The Sad Golden Rule in Music: White Can, BIPOC Can't

When I go out on walks, I tend to think about things, and it often leads me to a central point. One Friday afternoon, I was looking forward to AEW's Rampage program, and thinking about how I wasn't thrilled with Sammy Guevara, as I was still not over his horrendously misogynistic comments about Sasha Banks a year prior. This led me to think about Cam Newton's sexist comments about hard-working women, and as they entered my mind, I went, "See, this perpetuates the racist belief that Black men disrespect women, and it's why they say the same lie about rap music." Once I had that in my head, I came to a realization: there are quite a few racial double standards in the world of music.

Just like in sports, BIPOC musicians get crucified for things that get glossed over when it comes to their White counterparts. There are three categories that stand out the most in this whole thing, and they are as follows:

Accusations of Misogyny

The number one piece of racist slander I've heard for years is, "Rappers disrespect women." Rappers have been accused of having misogynistic lyrics in their songs, and I'm here to state that it's an absolute lie. I've listened to rap for close to 30 years; I have yet to hear anything that's offensive to women. But as I thought deeply on this, I came to a realization. Look at every rock and heavy metal song that has came out in the last four decades. Quite a few of their lyrics often make some comments about women that can be deemed misogynistic, and can be categorized as objectifying women. Not one peep is made about that, though. Why? The answer's simple: rock and heavy metal are predominantly White.

Sexuality

As I made that comparison, I also realized another area that features a racial double standard: a woman's sexuality. For years, I've believed in the simple statement, "If you've got it, flaunt it," which means that no woman should be ashamed of showing off what they are proud of. It's sad enough that some of the women in the music world get shamed, but it's even sadder that the shaming is also racially motivated. Remember Jennifer Lopez and Shakira's performance during Super Bowl LIV? It was a spectacular performance from a pair of music icons, but to some others, it was a "shameful display of over-sexuality." I read so many stories about women channeling their inner Helen Lovejoy and acting outraged over the performance: "There are children watching!" Seriously? What little kids are watching the Super Bowl?! In the East Coast, Super Bowl halftime takes place at around 8 or 8:30 at night. Young kids are usually in bed at that time!

But again, the shaming of these two icons is clearly racially motivated, and back to the whole rap vs rock/heavy metal thing, part of the unfair scrutiny against rap involves criticism of the use of "video vixens" in rap videos. We've seen these same types in rock and heavy metal videos ever since MTV and VH1 have been a thing. And again, all women should be respected and not shamed, but if a White woman shows her body, it's "powerful" and "expressive." If a Black or Latinx woman does it, she's "promiscuous," or "scandalous," or a "THOT."

Which brings me to the infamous "Wardrobe Malfunction" from Super Bowl XXXVIII. In the 18 years that have passed, I've said that Janet Jackson getting all of the blame and scrutiny was racially motivated. She was exposed by Justin Timberlake, but despite this, nearly everyone acted like Janet flaunted that part herself and said nothing about Timberlake's role in this, while Timberlake himself kept quiet until the "Free Britney" campaign forced him to finally face the music in 2021. But here's how I think things would have played out if certain racial situations were different.

If both were White: we might hear scrutiny towards both, but we would later be asked to move on because "there are more important things to be outraged about"

If the race roles were reversed (White woman & Black man): only the Black man would be immensely shamed, to the point where said critics would believe that he was "assaulting" a "pure and innocent young girl."

If both were BIPOC: they'd be on the receiving end of an immense amount of racially motivated shaming, with the critics acting like they would "never do such a thing."

Violence

For years, I've heard rap music being blamed for violent acts, because the people who make said criticisms tend to believe that only Black neighborhoods have all of the violence. This gets overblown too much. I will admit this; when Columbine happened in 1999, there were questions about what type of music that the shooters listened to. It was stated that they were in to heavy metal, but I believe once that part came out, they didn't delve more into that. The reason's simple: it doesn't fit their racially biased narrative.

Regarding that category, that's all I have. Overall, I do know this. I've learned a long time ago that predominately Black music has been subjected to biased and unfair scrutiny for decades. I even learned that jazz and the old school rock of the 1950s was demonized as "Devil music"; clearly because those genres were predominately Black. Seven decades have passed, yet the problem still exists: BIPOC musicians are getting criticized and scrutinized for things that these same critics ignore when White musicians have those same negative attributes. Yet another double standard that we cannot ignore.