SENSITIVITY WATCH : Bad Rap

Controversy and strong feelings seem almost inseparable from rap music and those who perform it. Rap musicians who use pejoratives, even obscenities, to describe women or their communities correctly contend that they have a right to free expression. Their critics, with equal justification, take offense at the crude language and portrayals. But when rap musicians and their critics meet, sadly, sometimes both sides quickly cede the moral high ground.

Rapper Eazy-E’s appearance before the Compton City Council Tuesday is a case in point. Eazy-E, whose real name is Eric Wright, wants city permission to film his new music video in his hometown. But Mayor Omar Bradley angrily denied the request, saying he was tired of rap stars demeaning the city and glorifying criminals.

When Wright protested that his music only reflects the reality of the streets, Bradley accused Wright of being deceived into portraying blacks through negative stereotypes. “I won’t name the specific racial group that’s using you, brother, but they are destroying us and having a lunch and a bar mitzvah at the same time,” he shouted. “ . . . (T)he minute they get finished making money off you, you’ll be sitting beside Mike Tyson” (in prison).

Bradley has since apologized for saying that and for telling reporters later that “people of the Jewish faith” control “the majority of black exploitation films and music videos.” Apology notwithstanding, public officials should think twice before using words as offensive as any rapper’s excesses.