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Without
question, old-school hip hop definitely played a prominent role in the
election of Barack Obama, Ice T declares proudly. He says that in the
early 90s, young whites identified and gravitated to the rebelliousness
ingrained in rap and the overall hip hop culture. And through this
dynamic communications vehicle, Ice T says young whites discovered that
blacks were not the animals whites were led to believe by their parents
and the mainstream media.
“When
you look at Obama and the presidency, I think that a lot of white
people voted for him as part of a movement that started back during hip
hop. We started to break barriers in music. They would come to my
concerts and Public Enemy’s concerts and it was all white kids. I
was like, ‘what’s really going on?’” he told
reporters at the 23rd Annual Philadelphia International Art Expo,
sponsored by the October Gallery. “Now they were finally for the
first time hearing black people speak and it wasn’t
edited,” Ice T continues. “They were finally getting a
chance to finally meet us. And at the end of the day, they realized
that ‘wow, black people are pretty cool. I like Ice T. I like
Snoop Dogg.’ And at the end of the day, those [young white
people] who listened to hip hop 15 years ago, that’s who voted in
the election last week.”
Ice
T says that while older blacks bristled at rap music’s
controversial contents, the “Law and Order” star believes
that older blacks’ disdain for the relatively new music form
prevented them from recognizing or acknowledging the barrier-breaking
properties inherent in hip hop.
“As
much as some black folk don’t like the music, we broke the
barriers. We were the ones who made it okay to be hip and be down with
Obama. So we gonna take a little credit, too,” Ice T’s
booming bass baritone thundered inside Temple University’s
basketball arena. “Because it was there and I saw it and I knew
that [Obama] could win, just because I knew that climate was out
there.”
To
make his point, Ice T mentions the earlier part of the campaign when
blacks were hesitant to get behind Obama, opting for Hillary Clinton,
because they didn’t believe Obama had much of a chance. But when
whites, particularly voters in Iowa, gave Obama the caucus victory,
older blacks were stunned. “I think a lot of older black people
were saying ‘who are all these white people [supporting Obama]?
Where the hell are they coming from?’ Well, they are coming from
rap. That’s where they come from.” – terry shropshire
