Suburban Subculture

By The Franklin Lakes Journal

Published: May 17, 2010

The arrest of a young Franklin Lakes resident on assault charges raises issues that go beyond questions of drug use.

In this specific case reported in the Bergen Record, a twenty-something Franklin Lakes resident allegedly dumped his unconscious, drugged friend on the side of the road. Passers-by called first responders to assist the unconscious victim, and the man apparently supplied the name of his “friend” who had driven himself home.

The abandoned victim was arrested for possession of heroin, and the Franklin Lakes resident was subsequently arrested for assault at his home in Franklin Lakes. While there have been no accusations of drug use by the Franklin Lakes resident, the drama involved in the story provides an opportunity to examine a particular subculture of suburban towns such as Franklin Lakes, Oakland and Wyckoff.

During the course of the Journal researching this criminal matter, it became evident that the individuals arrested by the police were part of a popular suburban subculture that seeks to assimilate the mannerisms, language and culture of black urban/inner-city youth.

This trend continues to grow despite the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which detail a distinct difference in the realities faced by the two demographics. CDC statistics released in 2008 showed the homicide rate among black males age 10 to 24 is more than double that of Hispanic and white males in the same age group, even though African-Americans are a minority population in the U.S.

The assimilation by white suburban youth of an inner-city urban culture, exemplified in the popularity of “gangsta rap“, is a phenomenon apparently fueled by a conscious pursuit of profit by mainstream entertainment that includes music, games, and movies.

The musical genre known as rap has roots going back hundreds of years, but it’s more recent incarnation at the end of the 20th century was in the music of inner city artists. Used to give voice on an artistic level to the unique experiences of their environment, most rap then was of a more social nature that touched on subjects of injustice, struggles, and the oppression often associated with inner city neighborhoods.

As the demographic for this music expanded into suburban areas, and corporate marketing took on a greater role, the subjects of social injustice waned in the music and gave “gangsta rap” a greater role. The timeline of this evolution may reflect only a coincidence, or it may reflect the strategy of profiteers in a multi-billion dollar industry.

White suburban youth would have more difficulty in assimilating a message that is born of authentic experience with regards to growing up poor or marginalized; but promoting images of hypermasculinity in music, movies and video games provides profiteers with a proven strategy in marketing the inner city culture to a much wider population. Many artists, naturally intent on making money while the making is good, collaborate in the creation of stereotypes that glorify the uber-male as one who’s appetite for violence, sex, alcohol and drugs is unquenchable.

The promotion of hypermasculinity in the black male continues a tradition of racism that was well exploited by D.W. Griffith’s white supremacist movie, Birth of a Nation in 1915. Today, instead of marketing fear to the American public, it is evident that marketing virility is much more profitable. This provides the explanation as to why a more privileged demographic would seek to assimilate the culture of what is considered a more disadvantaged demographic.

The image of the hypermasculine black male, perpetuated over centuries, is no longer being used to promote racial fear. Corporations are seeking to sell the image to American youth, irregardless of race, that the uber-male is the definition of the alpha male. Misogyny, violence, physical power, and sexual prowess are promoted as definitions of manhood, and at the expense of morality, character and cerebral values.

Thomas Chatterton Williams, who grew up in New Jersey, authored How a Father’s Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-Hop, a book analyzing the impact of hip-hop culture on America.  Originally written as an editorial piece on the debasement of black culture published in The Washington Post, it evolved into a book that was, “…something quite different, something very personal, a tribute to my father and to previous generations of black men and women who went through unimaginable circumstances and despite that, or rather because of it, would be ashamed of the things we as a culture now preoccupy ourselves with, rap about, and do on a daily basis.”

The video below is an extended interview with director Byron Hurt, a former star college quarterback, longtime hip-hop aficionado, and activist against gender violence. While appreciating the art of hip-hop, Hurt created a documentary that critiques the misogynist trends in the world of rap music and the concept of masculinity perpetuated by gangsta rap. The documentary as been critically acclaimed for its fearless engagement with issues of race, gender violence, and the corporate exploitation of youth culture.