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Student Union
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Rapper’s fans
put money ahead
of their morality
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My little sister kept asking me, "Do you want to take me to the Ashanti concert?" "Are you going to buy me tickets?" "Why do you think I'm asking? You're the one with the job!" A part of me was glad my sister wanted to see Ashanti. She's a great role model, especially compared to the other artist who performed that night at Volcanoes nightclub.
For some reason unknown to me, rapper Mystikal is not in jail. He pleaded guilty in June to sexual battery and extortion (to avoid a more serious aggravated rape charge) in an assault on his hairstylist, and he still held a concert at a local club, with a radio station's help in promoting the show. But, of course, the station isn't to blame. As a DJ told me, it's about the money -- the club paid for that advertising spot.
I've seen members of our Hawaii community stand up for what they believe in. They've protested porn shops and sexual offender centers in their communities. Yet local companies brought an admitted sexual offender to Volcanoes nightclub just to make money.
I feel like we've just taken two steps back in the civil rights movement.
I'm grateful that my sister wanted to go to the Ashanti concert, and didn't even know that the rapist was performing. I'm grateful to companies like KIKI FM (I-94) and Tom Moffatt Productions for bringing a positive alternative to the sexual batterer. I'll be even more grateful when our citizens show our local money-hungry companies that we will not stand for money over morality.
Leanne Nakamura is a senior majoring in speech at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
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You hear the song every day. It comes on the radio and your head starts to bob to the beat. Or you're at a club, on the dance floor. Your hips begin to gyrate on command as he tells you to "shake it fast." But now that song entices something other than my hips to turn -- my stomach. I think I'm going to hurl.
For some, it was a night to see their favorite rapper perform live. To me, it's sickening to think that Mystikal had the audacity to even tour.
Most people I talked to didn't even know that he had committed a crime. I have to admit, at first I didn't remember when it happened, either. But as I started to learn more about the case and as I heard about his concert coming to the island, I become angry. How can somebody commit such a horrible crime and still show his face here?
For those who don't know about the case, here's a synopsis: Mystikal catches his hair-stylist cashing his checks. Instead of calling the police, he threatens to turn her in unless she has sex with him. He forces her to have sex with two other men, and videotapes the incident.
In a place like Hawaii, where ohana and love are valued, we shouldn't support a rapist. But Mystikal's concert was promoted by one of Hawaii's biggest radio stations. A friend of mine called the station to ask why they would promote Mystikal's concert. The response: It wasn't a big deal; they were being paid to promote his concert; they couldn't say anything bad about him. To add insult to injury, before my friend hung up the guy on the phone told her, "See you there!"
It saddens me that people would compromise their morals to make money, but I don't want to sound preachy. You can make your own decision. But I don't support someone who would commit sexual assault, and I don't think you should, either.
Darren Sanga, a junior at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, is majoring in Family Resources.
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