New Survey Reveals Concerns Over Rap Music Among Youth

From Allhiphop.com:

The current image of rap music and rap music videos is cause for concern among Black youth, according to the Black Youth Project, a survey spearheaded under the direction of Dr. Cathy Cohen of the University of Chicago. The survey involved 1590 Black, White and Hispanic young people ages 15-25 from around the country. Survey findings released yesterday (Feb. 1) reveal that 72 percent of Black youth agree rap videos contain too many sexual references. The majority of participants agreed that rap music videos portray Black women and Black men in bad and offensive ways. Sixty-six percent of Black women are more likely than White women (55%) and Hispanic women (53%) to agree that they are portrayed in a demeaning light in rap videos. Although 57 percent of Black men feel that rap videos portray Black women in bad and offensive ways, 44 percent of them disagree that the videos portray Black men in bad and offensive ways. The results of the survey provide solid evidence concerning the impact of rap on young people, according to Dr. Cathy Cohen, one of the organizers of the survey. "This study shows us that young people are actually discerning viewers who have thoughtful insights about cultural representation," she explained. "Instead of condemning young Black people for watching rap videos, we might encourage music and television companies to provide a broader range of images for young Black people, who say that what they're seeing now is overly sexual and demeans women. This audience deserves to be paid attention to as consumers."