Finally Recognized

cgarris

“A Hip-Hop’s Theory of Justice” by Paul Butler, discusses the relation of Hip-Hop and the criminal justice system. One part of the essay that stood out to me was when Butler began to discuss how the government doesn’t acknowledge the fact that everyone is affected by the incarceration of a person in that community, which is usually occupied by African Americans and Latinos. In a sense that says the government doesn’t care about these minority communities. This reminded me of an article that I read in The AM New York newspaper this morning. “Beauty in the Eye of Bed-Stuy” by Taneish Hamilton and Garett Sloane discussed how the Fulton Street shopping area in Brooklyn, NY is now being revitalized because of a new improvement district. This is important because this is a predominantly African American neighborhood that is seen as “ghetto”. The area was “garbage-lined” but is now being cleaned as a part of the district’s mission to make the shopping area more appealing for business. According to the article, there are hired security and street cleaners, which have already shown evident signs of progress. This means that there is some type of recognition being made to the smaller, less government or tourist affiliated areas of New York. The areas that are usually just deemed ghetto and dirty are actually being cared about. I feel as though this relates to Butler’s essay because it seems as though his point is being recognized and/or tested in a way that shows that the government actually cares about the African American communities and what goes on in every part of society.

This is a photo of Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY that was taken from www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com