T.H.U.G.

By -

 


These two words above my post are used and abused with an alarming frequency. They are glamorized, romanticized, and downplayed so that the young and unaware think 'Thug Life' is special.

It's special all right. Special in how quickly it ruins your real life. I've always had a bone to pick with people who say they can make it as drug dealers or criminals and think that such a statement is ok. I know some of these people well enough to know they still cry over stumbling and scraping their knees! If they can't get over a few scrapes, how are they gonna handle the high chance of beatings, gunfights, and almost certainly whatever could go on in the prison system. These people in turn act like they don't know me when they put on this act (read: Stereotypical speech and threats involving 'gangsta' guns like Uzis or MAC-10s) and one even called me 'cracker'. Young me didn't realize what that actually meant until i asked my dad.


The point i'm making here is that The Hate You Give takes an almost perverse (to me) pleasure in savaging and deconstructing this strange image, and i quite enjoy that it does. A lot of people don't understand just how impactful a crime can be, even if it's something as minor as a traffic violation. after all, younger drivers have higher insurance rates even without accidents. My insurance went up over a minor collision that left barely a single scratch on the other person's car. I can't say i went through what Starr went through, mainly because i've never been in those situations. However, her double consciousness and code switching between the life she has at Williamson and her life at Garden Heights do a lot to help expedite this process, like a quote i used elsewhere: "All my Williamson rules go out the door, and Starr from Garden Heights shows up" (Thomas 183.) She code switches the most in response to her 'friend' Hailey being arguably the most obnoxious and dense racist i think i've ever seen or heard. She defies the 'Thug' in Thug Life. Like Tupac, she refused to be shouted down by anyone, be they crooks like King or One Fifteen. 

Thug Life and the cultures associated with it (in all forms, including Tupac's acronym) aren't just a black thing or a white thing. They're an everyone thing. It's time we stopped making it look good for the big screen and started making life without 'T.H.U.G" look better.

Comments

  1. Olivia TSeptember 19, 2021 at 7:23 PM

    Wilson,
    I think you hit the nail on the head with your post here. I do agree with you that the so called 'thug' life can ruin lives and is not as easy as others make it out to be. You do a great job highlighting how this lifestyle is portrayed and shows the balance between Starr's life and the life of so called 'thugs' around her. Great job

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