Is it Safe to Say Dr. Marc Lamont Hill Will Check U Boo!

Courtesy of Vibe.Com

Here's a snapshot of what Mr. Stayve Jerome Thomas aka ‘Slim Thug’ had to say in his interview with VIBE magazine:

“Most single Black women feel like they don’t want to settle for less. Their standards are too high right now. They have to understand that successful Black men are kind of extinct.”

“My girl is Black and White. I guess the half White in her is where she still cooks and do all the shit that I say, so we make it. She just takes care of me and I like that. She don’t be begging and I don’t gotta buy her all this crazy ass shit. And she’s a smart girl too.”

“White women treat they man like a king and Black women feel like they ain’t gotta do that shit. Black women need to stand by their man more. Don’t always put the pressure of if I’m fucking with you, you gotta buy me this and that. Black men are the ones that motherfuckers need [but] I think a lot of them need to step it up too.”

However, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill, Associate Professor of Education and Anthropology at Teachers College, an affiliate of Columbia University responded and basically said . . . OHHHH , HELL NAW (Oops, Sorry Fam' . . . That’s not politically correct).

Check out his response:

Slim,

"A few days ago, you made comments in Vibe magazine that have caused a great deal of controversy. While I appreciate your willingness to offer your opinion in public, you made several statements that were not only unfair and untrue, but deeply damaging to our community. Normally, I would reach out to you privately, but since your comments were made in a very public place, I feel compelled to respond in the same manner.

As an artist who is respected by millions of fans, particularly young ones, I found your comments to be hurtful and irresponsible. For good or for bad, our children follow the lead of you and other artists for everything from fashion and slang to self-esteem, body image and relationships. Imagine how a young black girl feels to hear from you, her role model, that her "standards are too high" and that she should "bow down" and "settle for less." Consider the pain that our beautiful brown skinned babies feel when Yung Berg says he doesn't date "dark butts." Think about the self-esteem of our community when Nelly refers to our mothers, sisters, and daughters as "Tip Drills."

As celebrities, your public comments are not just your own. Instead they influence the choices, beliefs, and lives of an entire generation of young people who look to you for direction.

Of course, you have every right to say things that you think are true. The problem, however, is that there was very little truth in your comments.

In your interview, you talk about how much better white women treat their partners than black women. If what you're saying is true, why do Whites have the highest divorce rate of any group? Do white men get tired of being treated like kings? In reality, it seems that you are buying into (and selling) a stale but dangerous ideal that constructs White women as ultra-feminine, loving, queens, and Black women as angry, selfish, and untrustworthy hoes.

Even more disturbing was your comment that "Black women gotta start being down for their man more." Since slavery, Black women have had to withstand rape, torture, and humiliation (from both white and black men) in order to sustain their families. Now, in 2010, 1 in 3 Black men between 20 and 29 years old are incarcerated or otherwise under criminal supervision. Every day, Black women are raising children without men in the house, working multiple jobs (for less pay!), and supporting brothers as they finish their prison bids.

With Black male unemployment as high as 50 percent in some cities, sisters are often holding down households without child support or other financial assistance. Black female incarceration rates are skyrocketing, partly because Black women are "riding" for their men, hiding guns and drugs, operating as mules, and refusing to snitch to authorities. In addition, Black women are the group most likely to be victims of domestic violence and the least likely to be married. Still, in spite of all this bad news, Black women are less likely to date outside their race than Black men.

How much more "down" do you want Black women to be?

I agree with you that both brothers and sisters have work to do. Over the last year, we've seen countless TV shows, movies, and bestselling books telling Black women how broken they are, how ugly they are, why they don't have a man, and how they need to behave. Instead of adding to this pile of pain and ignorance, I would encourage you to turn the mirror on yourself. How does the image of the pimp/player/baller/dopeboy promoted in your music help to create the "gold diggers" that you badmouth in your interviews? How might your own admitted failures at monogamy undermine the type of loyalty that you find missing in Black women? Criticizing the vulnerable is easy.
Working on yourself is the difficult part.

I hope you don't take this letter as an attack, but as an act of concern and love from one brother to another. Through your fame and wealth, you have tremendous power. You can use it to hurt or to heal, to injure or to inspire.

The world is watching. What will you do?"

Your Brother,
Marc Lamont Hill

Now here’s Slim Thug response courtesy of HIPHOP WIRED:

"Slim Thug, who at first seemed to gloat off of the fact he was “keeping it real,” quickly turned the agenda and focus of the interview stating that the comments he made regarding Black women were said in jest."

"On his Twitter page, Slim Thug decided to combat the letter that was written in response to the interview stating":

“First for the record I did NOT write that blog I was being interviewed on the phone by Vibe so they didn't put all I said In the blog. 2nd we started out doing a interview about a skit I did on comedy central so I was in a joking mood.”

"Slim Thug also states that many people are not getting the idea of the whole interview":

“They not putting my whole blog on these other sites. The reason I said Black women have to lower their standards is because while Black successful woman or a majority Black successful men are a minority so if u want a Black successful man u have to work harder to find one and keep one. I'm not a professor, I'm a rapper so the women I meet and the women u meet are different."

"Slim Thug also insists that the views he had on interracial dating merely come from his brother teasing him. He states that he prefers to only date Black women and that is all he has ever dated."

“It's my blog so I gave ya'll my story of my life and the women I meet. I NEVER been in a relationship with a white woman, If u go back and read my blog, [it says] my BROTHER dates a white woman and teases me about the drama I go thru with my Black women. So [if that is what I said, then] how did I put white women over Black women? I said this is what he jokes with me and says.”

"Although many are accusing Slim Thug of being irresponsible with his comments, he states that he never signed up to be a role model. Although that comes with fame as Professor Hill points out in his letter."

"Slim Thug responded stating that he never asked to be a role model nor is he willing to take on the responsibility of being one to kids."

“I never signed up to be nobody role model and u can't make me be one and if kids listen to me over their parents that's A sign of bad parenting. Ya'll can't blame me or Nelly for what yo kids do. I never told no girl to be a stripper But however I do enjoy them so what I think everybody needs to do is stay in they lane I rep for the streets u rep."

"For the more positive crowd once again I NEVER been in relationship with nothing but Black women. And while I respect where u[are] com[ing] from and your opinion, u must respect mine. If u and your followers don't like it don't buy my CDs don’t read my blog I not tryna tell yall how to live yall life.”



SideBar ~ Can we expect 'Slim Thug' to change? And, would we still consider him a Thug that so many people find appealing.

I think Dr. Marc Lamont Hill hit the nail on the head when he suggested that 'Slim Thug' be mindful of his opinion/comments when speaking to the public.

What more else can you ask of him?

Is it Safe to Say Dr. Marc Lamont Hill Will Check U Boo!