MSNBC's Morning Joe crew on Wednesday suggested hip hop music's "garbage" lyrics inspired an Oklahoma fraternity's racist chant about lynching African-Americans.
"Popular culture becomes a cesspool, a lot of corporations profit off it, and then people are surprised when some drunk 19-year-old kids repeat what they've been hearing," The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol said.
"The kids who are buying hip hop," eponymous host Joe Scarborough added, are "a white audience, and they hear this over and over again."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Panelist Willie Geist tried to inject reason into the discussion toward the end of the segment, noting that there is a huge difference between rappers using foul language and white teenagers chanting about lynching. "Well of course there is, but..." Scarborough, doing his best Helen Lovejoy impersonation, interjected. —Jon Terbush
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
A long weekend in ZürichThe Week Recommends The vibrant Swiss city is far more than just a banking hub
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
