Why young black men shoot each other

Rap is part of a culture that reinforces, normalizes, and perpetuates a self-destructive, pathological way of life. So if we want to bring the inner-city underclass into the mainstream, we have an immense work of cultural reconstruction ahead of us, of which recognizing the damage that gangsta rap does, and stigmatizing gangsta rappers and their record companies for doing it, is only one part. Chrysler should stop featuring Snoop Dogg in its ads; Mrs. Clinton should stop letting rappers like Timbaland host fund-raisers for her, just as her husband long ago rejected rapper Sister Souljah’s support after she suggested that blacks should kill whites; and the entire nation needs what’s come to be called a Sister Souljah moment, ostracizing rap stars instead of glorifying them. (Myron Magnet, City Journal, Summer 2007)