Zeus32
A small but important step towards equality.
Great change requires great catalysts. It’s a sad truth, but to spark a movement, the wick of injustice needs to be lit. George Floyd’s murder has rippled throughout the world, spawning a pubic outcry for his vengence, police reform, systemic corrections, equality.
George Floyd was murdered in cold blood by a government official, but this horror has affected real change: the officers involved have been indicted on murder charges; petitions to defund police have begun circulating; the Black Lives Matter movement is receiving the attention it desperately needs; people are taking self-inventory, evaluating their place in the fight against racism. From a grassroots level to an institutional one, people are reacting swiftly in the fight for what’s right.
Most recently, following Republic Records’ lead, The Recording Academy stated that they will be removing the “Urban” category. While this is long overdue, this decision represents a harbinger of change: the pinnacle of entertainment entities are making strides towards removing biggoted labels.
Tyler, The Creator initially called out The Recording Academy after IGOR claimed Best Rap Album, saying, “I’m half and half on it … On one side, I’m grateful that what I can make can just be acknowledged in a world like this but also it sucks that, whenever we, and I mean guys that look like me, do anything that’s genre-bending or that’s anything, they always put it in a rap or urban category, which is … and I don’t like that ‘urban’ word. It’s just the politically correct way to say the N-Word to me. So when I hear that I’m just like ‘Why can’t we just be in pop?’”
It’s a step forward on a seemingly perpetual path towards equality. And while it might seem inconsequential to some, it represents a loosening of the establishment’s deep-seated racism.
