Response to “Twice As Good” Letter

> Dear Margaret,
> This is in regard to your piece
> “Twice as Good” on your
> website dated 12/1/03. What
> the hell are you talking about?

I was talking about shopping.

> You assume that because rap
> cd’s are locked up in crystal
> cases that the stores are trying
> to thwart only black people
> stealing?

Yes and no. I think that if it is a Black artist, more than likely, there is a weird thing on the cd that makes it impossible to steal. Believe me I have tried! It is a bitch. They have to work some way to make it more accessible.

> Fact is they are trying to stop
> EVERYONE stealing. They are
> preventing some slack-jawed-
> punk-pussy-bitch white-boy/girl,
> black-boy/girl, asian-boy/girl,
> hispanic-boy/girl from getting
> something for nothing. It doesn’t
> matter if they are young or old
> either. Perhaps you should work
> with security of some of these
> stores and see who is doing the
> stealing, you’d be amazed.

Ok. Can I have a job? I never did it, so I have no idea. What is it like being a security guard? Do you get a gun? Do you feel like a policeman? Do you get coffee for free? Do you like donuts? What kind? Krispy Kreme is supposed to be good, but I never had one, the lines are too long for me to wait.

> Half of the time they have the
> fucking cash to pay for the item.
> Artist incarcerated for just being
> black? What is that all about?

The CD looks locked up, incarcerated, jailed. It is just what it looks like. Who wants to see Luther Vandross in handcuffs? Maybe for sex, but that is a different story.

>I am sure that the artist,
> whomever they be, appreciate
> the item being locked up so that
> they can get [their] fucking money.
> Its all about the feesse!

You are right there. It is all about the feesse. Very often the music industry robs the artist first by selling them on contracts already putting them at risk financially and then they have to tour and promote their work, which is tiring and sometimes unhealthy both physically and mentally, and then there is the baggage that comes with celebrity, because nothing is private anymore, and your life becomes an open book. It is hard. But the feesse especially. I understand.

> You assume that theft prevention
> is racially motivated and perhaps
> you may be right [in] certain
> circumstances.

Oh yes I am. In all circumstances in every way. I am always right. I am. It is just something that happened to me when I was born and I cannot help it. You can disagree. That is fine too. It is all good. I like you. Don’t playa hate, congratulate!

> But you also have lumped yourself
> in as a person who has to fight this
> injustice everyday.

I do a lot of lumping. It is so fun. Have you done it? Lumping rules.

> You might remind yourself that
> you’re asian not black (unless
> black by injection)

If that is what I think it is then, yes, I am Black by injection. And I know I am Asian. I believe that all minorities are the same and should stand for each other, be there for each other, as we are met with injustice daily, and it isn’t fair. Just because I am Black by injection, doesn’t mean I can’t be Black by self election. If there is a problem in the Black community, I want to know about it. I want to talk about it. I want to. I don’t have to have a skin color to qualify me for participating in the American Ideal of equality for all – I can stand up for every minority that I believe needs my voice because I hope one day they might do the same for me, and they have in the past, so why fix something that ain’t broke?

> and do not go through the same
> racial profiling as a black person
> or hispanic person does when
> they go to a record store. Opposite,
> but not the same.

What do you mean by opposite? They think that I will automatically not steal because I am a model minority? Why can’t I be considered a criminal too? That is unfair! I demand my rights!

Maybe I might not go through the same racial profiling, but I see it. It bothers me because it affects the hip hop fan, the listener. It is the automatic assumption that you are a thief. When you are a minority, these seemingly small things – the big plastic security things being put on the music you listen to because it keeps you alive in a hostile world, and the assumption that you would steal it because you have no honor, no respect, no money, no values – wears on a person over time. We are only human beings. How much can we take until we are convinced that we HAVE to steal it? How long before we begin to believe we are nothing, nobody, and have nothing to live for? It’s the little things, the daily assaults on the psyche that destroy us from within. Why should my not being Black make me unable to express my outrage at the self hatred ignited by the music industry? When they put out the fire with gasoline, we all get burned. It matters little what color we are. In the end, ashes are ashes.

> So how does this inconvenience
> of having to buy cd’s that are
> in lock-down have to do with racial
> injustice?

Because it does. Duh. Double Duh. The Double Duh Bus…

> Artists like Beyonce and Andre 3000
> are successful because they have
> talent, wouldn’t take no for an
> answer, and busted their ass every
> single day not because they had to
> be three times as better as a
> person of another race.

Well, I would have to argue that. Minority status in entertainment is a handicap. I am proud of their achievements because I know this industry from the inside out. I have seen people crash and burn. I have crashed and burned myself many times. Everyone, regardless of color has to work hard for success in the business, but minorities have issues that do not apply to so called mainstream artists. It is harder for them to switch genres, as everyone expects Black artists to make Black music, without thinking for a moment that any music made by a Black person is Black music. I could go on and on until the break of dawn about this. Eminem is the biggest rap star. He deserves that. The kid has intelligent, thoughtful, raging rhymes, and he is a good father. He loves his Hailie. He’s a family man. Leave him alone – his bark is as bad as his bite. I am a fan. But little mention is made about the fact that he is white. He is so good, nobody brings it up anymore. He transcends race, which is not easy for Black artists. Tell me one Black musician that kicks out the jams on a harp. Google all day if you want. I don’t give a shit.

> There also has to be a thing
> called luck involved, meeting
> the right people at the right
> place at the right time, knowing
> people who know people.

Yes and no. It is really more about how good you are, how strong you are, what you will take on the way there, how many fucking gangstas in the record labels you can take on. It is not luck. It is survival of the dopest.

“Who you know” is a myth. Knowing yourself is the key. “Meeting the right person at the right time” means less than being the right person all the time.

> You should know this, you probably
> go through this LA-LA land shit
> everyday just to get a gig, or you
> did early in your career.

I don’t give a fuck, I don’t care about any of it. I have my own company, my own production team, my own army. We are small but mighty. The game is not for me. It isn’t for anybody. I play Trivial Pursuit instead. I don’t care about money, although I do have a little. I don’t care about fame, although I do have a little. I care about trying to change the world. I think I can. No sorry, I know I can. And I will.

> These people also are reaping
> the benefits of other peoples’
> struggles 10-20-30-40 years
> ago. They do not have to go
> through the same stupid shit
> their parents/grandparents
> went through.

Yay. They can use the same drinking fountains.

Progress. Hooray for progress. Raise the roof.

> Not that the stupid shit still
> doesn’t happen way too often
> today.

It happens in different ways, because these are different days. It is subtle. It is loud as bombs.

> Your racial-injustice [mathematics]
> just doesn’t make sense.

I am Asian, but I know nothing about math.

> Remember that a thief is a thief
> no matter what color they are.
> Respectfully,
> R_____

And a bigot is a bigot no matter what color they are.

Best,
Margaret Cho