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by Dr. Boyce Watkins
Like everyone else, I was shocked and dismayed to hear the allegation that Nicki Minaj threatened to shoot Mariah Carey on the set of the television show, “American Idol.” Of course, this is Mariah’s claim, but if it’s true, it’s certainly a problem.
This is not just Diva talk and not just for entertainment. When we get to the point of people making death threats toward one another, we are seeing the worst of what we can be as human beings. Yea, I know Nicki is from the hood. I know things got heated. In fact, I quietly wonder if Nicki Minaj has, like the early Whitney Houston, been branded to be something that she’s not. But the fact remains that she should know better, and I think a lot of us are getting sick of rappers making white people rich by promoting the violent use of guns that are manufactured to put our community into extinction.
I am also concerned about all the little girls who look up to Nicki Minaj and the possibility that they might believe that she actually did threaten to kill her rival. For the rest of us, it might be entertainment. Like a small fire that they are seeking to keep from getting out of control, American Idol executives are seeking every opportunity to put their fledgling show back on top. But for anyone who raises teen daughters in urban settings, you know that this kind of hunger for confrontation can be very real among young black women.
Part of the reason for my concern about violent shows like “Basketball Wives,” (and incidents like this one) is that I remember seeing one of my adopted daughters dealing with other girls in an urban environment. Her school was one of the worst in the state, and it seemed that she couldn’t walk down the hallway without some girl “mean mugging” her, talking about her behind her back or trying to fight her after school. It made me sad, because everything that was sweet and beautiful about my child was turning ugly.
I noticed that her increased level of aggression toward other human beings was largely the result of the fact that she was confronting a jungle-like environment that promoted survival of the fittest. Michelle Obama wasn’t showing up at her school to teach girls not to bully one another. It reminded me of a human/psychological version of the killing fields where Michael Vick raised his dogs to battle one another until the death. No dog can come out of that environment as a sweet little puppy, and few of my daughter’s friends could be the trusting, loving women they needed to become in adulthood.
Some of the girls at my daughter’s school ended up getting suspended for fighting, some of them ended up in jail. The nice girls might end up depressed and perhaps even suicidal because there’s nothing lonelier than being surrounded by bullies when the adults are too busy to care. The violence around us can be like a thunderstorm: We may not be the ones creating the weather, but we are certainly going to get wet.
When celebrities and role models behave this way on television, it should concern us all (yes, anyone that kids look up to is a role model and their parents can’t always stop them from admiring Nicki Minaj). The fact that Nicki Minaj — a multi-million dollar entity and highly successful artist — might do something like this is beyond problematic, and if there are witnesses supporting Mariah’s story, then Nicki should be removed from the show. It seems that black women fighting and trying to murder one another has become the trend of the day, and quite frankly, it’s making me sick.
Things just got real on “American Idol,” and anyone who has seen the spike in teen violence over the last few years know that, for our kids who are trying to survive this kind of bullying on a daily basis, it’s more real than we could ever imagine. Let’s kill the stupidity right now.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and creator of the Building Outstanding Men and Boys Family Empowerment Series. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.
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stayzhappy
October 8, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Know one is shedding light on why the threat was made…A lot of times the lil white girl starts s**t and the black girl gon sho nuff end it! Im tired of whites shooting off they mouth, showin their distaste for blacks and thinkin we(blacks) jus hav ta sit back and take it! Run yo mouth get gun down b***h! Shut da f*k up show respect and we wont hav a prollM
Derrick
October 8, 2012 at 1:08 am
@PB Short:
Another great comment! You are right, this was staged just like the so-called reality shows, but dumb thinking negroids beLIEve what they are viewing is REAL!!!
Trickey Minaj is just what she looks like…a clown! If she was the wangster she claimes to be, then why did she let that khazar feel on her b**t when she appear on his show (remember that). She didn’t do a d**n thang to him, but he disrespected her on national tell-a-LIE-vision.
PB Short
October 6, 2012 at 3:10 pm
As with everything in Hollywood, this was staged…just watched the video…
When was the last time you or someone you know acted like this at work?
White America knows how to get ratings/make money from the Black community…
Imagine being paid fourteen million dollars ($14,000,000.00) to do this show…do you think anyone is going to jeopardized their jobs?
The mazing part about this staged reality, is that I do not know anyone who would sit there and take that type of abuse…
Did you see Randy’s response, surely he would have stepped and had one of them removed from the set…
Mariah is not a disrespectful woman, and her part in this non-sense was staged as excuse…
Just like the hit show Basketball Wives’, this is ridiculous in all aspects…
It remind of the hit RAP song from the 1980′s, “What People Do for Money”…
As mentioned, we are to divided as a race in this country, and the white man knows it…
Dr. Boyce, I definitely agree with you and how our children, both girls & boys are playing out these roles as though it is the thing to do…
Sadly, you have Black women and men acting like their white counter part, disrespecting each other for no reason under the SUN…
What’s next? Halle Barry and Janet Jackson in a dispute? JZ and 50 cents threatening each other for record sells?
When did the music and entertainment business become a competition?
If you made it, you made it…
Imagine if Michael Jackson, Prince, and Rick James acted like this for record sales or TV ratings…
Black Americans love the WHITE man, aka perverted catholic, DRAMA…
ms TT_CA
October 6, 2012 at 10:43 am
Replace Mariah with Pink!!
Nicki get her a*s whooped!! Pink would check her a*s right back!
Then thr show would get cancelled.. But it would women like Nicki you can’t go around bullying people to get your point across..
Use to be a fan of Mariah.. But ever since she went black man f*k crazy (busta,Xzibit,Nick) im good off her ms piggy shaped body.. Stop wearing too small close and always trying to be sexy when your not!.. She can’t half the time sit down in her so called dress with out showing her p***y or a*s!
Traci404
October 6, 2012 at 10:09 am
The only way that she has to resolve a problem. Is through violence .
This is a sad situation. Folks make millions are resort to GHETTO strategies to solve problems. You cant be on national tv, acting ignorant.
Frankly, Im sick of the media’s perception of black women, and i’m even more tired of us ….going along with it…and conforming to it.
jackie
October 6, 2012 at 8:15 am
no it’s a new low for nicki no class gutter trash her mouth is a dumpster she need to be fired. when a white person does something white people don’t say he’s making us look bad no that person is making themselves look bad
Herman Hawkins Jr.
October 6, 2012 at 7:38 am
I have never had a use for reality shows like “American Idol” and these two divas have certainly iced it for me.
Pingback: Nick Minaj vs Mariah Carey: Let’s kill the stupidity right now | YNaija
Renee
October 5, 2012 at 10:41 am
Dr. Watkins you missed the mark with this piece. I don’t particular care for Nicki Minaj, but it’s quite obvious this nonsense was exaggerated by Carey to create hype around their fading personalities. As Nicki said yesterday, people would believe any c**p about her having a gun because she is a black rapper and Carey is trying to play the sympathy, victim card. Both women are simply selfish, whiny individuals who crave publicity to satisfy their egos. Although you made good points in reference to entertainment’s capability to promote stupidity and violence, this was really a waste of your time. I know you discussed some of the stupidity in some of Lil Wayne’s professional choices, and rightfully so. But please don’t lump Nicki into the nonsense because she is under Wayne’s label. This Minaj/Carey c**p is exactly what it is, 100% BS for two immature grown women.