The comments were made on the heels of a well-received and thought-provoking performance given by the rap superstar, who performed his hit song, “Alright” at the BET Awards last week. According to Rivera, who was joined by his fellow correspondents of FOX News’s The Five in their unwarranted criticisms of Lamar’s performance, stated the following:

“This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years,” he added. “This is exactly the wrong message.”

Rivera wasn’t alone in his attack. Kimberly Guilfoyle implied that Kendrick Lamar’s standing upon a police car during the performance “incited violence”, and the other guests on the panel continued to chime in, providing condescending commentary throughout the video below.

 In response to the suspected white supremacist commentary of the conservative talk show participants, Kendrick Lamar gave a response. Here it is in the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPSHbBHPbSg

In his explanatory response to Rivera’s remarks, Kendrick simply illustrates how his performance at the BET Awards was actually done to shed light on the disturbing recent uptick of Melanoid victims being killed by race soldiers who act as police officers.

Although this story may appear to many as being tabloid-like in nature, there is a much deeper issue that we can take away from this situation: colorism, and its debilitating effect on the Melanoid populace in America. This is a sickening phenomenon that has penetrated all aspects of Black life, from the sets of the rap videos, to the high rise offices of Corporate America. The belief that a Black man or woman isn’t “Black enough” because they choose to marry to (or are) light skinned Brothers and/or Sisters speaks to the outlandish narrative of “keeping it real”, or not being a “sellout”.

African people throughout the diaspora are no monolithic group.We come in all shapes, sizes, personalities….and skin tones. After all, if there were no Black giants such as Huey Newton, Malcolm X, and Dr. Claud Anderson (all light skinned Black men themselves), how much differently would our impact on history have been shaped?

by B. Clark