I'm all for the philosophical views expressed here about the rights of individual expression, even the justification of the rage felt by certain minority groups. I'm comfortable with that. But the essence of this "Gangsta Rap" and drug gang culture is remarkable in that it seems to be entirely free of politics. There is no social commentary coming from their ranks. Remember the LA riots in 92 when Rodney King's torturers-in-uniform were acquitted in their first trial? I could have understood if they had marched on the courthouse and even burned it down. But did you see the live shots on TV? The "riot" consisted mostly of people of all colors and ethnicities stealing as many alcoholic beverages as they could, laughing all the way, and occasionally somebody taking time to violently attack somebody (just because they were driving past) or set fire to their own neighborhood. There was a Gangsta rapper named Sister Souljah who, in her fifteen minutes of fame, went on and on in the national media about how this riot was an expression of social rage. Oddly, two weeks later, the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Championship and the citizens of Detroit expressed their social rage in exactly the same way. Other than the occasional kindergarten level, transparent attempts at political expression such as Cop Killer, please somebody pull up and post a Gangsta rap song with any political intent. IT'S JUST MONEY. Money for drugs, money for violent songs, movies, matching clothes, BMW's, etc etc. When I was in college in the early seventies, I had a friend who brought in a 45 rpm record that somebody had bought for him at an actual KKK rally. It was by a band called The Coon Hunters. One side of it went (I've tried to forget it) "We don't want niggers in our schools, We're not for integration, Keep those niggers in their place and we'll have a better nation." I lost interest in that friend after this, and while I don't want the government to even censor The Coon Hunters, I do want us to marginalize them and let them know that they are not welcome in our communities, among non-violent folks. I do think we've done pretty well with that; at least they have to cover their faces. Lastly, while we're supporting freedom of expression and granting political integrity to just about anything, what are we going to do to save the lives (literally) of my students (who, if you read my tirades above, you know they are incarcerated for serious crimes) today! I'm serious, you don't know what it's like to see this happening. Keep up the discussion.

Chet W.