NAACP Underfire For Including Rappers In Image Awards

(AllHipHop News) The NAACP has come under fire for the lineup of Hip-Hop performers included to take part in the 42nd Annual NAACP Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles tonight (March 4th).

Artists like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Diddy and Dirty Money, B.o.B. and others will perform, present or have been nominated to be honored in a variety of categories, including music, film, television and literature.

The lineup has drawn the wrath of Reverend Delman Coates of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton, Maryland, who heads up the Enough is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment.

In addition to Rev. Coates, other NAACP regions have received complaints about tonight's lineup.

"It is a complete outrage that the NAACP and some of this country's largest corporations would endorse artists that degrade women, use the "N" word, and promote values that are antithetical to the goals and aspirations of most Americans," Rev. Coates told AllHipHop.com in a statement.

"Lyrical content, not commercial success should be the standard by which such nominations and sponsorships are given," Rev. Coates said. "At a time when we have witnessed social and political progress in America, it is disheartening to see established civil rights organizations and leading American corporations promote some of the most stereotypical and offensive images and messages in the popular culture."

According to Joe Brown of the Pasadena, California NAACP, the organization has received a number of complaints and is reviewing the nomination process, to make sure artists with filthy lyrics don't make it to the awards.

"I think the national office is going to review the policy of the nominees and the participants," Brown told the San Jose-Mercury Sun. "Hopefully this will eliminate inviting those whose lyrics are considered disdainful."

Another Reverend who is shocked at the NAACP for nominating the rap artists this year equated Combs and the other successful businessmen to Tobacco and cancer.

"On one side these are young black men that are great business men, but on the other end it is like the tobacco business," said Rev. Lucious Smith, pastor of Pasadena Friendship Baptist Church. "In the end you get cancer."

Coates, who heads up the Enough is Enough Campaign for Corporate Responsibility in Entertainment, said the battle with the NAACP is not about Hip-Hop music.

Rev. Coates said he is not against Hip-Hop, but he said the NAACP could do a better job picking out artists who have a more positive message than the 2011 nominees.

"A few years ago, Don Imus lost his job for using language that pales in comparison to the messages conveyed by some of these artists," Rev. Coates explained. "The messages of the Image Award nominees are not any more acceptable because they are said by Black artists and celebrated by the NAACP.

'These are not images that any respectable civil rights organization or responsible American corporation should endorse. Tonight's program will have long term implications for the reputation of the NAACP and the corporate brands of the program's sponsors."

Source: www.allhiphop.com