Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas and/or creations for your own profit or gain, without giving the original creator credit. The material plagiarized is not normally from an easily recognizable source. On the other hand, sampling uses iconic material, easily recognizable creations and remixes the material creating something new that is easily recognizable and identifiable with a specific targeted audience.
In Chapter 8, Rice discusses how cool is associated primarily with males and not females. The cool male is typically white, tough, antagonistic and rebellious, yet represents the hero (Marlon Brando, James Dean). African-American heroes don’t necessarily reflect the above definition of a cool male. For example, Denzel Washington and Colin Powell are not usually considered tough, antagonistic and rebellious. Cool black males possess similar traits as those of the cool white male, but with added attributes that are representative of African-American culture. Cool black males are represented by hip-hop figures such as LL Cool J, Kool Moe D and Coolio.
Rice also discusses the 1957 essay by Norman Mailer, “The White Negro”. This essay described the American response to the devastation caused by World War II. Black culture offered a solution by drawing the focus away from the war atrocities. White males saw African-American males as primitive, sexual beings and copied these behaviors. Mailer called these men, “White Negros”. This view of African- American males was stereotypical and encouraged racism. Black males are stereotyped into men who consistently break the law. This stereotype leads to fear as demonstrated by Donnell Alexander’s description of his female neighbor who looks at him fearfully every time he enters his apartment building.
Another stereotype of the black male is that of the “angry black man”. This stereotype gave birth to Muhammad Ali who rebelled against white society by changing his white name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, and by refusing to serve in the military when he was drafted. Gangsta Rap was also born of this stereotype and led to the development of this music genre. Originally this music was to show the oppression of those who live in the inner city, but the celebrity status enjoyed by these artists made it more about the profit than the message. Rice discusses how this image or myth became a reality resulting in the violent deaths of many Gangsta Rap artists. Rice continues to explain that cool writing involves self-identification. Cool power comes from the images or self-identification we develop instead of the images society creates for us.
Activity – Page 69. White males do still attempt to imitate other racial groups, specifically African- American males in dress, music and language. One example of this is the white rap artist, Eminem was the first white rapper that made an impact on this music genre. He is definitely considered to be a wigger, the term that describes whites who act like African-Americans, especially in relation to hip-hop and rap. The use of this word is controversial in that it is a play on the derogatory term nigger.
In Chapter 9 Rice discusses Marlene Kim Conner’s view of the African-American male experience of cool and how black males must create a powerful self-image as a defense to discrimination. Cool’s purpose is survival and need. This chapter also looks at ethnography, the study of different ethnic groups in an attempt to understand this group from its own viewpoint. Some principles of ethnography can be applied to cool writing. This type of writing can also be called documentary writing.
