Is Eminem Being Targeted for Homophobic Lyrics Because He's White?

Is Eminem Being Targeted for Homophobic Lyrics Because He's White?

There’s a lot of buzz around Eminem‘s recent 60 Minutes appearance with Anderson Cooper. On the surface it was a good look as there’s no denying Em’s popularity. He’s now seen as an OG of sorts who has finally returned to the scene after being away for a couple of years recovering from a series of life altering mishaps.

We all know about the tragic night club shooting of his best friend Proof (Detroit’s un-official mayor ) a few years back. We also know that Eminem almost overdosed and had been hooked on drugs.

According to Em he’s been 2 years sober. Like it or not when polled Eminem’s name frequents cracks the top 5 in one Hip Hop’s greatest rapper ever. His delivery, controversial subject matter and clever word play has earned him his respect. However, what caught people’s attention during the 60 Minutes interview was his remarks around homophobic and misogynistic lyrics. When asked about them and the controversy that emerged here’s what Em is quoted as saying;

“I felt like I was being attacked. I was being singled out. I felt like, ‘Is it because of the color of my skin? Is it because of that you’re paying more attention?’ There are certain rappers that do and say the same things that I’m saying and I don’t hear no one say anything about that.”.

You can peep the full interview here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFGVXtwc-Ak

Em’s remarks raised more than a few eyebrows and left us with a few things to think about. The name of the game as he well knows is when you’re trying to make noise to blow up a spot, unless you have a compelling story to tell or exemplary skill sets, the best way to bring attention to yourself or an issue is to kick up dust and cause controversy.

This is what Eminem did. He bursted on the scene 10 years ago causing controversy. It wasn’t just his shocking lyrics but also some of his on and off stage antics. For example, I recall on one of his early visits to the Bay he got into a heated exchange with a radio host on KALX (UC Berkeley’s radio station) who thought he was a bit rude and over the top. The host Sister Tamu wound up breaking his record on the air. Word of that incident spread quick.

A few months later (may 1999) while doing a concert at the Fillmore a fight broke out.Em attempted to quell things only to jump off the stage with crew in tow to pummel a heckler who he felt wasn’t showing the proper respect. What appeared to be an isolated incident was later revealed to be something that somewhat staged as similar incidents of Eminem jumping off the stage to confront hecklers occurred at other concerts including Las Vegas a few days later. Again controversy sells and Eminem early on was a spark plug for it…

It should come as no surprise that folks wishing to get a message across would attach themselves to his missteps to get a message out. This has been a tried and true method used by organizations like PETA when it comes to animal abuse and obviously other organizations like GLAAD who went after Eminem to bring attention to homophobia. But with that being said, while Eminem has come under fire, he has never been economically blocked at least not in the ways we seen other artists who dared cross certain lines.

For example, take reggae artist Buju Banton.. Here’s a guy that recorded an over the top homophobic song back in 1988 when he was 15. The song ’Boom Bye Bye‘ was about the murdering gay man and became a huge hit and an anthem of sorts. 20 years after this song was recorded folks never let up him. They protested, got his tours canceled. Folks have and continue to go all out on Buju.

Eminem.. yeah he got heat from GLAAD and other organizations, but his concerts were never cancelled even here in San Francisco where activist have shut down Buju everytime his name is even mentioned.

This has gone on even after Buju has gone on to do positive music and explained his immaturity and ignorance at 15. He is now considered a strong voice for Jamaica. The protests have gone on even after he was the first to set up program Willy to help prevent the spread HIV and AIDs in Jamaica. Prior to that using a condom was seen in a bad light the same way homosexuality was. Buju took those steps and has still been dogged.

Em still performed his over the top songs even after public apologies and a show of reconciliation with singer Elton John who is outspoken on Gay Rights. Em was still embraced even though he does many of those ‘offensive’ songs. In addition when Eminem is mentioned it’s rarely with the tag Anti-gay rapper vs Buju who is frequently cited in the press as Anti-gay singer.

Def Jeff

Now one may look at Buju and say his song was an anthem that sparked violence and hence deserved to be protested. Thats understandable on a number of levels so lets look at a few other less egregious examples.. I recall back in the early 90s ago LA rapper Def Jeffcoming to San Francisco to perform at Club Townsend. He attempted to try to get the crowd hyped by first yelling ‘All the Ugly People Be Quiet’. When he got a luke warm response he then yelled ‘All the People who got Aids be Quiet‘. To put it simply, after he yelled those remarks it was a wrap.

Even though Def Jeff got a resounding response from the audience that night he soon found himself blacklisted by SF club owners. Many who heard about his remarks refused to book him. Years later, he admitted at that time, he was young and just ignorant to both the horrors of HIV and AIDs. He was also oblivious to the type of anger and scapegoating directed at the Gay community. At that time AIDs was more associated with white Gay males as opposed to folks in the inner city and Jeff was simply insensitive. He apologized, but to know avail. He hasn’t been in the Bay to perform since.

A few months prior to Def Jeff’s remarks, Turbo B the lead rapper for the group theSnap which had the mega hit song ‘The Power’, made some unsavory remarks about Gays and AIDs and caused a huge uproar. Turbo later apologized for his ignorance, but it was all but a wrap for him and his career pretty much went down the tubes from there. It didn’t help that the Snap had a large following in the Gay community. Folks weren’t gonna allow those anti-gay remarks to go.

Cypress Hill

Also around that time a more visible and publicized incident occurred withCypress Hill who were performing at the Bill Graham Civic Center during the Soul Assassins Tour. The show featured House of Pain, Cypress Hill and a number of other acts. Someone in the opening act acting as hype man yelled out to the crowd ‘”All the fags in the House Be Quiet’. There was a loud response from all the straight males who of course responded to the call.

The next day, angry members of the Gay community reacted and targeted radio giant KMEL which gave away tickets for the show. Letters and phone calls came in and the end result was Cypress Hill was banned from airplay on the station. The group quickly issued a letter of apology, even though they weren’t onstage at the time. The logic from the Gay protestors was that they were responsible for the insensitivity of the acts they brought along with them, hence they needed to be banned. The Cypress Hill radio boycott lasted for almost a year. It wasn’t lifted until they actually wound up doing a syndicatedSoul Assassin’s radio show on our station.

Now again let’s not get things twisted, anyone advocating for the beating, killing or even the discrimination of gays or any ethnic group is bad news. And folks on the receiving end of those insults and threats have every right and should express their anger and outrage. If that outrage includes protests and shutting folks down, so be it. All of us have a responsibility in being aware of boundaries that exists within certain communities.But bringing this back to Eminem, he was given huge passes and in many ways embraced. Em’s angry lyrics have more often than not been praised by publications like the UK Guardian and Spin Magazine for expressing and reflecting the angst and anger felt by many within the white working class.

So is Eminem a target for his homophobic and misogynist lyrics because he’s white? Hardly. It’s more likely that he’s a target because he’s enormously popular. I think many of these organizations learned that they can only go so far in bringing attention to these issues going after lesser known artists. Hence as long as Eminem is in the spotlight he allows a light to be shined on these issues. Hence anything he says will be scrutinized for an opportunity to weigh in. The attacks on Eminem are not the same as the shut downs and demonization of entire groups of Black and Brown folks for anti-social ills.

When Def Jeff and Turbo B got clocked all of rap was called into question. When Buju Banton was called all of Jamaica and its culture was called into question. When Em was called out it began and stopped with him. We didn’t make the connection with Eminem being a white man born in the US who may be part of and ultimately influenced by a culture that includes everyone from conservative politicians to overzealous Evangelists who routinely bash the gay community. Bottomline in spite of his hard upbringing there are major institutions in this country that have afforded Eminem a few priviledges he himself might not recognize and certainly didn’t acknowledge during his interview

something to consider

-Davey D-

Courtney Cox David Arquette Split: Bitter Arquette On Howard Stern

David Arquette

Courtney Cox and David Arquette has us coming down from the Chilean Miners Rescue just for a bit. The latest "Courtney Cox and David Arquette" news is that a bitter Arquette appeared on The Howard Stern Show to dish about his separation from his wife of 11 years, Ms. Cox. The two met on the set of the horror movie Scream and rose with the Scream sequels to become a well-known couple. But something went wrong.

Whatever it was, David Arquette didn't want the separation, he says. But apparently when they met 16 years ago, the "stuff" he did then, as he told Howard Stern, that made him attractive to Cox wore off. So, on their 11th anniversary, Courtney gave him a motorcycle and said "I don't want to be your mother anymore." In other words, Courtney Cox grew up and David Arquette did not, and by his own admission.

Arquette told Howard Stern "I do shit that makes her embarrassed sometimes. And when I met her 16 years ago that was charming, part of the aspect she fell in love with. [But] that stuff starts getting old."

After the couple stopped having sex, Arquette said he started to climb the "walls." So they got a legal separation "some time ago," and he went on to reclaim his sex life and the part of himself he thought he lost. David Arquette says he didn't like that Courtney Cox was "mothering" him and feeling like she had to take on everyone's problems.

(Here's news for David: that's what women do when they reach a certain age and have means.)

David Arquette wants Courtney Cox back

Howard Stern asked if they could still work things out. David Arquette said he wants to try and that the key for him would be a less controlled sex life. They have sex on a regular schedule, when they have sex. Arquette says they're still "tight" and he wants her back.

In closing, David Arquette and Courtney Cox are living in two homes - one his, the other theirs and he in the first, she in the last.  He told Stern he thinks everyone's full of shit in the media because it was reported that they're divorced (not here).  He said he doesn't have a girlfriend and had sex with someone because they looked like Courtney.

Chilean Miners Rescue Live Update: 13 OF 33 Miners Rescued

Chilean Miners Rescue Live Update goes from 5 to 8 to 13 miners rescued as of 7:27 AM PDT. And all of this without a mishap. Thank God for that.

According to CNN, the latest miner to surface is the Forman, 27-year old Carlos Barros (in CNN photo below), who's worked as a miner for 10 months until this incident.

Before Carlos, Edison Pena was the 12th of the Chilean Miners rescued, Jorge Galleguillos before him was number 11, and Alex Vega number 10. Mario Gomez, who knelt down to pray after leaving the capsule, was number 9.

The first of the Chilean Miners to rise was 31-year-old Florencio Avalos, the one who was in the best shape to make the trip after being down below for 68 days. He was followed by Mario Sepulveda, who hugged his wife and everyone he could get his hand on when he got out of the capsule.

There are now 20 underground and 12 hours have elapsed since the rescue started.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said that it takes 40 minutes to rescue each miner, and they plan to get out three miners every two hours. That means all of the 33 miners will be out in another 30 hours from this time point, as there are 20 remaining miners.

That means the effort called Operation San Antonio will extend through Thursday afternoon.

Stay tuned.

Mario Gomez Rescued - CNN Live Stream: Chilean Miners Rescue

From 8 rescued miners to 9 rescued miners!

CNN Live Stream: Chilean Miners Rescue update. Mario Gomez, the oldest of the trapped Chilean Miners at 63 years old, prayed as the World watched after he got out of the Fehnix capsule that brought him from 2,700 feet below the Earth in Chile.

Mario Gomez makes it nine of the Chilean Miners rescued of 33 trapped down there. The other good news is that of nine trips, the system is working well with no malfunctions or delays. As of now, it's 4:52 AM PDT.

The World Keeps Watching The Rescue

This event has captured the attention of the industrialized World, as something is being done that, when the Chilean Miners were first discovered, some thought could not be done. But the World's experts pulled together and threw cost out of the window to rescue 33 trapped common people. People no one knew until now.

That's what's so cool about all of this. It's so great to watch the World come together around the common good of saving the lives of people we don't even know.

Chilean Miners Rescue Live Update: 8 OF 33 Miners Rescued

In this Chilean Miners Rescue Live Update, 8 of 33 Miners have been rescued as of this writing at 3:54 AM PDT, with 25 to go.

Florencio Avalos was the first, and  rose from 2,700 feet below the Earth, a distance as long as the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai is tall. He was followed by Mario Sepulveda, who, after hugging his wife, must have hugged Chilean President Sebastian Pinera as many times as days (68) he was trapped underground, then proceeded to hug everyone in his orbit.

After Sepulveda followed Juan Illanes Palma, a 52-year old retired mechanic. Then game Carlos Mamani, from Bolivia, who, according to CNN, said he would never work in a mine again. (Go figure.) Carlos Mamani, then gave way to 19-year old Jimmy Sanchez, the youngest of the trapped Chilean Miners and the father of a newborn girl.

Following him were Osman Isidro Araya, a carrier pigeon handler, and Jose Ojeda Vidal, a master driller who has served as a secretary for the miners.

Better Working Conditions

While Mamani does not intend to work in a mine again, Sepulveda does. He's already pushing for better working conditions.   This corner hopes that machines eventually replace human in the mining industry.  It seems the deeper we're capable of going as a society, the harder it is to get out miner.  In fact, there should be an international law that mining companies can't drill down in areas without a plan for the rescue of anyone trapped where they are mining.

An International Affair

While Chile is rightfully proud of rescuing its miners, the World should be thanked for its involvement. Everyone from Houston, Texas firm Drillers Supply International, to the media and communications people, like those at CNN, covering this historic event and bringing live stream to a World audience.

Chilean Miners Rescue Live: Chilean Flag Mistaken For Texas Flag

Chilean Flag

In the story of the Chilean Miners Rescue, shown live on CNN, you know the State of Texas is watching because they're mistaking the Chilean Flag for the Texas Flag.

On CNN's live stream, the Chilean Flag is displayed in the miners lair over 2,000 feet below the Earth's surface, above ground, and it seems everywhere you look on television.

In San Antonio, Texas, they think it's the Texas Flag.

Texas Flag

The only difference between the Chilean Flag and The Texas Flag is the blue that is in the top left of the Chilean Flag runs all the way down the Texas flag. That's the only difference.

Tell that to Atascosa County absentee voters, who have made the mistake for years according to My San Antonio.com:

Election officials recently learned that small instructional inserts in the county's absentee ballot packets were stamped with an illustration of the wrong flag.

Just below the words “Make Your Vote Count,” there it was: not the proud red, white and blue of the Lone Star State, but the strikingly similar Chilean flag.

Judging from the Goggle searches for Texas Flag during the time of the Chilean Miners Rescue Live, it seems Texans are still making the mistake. Someone's looking to learn what involvement, if any, Texas had in the Chilean Miners Rescue. The State of Texas had no official role, but according to CNN International, there was a Texas company involved in the creation of the drill.

Drillers Supply International

Greg Hall's, who was part of the team that supplied the drill, is from a Houston, Texas company called Drillers Supply International. According to Fox Houston.com, Drillers Supply International developed the plan and formed the crew to dig a hole wide enough to get the capsule into and bring the miners to Earth.

Chilean Miners Rescue Brings World Together

Florencio Avalos first Chilean Miner up

The amazing story of the Chilean Miners Rescue is bringing the World together. The plan called Operation San Lorenzo is going very well, and three of the 33 Chilean Miners have been brought to the surface without mishap.

It's the first time in the World's history that a group of people have been rescued from so far beneath the Earth after stating down there for so long - between 38 and 39 days depending on how you measure it.

The first miner, 31-year old Florencio Avalos, came up because he was the healthiest of the group of 33. Mr. Avalos hugged and shook hands with the President of Chile and then was reunited with his family before going into a kind of debriefing process.

The second miner, Mario Sepulveda, came up, hugged his wife, then hugged the President of Chile at least three times, then the other staff around him, and in a frenzy of emotion, then went out to hug the drill workers who helped on the Operation San Lorenzo project. It seemed like he hugged everyone there.

The third miner, Juan IIlanes Palmas, is about to be raised in a capsule that's 28-inches in diameter as this is written. Now, there are 30 miners and at the rate this is going, all should be rescued by Wednesday morning in the United States.

Twitter Impact Not Dramatic, Yet

As of now at 9:56 PDT, "BET Hip Hop Awards" is the top trending topic on Twitter, with "Miner" at the bottom. That perhaps reflects the younger demographic that's less in tune with World Events, but also the fact that not every television network is covering this. In fact, it looks like CNN's the only one to do so. That means this is a ratings coup for CNN, which with its CNN International Division, can cover the Chilean Miners Rescue well into the next day.

Stay tuned and catch the CNN Live Stream with a click here.