Slim Thug Attempts to Defend His Comments About Black Women

Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by rapper Slim Thug and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill from Columbia University, who gave him the stable advice to keep his mouth shut. I say that he needs to be quiet, not because he's wrong but because this is a battle he can't win and still sell records. Getting every black woman in America to hate you is simply not good for business. Even Talib Kweli, a fellow hip-hop artist, had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks.

On his Twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash, particularly the open letter he received from Hill:

First for the record I did NOT write that blog I was being interviewed on the phone by Vibe so they didn't put all I said In the blog. 2nd we started out doing a interview about a skit I did on comedy central so I was in a joking mood.

They not putting my whole blog on these other sites. The reason I said Black women have to lower their standards is because while Black successful woman or a majority Black successful men are a minority so if u want a Black successful man u have to work harder to find one and keep one. I'm not a professor, I'm a rapper so the women I meet and the women u meet are different.

He also argues that he actually favors black women, in contrast to public opinion since his unfortunate remarks.

It's my blog so I gave ya'll my story of my life and the women I meet. I NEVER been in a relationship with a white woman, If u go back and read my blog, [it says] my BROTHER dates a white woman and teases me about the drama I go thru with my Black women. So [if that is what I said, then] how did I put white women over Black women? I said this is what he jokes with me and says.

What we have here, my friends, is standard class warfare. Slim Thug is correct that as a rapper, he has a different lifestyle and meets different women than, say, Hill might meet as a professor. What makes this class warfare fascinating, however, is that Hill and Slim both represent the diversity, yet commonality, which exists among all black men. I'm reminded of an outstanding documentary made by Byron Hurt called 'Curtis & Barack,' in which he explains how much the rapper 50 Cent has in common with Barack Obama. I loved the concept of the documentary, because I completely agreed with Hurt's assessment that many successful human beings possess similar traits. Barack Obama is a brilliant leader who achieved the impossible, and the same can be said about 50 Cent -- the man who grew up in a home full of drug users and dealers and still became one of the richest celebrities on earth.

When I think about Marc Lamont Hill and Slim Thug, two men I respect, I see two brothers who've achieved very different styles of success using a common brand of hustle that ambitious black men tend to possess. I love what Hill brings to the dialogue, because he reminds us that the same ambition it takes to become a rapper or basketball player can be used to become a professor, doctor or lawyer. In spite of what some might suspect, I bet that Marc and Slim listen to the same music, play basketball on similar courts and admire the same women. Seeing them come together to debate the important topic of black relationships is actually quite informative and reflects the need to understand the growing diversity of successful black men. Also, we have to remember that not every hip-hop artist has issues with black women. There are many artists who adore black women, like the rapper Vigalantee out of Kansas City, who actually wrote a song dedicated to them.

All the while, I reiterate to Slim Thug that it's time to kill this conversation. If I were his manager, I'd tell him to write a song right now called 'An Ode to Black Women' and give money to some kind of charity for little girls. This is not a fight he's going to win, and he'd be better off leaving this conversation to scholars who aren't doing this just to make money.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and the author of the new book 'Black American Money.' To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.