Arithmetic Sequence 3: Flint.

EVENT

Andy Heller recently wrote a galvinizing (literally; he supposedly got a ton of letters in response) column about Flint's recent spate of drive-bys here.

Here is my letter to him, and single qualification:

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Hey,

Somehow, on a first pass, I missed your recent column about the Grand Blanc drive-bys. But I read about it in this most recent column and went back. Good work. You didn't have to work to set up your metaphor or spend pages after the fact explaining it; it's an comparison that probably occurs to many people frequently but doesn't make it into print and around, opening up chances for debate and consideration, very often.

I'm going to post this and a link on my blog, just FYI.

I do have one thought however... I agree that the problem rests inside peoples homes and heads. I support more police and tougher gun laws; anything that helps, helps, and the numbers back that up. But fundamentally, I think that you're right: the problem goes deeper, and requires a deeper solution.

About two years ago I emailed you and tussled (mainly using some ancient examples) about your comments on rap music. I've learned more since then, and I want to take another stab at it. The times you mention, of course, when things were simpler, better discipline, more accountability between and within families, were also marked by some widespread injustices. Flint didn't get rid of racist housing compacts until the late 60s, for example.

Now I want to solve the issues we have with violence, but appeals to a "simpler," "more accountable" time aren't going to cut it. Part of the problem is that simplicity overlooks shades of gray. Segregation, for example, both economic and literal, postponed problems for a long time... we didn't avoid those problems by virtue of a more just society; we ignored them as long as we could. Any solution has to have its eyes on the future, because the past was only so simple because, on some level, it was neglectful and refused to be complicated.

Which is again why I come back to rap music. Hip hop has galvinized black youth in particular, and arguably youth in general more broadly than any other cultural movement since the advent of Rock N'Roll. That ride, as I understand it, was pretty bumpy as well. By condemming the "rap culture," you're painting a whole scene with one undeserved brush. Rap is not a genre filled with mysogeny and violence, but an evolution of Jamaican music with a break-emphasis. Rather, mysogeny and violence were a way to comercially market rap for a decade; a trend that has been out of vogue through most of the nation for quite some time. Flint is no longer the rule, in this regard, but the exception.

I don't think the mainstream media is solely responsible for the popularity of gangsta rap, but I do think that by neglecting to make careful and important distinctions, (ie. acknowledging the rap that helped birth techno in Detroit and pushed Atlanta past the feuding coasts vs. the gangsta rap that you *really* deplore) too often the media dismisses a whole youth cultural movement that *could*, and *must* be a part of any solution.

In this case, I've read your very persuasive column, but I still find that it unecessarily alienates a whole generation of readers who could probably benefit from your argument otherwise.

Just my two cents,

Connor

END OF POST.