It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a real crusade against hip-hop in decades past. The 90s and early 2000s were filled with public figures crankily speaking out against rap. They would argue against violence and vulgarity and have big discussions about parental advisory stickers accordingly. Gangsta rap was the big punching bag for figures like civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker.
Born in 1927 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she quickly rose to prominence in real estate with her husband, William Tucker. Very quickly, her mission to end racist practices in her field transformed into a larger political career. She helped pass the Equal Rights Amendment in her city, promoted mail-in voter registration, and lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Tucker held a lot of political drawing power in the many roles she held in Philadelphia. Consequently, C. Delores Tucker created the National Political Congress of Black Women in the fight against racism and misogyny.
The misogyny is what created a large disconnect from gangsta rap. She took serious offense to the sleazy lyrics towards women and the horrifying violence in the records. As a result, she gathered co-chairs and prominent figures Dionne Warwick, Melba Moore, and Sister2Sister magazine publisher Jamie Brown to protest in Washington, D.C.
C. Delores Tucker and Her Crusade Against Gangsta Rap
“I don’t like to see boys of 5 and 6 years old calling their girl classmates `hoes’ and `bitches,’” Tucker told the Chicago Tribune in 1994. “It was very offensive to us as women because it glorifies sex, drugs, rape, and the vilest form of human relationships anyone can imagine. And our children emulate these things they hear and see.”
Particularly, it was the Snoop Dogg classic Doggystyle that sparked the disgust. Moreover, she emphasizes that it’s not all rap that causes this reaction. Ultimately, C. Delores Tucker was just against the media that creates inappropriate influences for the children. “When I saw the Snoop Doggy album with the pornographic, obscenity-laced cartoon inside, I couldn’t believe it, I called up some record stores and found out that any child of any age could go into a record store and purchase that CD and see that graphic art,” she explains at the time.
“We’re not against rap,” C. Delores Tucker continues. “We’re only against gangsta and misogynistic rap. Everybody wants to look cool like the gangstas and carry guns to school. Even going to prison is cool. Young minds are being exploited to see only the worst in the African-American community.”
Naturally, rappers didn’t take so kindly to the protesting. Most notably, Tupac called her out on the timeless classic “How Do U Want It?“. “C. Delores Tucker, you’s a motherf***er/Instead of tryin’ to help a n***a, you destroy a brother,” he raps in the second verse. Still, this didn’t deter Tucker, considering she filed a defamation lawsuit for $10 million over the line.
The post Remembering the Woman Who Fought Against Gangster Rap So Hard, Rappers Started Shouting Her Out in Their Songs appeared first on VICE.
