The song “George Bush doesn’t Care about Black People” by The Legendary K.O. relates very closely to our class discussion on Friday. A large part of our class discussion included the government’s failed efforts to improve low quality and inferior inner city neighborhoods and communities for the benefit of the areas low income individuals. While the song focuses more on the failure to help the black poor specifically, the large community of the black poor in the inner city did similarly contain inferior infrastructure as well as represent the government’s failure to reduce the gap in class inequality. Also tying back to our class discussion, the concept we covered which states that too many African American’s moving into a neighborhood will often push many white home owners out might partially be able to explain how the sector became predominantly occupied by one race.
In class, we discussed how government spending on programs designed to improve neighborhoods often fails to actually benefit the poorer communities. This is not because the infrastructures never get improved, or because the value of the neighborhoods doesn’t rise. It is, however, the increased value and desire of others to live there that pushes the poor away. In essence, money is spent to improve the lives of the poor in inner cities, but the poor cannot afford the higher living rates that are a result of an improved community. Property, and rental rates are sure to rise in coincidence with neighborhood improvements, and schools and other public places may become privatized or more exclusive.
The frustration of The Legendary K.O. for the apparent prioritization of the rich and white is encompassed multiple times throughout the song. This clever play on a Kanye West sample reinforces their perception of inequality. “I ain’t sayin he a gold digger (when I’m in need), but he ain’t checkin for no broke niggas.” This verse illustrates that in their time of need; the African Americans of New Orleans were overlooked and went unsearched for.
Inner city crime was another point of discussion in class, and it is also another topic that The Legendary K.O. feels represents racial inequality. The song portrays a survivor doing what he must to keep his family alive by scavenging a store for food as any desperate person would, but the line; “the news said police shot a black man trying to loot” depicts that cops single out individuals based on race, are counterproductive, and excessively violent towards black people. The song implies that it is impossible to reach socioeconomic class equality when there is not a foundation of racial equality. Overall, both the song and our class discussion reveal how gaps in equality are not easily breached, and how ineffective financial planning, natural disasters, and racial inequality are all difficult obstacles to overcome.
Website Url – Source for lyrics – https://www.musixmatch.com/lyrics/The-Legendary-K-O/George-Bush-Doesn-t-Care-About-Black-People