I think it depends who you are.   

In the same way that it is more legitimate to make fun of your own community and beliefs than it is to make fun another community that you do not have the understanding of ( and dare I say - much , much funnier), then it must be more legitimate to write songs about the dark areas that you have some sort of association with rather than the ones you just read in the paper.

There again there are many difficult songs that do not come from the communities that were dealing with those issues. The one that immediately comes to mind is Stange Fruit.

So discuss. I'm off to find out why the update we sent out last night is causing all the computers to crash. I may be some time.

J