In response to questions about Kanye West’s “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people comment,” Don King offered:

“George Bush has done more symbolically for Blacks than any other President in history. One thing whites have through education, tradition and custom is the respect of titles. So now, he put Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell in the Cabinet. The racist mentality of America is that we’re lazy, shiftless, and lethargic, can’t write or get an education. Kanye spoke in the passion of the emotion of what has happened in the past and what in his mind was true. Bush had a black Secretary of Education, Rod Paige. So education was by a black, which is the most important thing you can have. Education became a capital crime to the racist. It was once against the law to teach a black to read or write, punishable by death. In his own way, George Bush is a revolutionary, so I think that [Kanye's] was a shortsighted accusation. By putting Blacks in positions where they’ve performed admirably. George Bush has raised the bar of hope and aspiration. Either George Bush is totally insane or he’s a man of god.”

For more on this interview, please visit the good people at http://playahata.com/hatablog/?p=1556

Yesterday, on the day of graduation, Duke Lacrosse captain David Evans received an indictment naming him as the third player charged with sexually assaulting a North Carolina Central University student.

Right before turning himself in to authorities, the athlete took the opportunity to proclaim his innocence:
“I look forward to watching them unravel in the weeks to come. I am innocent. Reade Seligmann is innocent. Collin Finnerty is innocent. Every member of the Duke lacrosse team is innocent. … You have all been told some fantastic lies. I’ll gladly stand up to anything that comes against me. I’ve never had my character questioned before. Anyone who’s met me knows this didn’t happen.”

Of course, in his public appeal, Evans failed to acknowledge his own run-in with the law.

In August 2005, Evans was charge with having an open container of alcohol in a vehicle. In January, he was charged with violating the city’s noise ordinance. The state had agreed to dismiss the charges if Evans completed community service, paid court costs and stayed out of trouble. Clearly, he failed to comply and the charge has since been reinstated.

Yesterday, I predicted that Star would land a major radio gig by September. According to sources (shout out to AllHipHop.COM!!!), Sirius Satellite and XM Radio are already in a bidding war for his services.  That, combined with the reported $5 million he walked away with from Clear Channel, suggests that Star has landed on his feet.

Many of you know that I’ve been publicly venting about the status of hip-hop for the past year with my “Why Hip-Hop Sucks” series. Today, I’m going to get even more specific: NEW YORK HIP-HOP SUCKS!!!

Don’t get me wrong, the best MCs have always come from NY. Plenty of MCs are still making great music on the underground. As far as the mainstream goes, however, New York is dropping the ball. Jay-Z’s retired, 50 Cent decided to get rich and stop trying, and Jadakiss is making songs with Paris Hilton. These days, it seems like the home of hip-hop is more concerned with extra-curricular activities and violence than leading the culture.

Even worse, the South has completely taken over the airwaves. Not that I don’t like the occasional country banger –I like T.I. and “Fresh Azimiz” is the shit despite my Bow Wow issues– but every damn song is beginning to sound the same. Of course, this has as much to do with pay-to-play radio policies as it does declining aesthetic sensibilities. Hopefully, the new payola crackdown will lead to the demise of a whole host of well-paid but untalented artists.

Anyway, I’m not the only one who feels that way. In a recent interview, Ghostface Killah said, “New York be bullshitting. Right now, I say fuck New York. Yeah, I’m from New York, but fuck New York. Because niggas is pussy. They is so quick to jump on the next man’s dick and can’t even deal with what they got in front of they face.” While I wouldn’t use Ghost’s sexist metaphors, I certainly feel his pain.

NEW YORK, STAND UP!

U.S. military troops with severe psychological problems have been sent to Iraq or kept in combat, even when superiors have been aware of signs of mental illness, a newspaper reported for Sunday editions.

The Hartford Courant, citing records obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act and more than 100 interviews of families and military personnel, reported numerous cases in which the military failed to follow its own regulations in screening, treating and evacuating mentally unfit troops from Iraq.

In 1997, Congress ordered the military to assess the mental health of all deploying troops. The newspaper, citing Pentagon statistics, said fewer than 1 in 300 service members were referred to a mental health professional before shipping out for Iraq as of October 2005.

Twenty-two U.S. troops committed suicide in Iraq last year, accounting for nearly one in five of all non-combat deaths and the highest suicide rate since the war started, the newspaper said.

For the remainder of the story visit http://www.blackamericaweb.com/