hop world, he actually raps about social and political issues. You have to take his audience into consideration. A lot of kids from ghettos and poor neighborhoods have never even heard of Libya, or Colin Powell, so at least he brings these topics up in his music. He influences a lot of kids who would otherwise be oblivious to the problems of the world.Now, to a kid from the suburbs, who goes to a good school and learns these subjects every day, sure, maybe KRS One isn't that impressive. But then again that isn't the audience he's trying to get at with his lyrics.- OniEdited by onifre, : No reason given.

It's a bit different when you're a minority. WE didn't divide the races, the races were divided when we got here. White people classified blacks as different, not them. They were made to think they were different, and treated as such. We're not talking 400 years ago, we're talking about the 60's and 70's. Not very long ago, and that generation still lives today and are the parents and grandparents of those around today. They are the ones raising the kids even today, so YES, there is a deep connection to that generation who suffered greatly at the hands of a racist country.Now, I agree that no one should be expected to act a certain way, but I think you mean that their problem is they're not acting black enough? and that's why they're being called an Uncle Tom? But that isn't what is meant by an Uncle Tom.It has nothing to do with acting black and talking black, it has to do with selling out and turning your back on your people. Remember, whites don't turn their backs on their people, Jews don't either, Hispanics don't either, so why jump on blacks when they make the statement that blacks shouldn't turn their backs on each other either?All races, religions, ethnic groups stick together, why get on blacks for doing it too? You don't need to remind yourself that you're black, society will remind you every single day. Like I said, it's different for minorities. It is their history, and forgetting that is pretty fucking pathetic because it was only 40 years ago...- Oni