Latest / Black Box Theory Podcast / BBT #12 Snippet | The Chicago Narrative Is a Weapon — And Someone Is Aiming It
Transcript
- Malcolm: Yeah, like we always say, bro, like it's all about like just the what's kind of like just put out like only headline you'll ever see about in Chicago somebody getting murdered. something about some type of violent crime. ⁓ And that's just like a, that's just kind of constant push to kind of like diminish some of the good that does come out of the city. ⁓ Some of the bright spots and good things about the city. So it was actually a really beautiful city. people would just, it's the same as like people, how people think Africa is still just this third world continent. It's just all dirt and mud and villages everywhere. Like if you actually... stop looking at Fox or like go out and explore places for yourself or look up pictures outside of what's shown you on the news. You see a lot of these places are actually really nice places to live, to explore, to travel and to be at. ⁓ It's just a matter of people just kind of like taking the first thing they see and running with it. there's just so much data out there that shows that there are way worse places. it's just like, like people know that Chicago is like a, it's politically and culturally useful to make it the face of black urban violence because it's such a stronghold of a city in the country. It's major. Think about from our oppressors, think about their point of view, how many cities exist, if you think about just, level set, we talk about let's say the four or five biggest cities in America that have the most, just the most kind of influence and just kind of importance to the country, think in LA, New York. for sure. You got to think Chicago. You got to think what? Maybe Miami. And what's DC? Maybe? You can't say DC is the murder capital because the president resides there. New York, LA, just too many people that live there. It's too densely populated. Chicago, ⁓ Even though all these other cities got them. West Coast got them. DC got plenty of them. LA got plenty of them. ⁓ Chicago has the Chief Keef's, have the Dirks, they have the Vons, they have the gangs. Let's make them the cultural identity. Let's make them, you know, the face of, ⁓ like I said, politicians that can point to Chicago, can make an argument for so-and-so, but it's harder to weaponize a Saginaw, Michigan, a Jackson, Mississippi, smaller, poorer, less visible cities and places with less political unity. Thomas: Yeah. Malcolm: By the way, Illinois is a blue state, Chicago is a blue city in a blue state. But cities with actual, insane, catastrophic per capita murder rates are overwhelmingly in the deep south. All predominantly black, like you said, predominantly low income, oftentimes ignored by federal policy, national media, national headlines and coverage, and political rhetoric. Chicago is the opposite of that. They're a cornerstone, they're a main kind of circuit of America. They always received a ton of national attention, federal policy, and just engagement from politicians year round. So it makes sense for them to weaponize it and turn it against us because it's working in their favor. It keeps more people uneducated, which is always the goal. And it also just kind of keeps that propaganda pushing towards our demise. it's It's very, yeah, like we can just sum it up to the outrage about Black death in America is highly selective. It's calibrated not where people are actually dying the fastest, but where death is most politically useful to discuss. Chicago is a narrative, Birmingham is a statistic, and as long as we keep arguing about the narrative, the statistic is going to continue to climb. Because there are countless examples of, you know, and honestly, it is of a problem because we'll like there there are hundreds there are 10 times as much you know random number by the way not an actual but we know for a fact there's a lot more black on black crime in these cities and areas that happen but when it's a you know selective more politically engaging and controversial topic then it's all the the fireworks and flames and all that good stuff so but yeah it's uh Thomas: Mm-hmm. Malcolm: Do you think drill music and the SIRAC identity give Chicago's violence cultural currency that other cities don't have? And did that currency end up hurting the city more than it helped the artists that came out of it and became successful from it?