“When you get to late middle school, early high school and you start feeling a certain way about the girls… I’m gonna tell you a couple tricks. A lot of the boys are going to be running around trying to get kisses from the girls… We’re going way past that. I’m taking you to the hole.”
“You push her up against the wall, you take your finger and put a little spit on it and you stick your finger in her underwear and you rub it on there and watch what happens.”
Sadly, beyond black-oriented news sites and blogs, I haven't heard much about Too Short's predatory pontificating. Perhaps if he made the same mistake as Jamie Foxx and directed his "advice" towards the ever-so-impressionable white teenagers, there would be a bit more exposure. In fact, the outrage generated by this would probably make Michael Vick's dogfighting conviction seem like a quaint shoplifting incident at Target.
But when it comes to bullshit that happens within the black community, events like these don't even rate an eyebrow raise. Black men in general who predate on black women and girls don't rate a mention unless the target happens to be extremely famous or white. It's how Anthony Sowell managed to get away with his crimes for so long and why Rihanna's abuse at the hands of Chris Brown became as noteworthy as it did.
I know there was a time where I had thicker skin for this kind of talk; usually ending it with “meh, it’s just music,” but something about the situation in which the person posting this from the position of a now-former rapper (pending earlier explanation, naturally) at age 45 and presumably a father, one would hope that one just wouldn’t take it this far, especially not providing specific rape instructions. I guess achievement of the ripe old age of 32 and the presence of a 7-month-old all too willing to show me her two teeth changed that.
Just like the words spewed by Troi Torain (also known as "DJ Starr") against the daughter and wife of then-rival DJ Envy, most people who are up and up on rap and R&B are quick to dismiss those words as just that: words. Unfortunately, those words can often take a life of their own, reinforcing a negative lifestyle and negative trends that go a long way to hurt the most vulnerable within the black community. It's bad enough that the media and rap culture both go out of its way to devalue black women and reduce them to nothing more than mere sexual objects, but when the famous black men actively advocate said commodification and other black Americans see it as being no big deal...you have to wonder if there's a disconnect somewhere:
Just as it's incredibly offensive and wrong for Star to bring a 4-year-old girl into an ugly radio debate, it seems wrong for Envy to be taking the fight to the same level by calling the police in on the case, when it's really quite clear that Star was just being an asshole in public.
People tend to just shrug and not take these things seriously until 1)it personally affects them or 2)it happens to someone who "matters" and in turn generates publicity that's too big to ignore or shrug off. To get a better idea of what was said:
“I will come for your kids” and I want to “do an R. Kelly (i.e. urinate during sexual intercourse)…on your seed (i.e. child)”. Torain also offered $500 to any listener who could provide information about the rival DJ’s daughter’s school and used racial slurs when talking about the DJ’s wife. Torain went on to say that he wanted to “put mayonnaise in the ass cheeks” of the rival DJ’s young daughter, immediately adding that he also desired to take a bite out of it.
The shit is downright pedophilic. It's no wonder DJ Envy brought the police in on this. Despite his involvement in the beef between him and Torain, this stepped over the line.
It took constant hammering against the walls of tone deaf mass media to momentarily knock Torain off his "hustle." His antics didn't reverberate throughout the media like those of Chris Brown or Jamie Foxx. When your bullshit is aimed at ordinary black women and girls - people whom, in the eyes of the media, don't matter all that much, it's easy to get away with it. Although Too Short and the people at XXL have been called out for it, I doubt it's knocking anyone from those camps off of their hustle. No wonder folks like Gina McCauley are greatly concerned:
"The black community has a problem with how it treats its girls and boys as it relates to violence," McCauley concluded, and she called on black men to take Too Short to task for his comments and re-educate him about respecting black women.
Too many black men are willing to just stand back and not call guys like Too Short out on hurting black women and girls. Too many people want to remain in such a person's good graces rather than risk being ostracized for standing up. The longer these black men sit in silence, the more black women and girls get hurt.
He probably has daughters by multiple women. This is what happens...he tells his daughters to keep her legs closed; he tells his sons to "Be a pimp player"; he has a rotation of women for his children to see. Straight up mixed signals.
That's true for just about every ethnic group and culture. Men and boys are encouraged to predate and fornicate to their hearts' content (except in very specific circumstances), while the onus of sexual protection from said predation falls squarely on women and girls. The menfolk get little blue pills while the womenfolk get little white pills...to hold between their knees.
I hereby re-submit Todd Anthony Shaw's name to the Field Negro for consideration for House Negro of the Day.* I'm sure DMX will be glad to get some of that heat up off him. I'd submit Chris Brown's name, but he doesn't need the publicity or another award.**
*I've just been informed he already made House Negro once.
**He's probably been in the House himself.
