I am an African student living in the U.S. and it has always surprised me why many of the black American population fail to take advantage of the many opportunities that are afforded to them. While I agree that racism may play a part in their downtrodden condition, it cannot be the sole reason. Many Africans, just as black, and just as prone to racism have come to this country and succeeded with nothing but determination and hard work. It is our attitude that makes the difference. We do not expect anything from the white man. While many of the problems that black people, both African and African-Americans, face were caused by the white colonial/slavery past, the solutions do not lie in passive victimhood but in an active strife towards self-improvement.

What is needed is a change in attitude, and that is why I abhor the whole rap "culture" and attitude because of its ignorance and self-defeatist attitude. These hypocritical rap stars with their gated mansions have the gall to incite young black men to a life of lawlessness and imprisonment when they live the "white" life that they rail against. If they prized the thug life so much why did they get out of the ghetto? Why do they send their children to expensive private schools? They give young black men the ignorant impression that you can succeed just by doing drugs, having promiscuous sex and looking tough. The men and women never realise the sad tragedy of their error until it's too late. Prison lessons are a dime a dozen.

Yet none of these rappers will take responsibility for the evil, hopeless, nihilistic existences that they foster. I should say that they should be lined up and shot but that would only increase their "street cred." A better option would be for everyone to ignore them and stop giving them justification for their existence.

Wonderful article but it neglected one important point. The culture you describe has penetrated the non-black community. One sees white elementary school kids wearing the baggy shorts and the baseball caps on backwards. Television commercials use 30 percent to 50 percent black actors, but more important, the typical TV drama is filled with black brain surgeons and legal scholars, but never shows a black criminal. When crimes are committed, they are always by white businessmen, with innocent and virtuous black victims. TV situation comedies do not hesitate to show their moron white "heroes" wearing their caps on backwards. (See "King of Queens," for example). Our entertainment establishment has elevated the black culture to the white mainstream. Indeed, Imus' problem was that he thought he was being "cool" by using black speech.

Last week, there was a newspaper headline that the black percentage of prison inmates is about 5 times greater than the white percentage. If one read the story that went with the headline, there was no mention that the statistic resulted from black criminal action rather than police discrimination. My contention is that the white mainstream has created the problem you write about because they continue to propagate the myth of black victimhood, associated with black extraordinary accomplishment. (A final example of this new myth of black accomplishment is found in a standard U.S. history text that describes America's greatest scientist and inventor as George Washington Carver, but never mentions the Edisons, Morses, Bell or recent Nobel Prize winners.)

You seem to think that we care. As Puff Daddy said, "We won't stop, we can't stop" until we have our payback. We are not afraid to pay a steep price. White America tried to destroy us. You don't realize it yet but we plan on taking you with us!