Our group came up with the meaning of remix as acknowledging someone else’s work and reusing it by altering it. Plagiarism is purposing using someone else’s work as one’s own without giving them credit. How does one remix without plagiarism? One must acknowledge who you are using and obtain a license.
Chapter 8
Rice discusses in Chapter eight the roles played by African American males. The roles that African males play are similiar to that which whites play, but have a certain quality in them that adds their African culture. Men are mostly the one that are figures in entertainment. Norman Mailer’s essay “The White Negro” attempts to turn the attention of white males affected from WW II. Mailer sought the African American culture to do this. He claims that white males liked the way African males carried themselves with sexuality. He based African behavior, “as the basis for excitement and thrill” (69). Mailer named these white males who copied the African American lifestyle, “white negos”. To be cool from Mailer’s view was to copy the African lifestyle. The problem that arises from this type of labeling is a stereotype. Labeling Africans as sexual and with other traits, gives other cultures the wrong perception of them.
In music the African label Death Row labels African males as people who are angry and violent. They set the image of “gangsta” with the hip-hop music. Death Row started a violent type of cool. They depicted Africans as wanting revenge on society and express their emotions in a strong and violent way. Lyrics uses commodities in their songs to better appeal to people. For example, Cuban cigers and expensive things are used in gangsta lyrics.
Activity Box P.71
Other representations of angry black men that I located online is of music producers, dancers, and rappers. These groups of people have the same attributes in their clothing, language, and where they were raised. They all go for the thug, gangster look. They like wearing jeans that hang off them, chains around their necks and most of them like to wear their hair in braids. When I read about where they were raised they all shared a similiar story. They were raised in a poor family with domestic problems.
I don’t believe there are parallel images and sterotypes for women. Women are kept from being labeled as, “angry” because of their feminine side. They have always been looked at as the gentle mother and housekeeper who takes care of everyone. Women might be labled as tough but not as angry.
Chapter 9
Chapter nine discusses about attitudes. African males feel obligated to dress and talk a certain way because they have to stand up against discrimination. This is what Marlene Conner calls a ritual, or the cool pose. These rituals helps them meet their needs with their public life. This cool pose defends them from difficult times and hides certain emotions they feel. Ethnography is when certain cultural groups are interviewed and observed. This could be done by studying them at work, keeping records of their conversation, and noting repeated actions.
