1 Young, Black, Rich, and Famous 'Ball, Hip Hop, and the Redefinition of the American Dream The streets is a short stop / Either you're slingin' crack rock or you got a wicked jumpshot. --The Notorious B.I.G."Things Done Changed" Not Guilty One of my favorite items of clothing is a #3 Philadelphia 76ers jersey. This is, of course, the number that Allen Iverson wears on the basketball court. Whenever I wear this jersey it is guaranteed that I am going to hear all sorts of unsolicited comments from a range of people. Living in LA, I always get the Laker fans who think that I am in league with Philly. This was especially true during and after the 2001 NBA finals when the two teams met. This is minor though, because what I most often get are looks of disgust and comments that reek with judgment and moral indignation. "Why are you wearing that?" "Why do you wear his jersey?" "I hate him." These are just a few of the many hostile barbs that this jersey generates. One day while walking on the USC track, I encountered a colleague of mine. He immediately launched into his own form of Iverson bashing, without prompt, mind you. "Allen Iverson? Well, he's not much of a team player, is he?" On another occasion I was set to speak at an academic conference and a female friend of one of my other colleagues came up to me and asked, straight up, "Why are you wearing a wife beater's jersey?" I was momentarily confused. What did she mean? I know that people now routinely refer to white tank top undershirts as "wife beaters" and so I thought that maybe because I had on a tank top, she thought it inappropriate attire for an academic conference and was using "wife beater" to refer to any tank top. No, this is not what she meant at all. She was referring to Iverson as a "wife beater," and I was surprised because I had never heard that he had been charged with such a crime. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised because people have accused him of everything else, so why not add "wife beater" to the list? In the early days of July 2002 news broke that Iverson was being investigated for his involvement in a bizarre domestic ordeal. Iverson, supposedly, had gotten into an argument with his wife, Tawanna, put her out of the house, and later went to look for her at the apartment of his first cousin, whom his wife had left home with after the argument. As the allegations go, Iverson, upon not finding her at the apartment, forced his way in, revealed a gun tucked in his waistband, and proceeded to threaten the two men who were occupying the apartment, one of whom was his cousin's roommate. The Philadelphia police eventually issued a warrant for Iverson's arrest, charging him with fourteen criminal infractions ranging from gun possession and criminal trespass to making terroristic threats, among other things. Somehow this all got translated into "wife beater" for the inquiring female. The minute someone accuses Iverson, he is immediately guilty in the minds of his detractors. As a matter of fact, he is already guilty, before even being charged. Never mind that eventually all those fourteen criminal charges against him were dropped. His critics choose to ignore that there was even a strong suggestion that extortion was at the root of these accusations. All of this notwithstanding, most people will remember the charges brought against Iverson, but few are probably even aware, nor do they care to be made aware, that all the charges were eventually dropped. I wear the Iverson jersey, one, because I am a master agent provocateur, but more to the point because it is my form of protest against the racial profiling of another young Black man. I love the fact that he has become the nigga you love to hate on the basketball court. He is about as misconceived a figure as one could possibly imagine and, as I myself have found out, there is a certain "guilt by association" that comes with simply wearing his jersey. The Iverson haters see a reprobate, but these same people often fail to see his hard work when he plays through all sorts of pain and defies all odds as often the smallest man on the court in a sport dominated by height. His critics ignore his desire, his will to win, his pimp-or-die attitude toward the game he plays so well. Many want Iverson to be a quiet, unassuming, passive, seen-and-not-heard negro who goes out and does whatever he's told and is grateful for the opportunity. Iverson though is a loud, boisterous, aggressive nigga who does not give a fuck and demonstrates his gratitude by parking his drop-top Bentley in the T.G.I. Friday's parking lot, blastin' hip hop, and hangin' with his boys. There is a story that Reebok, Iverson's athletic-shoe sponsor, wanted some time with the star to film a new commercial during the NBA finals of 2001. As the story goes, Reebok felt that Iverson's likable counterpart, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, was getting too much of the attention, as his Adidas commercials were seemingly on television all the time. Iverson though blew off several of the commercial shoots, and when questioned about why he would disregard something so important to his career and, more important, to his bank account, he reportedly told a close friend, "I give them muthafuckas a commercial every night. What the fuck else they want?" This supreme indifference to convention, taste, or standards is what makes Iverson such a lightning rod for controversy and a hero for hip hop. When the original charges were levied, Iverson awaited the return of his lawyer from a European vacation so that he could surrender to the police. During this wait Iverson was effectively put under house arrest by the authorities. Told not to leave home or be seen in public, or risk being apprehended, the notorious baller, in keeping with the dictates of hip hop culture, threw a lavish party at his home in full view of the media and the rest of the viewing world to help pass the time. This gesture was about as in-your-face as one could be, and especially true to form for the man often referred to as "The Answer." This situation, of course, resonated throughout the culture as Iverson's immense success on the basketball court has consistently been contrasted against his problematic media image. Iverson has been labeled a thug since coming to the NBA in 1996. He has often been closely linked to hip hop culture as a part of this stereotyping. Iverson is as much a hip hop icon as he is a basketball player, and this has led to much contentiousness between the player, the media, and the sports establishment, who have found fault with the way he carries himself. When the allegations arose, many, I am sure, loudly proclaimed an emphatic "I told you so!" Iverson has never tried to argue that he was anything other than what he had been labeled: a real nigga. In the parlance of hip hop culture, he has been intent on "keeping it real," being true to his calling, and remaining authentic, in spite of what others might say. Iverson has never been interested in providing a positive image nor has he been interested in altering his image to fit with what the media and others want of him. He is a young Black man from an impoverished background whose close connection to the world of single-parent households, crack cocaine, and gun violence, along with other regular features of the ghetto, have continued to inform his life in spite of the fact that he is now a wealthy basketball player and visible celebrity. Iverson continues to hang out with many of his friends from back in the day. He dresses like a hip hop gangsta: multiple tattoos, a 'do rag, cornrows, and abundant platinum jewelry. Iverson even recorded a gangsta rap album which, though never released, caused a great deal of controversy nonetheless. Throughout Iverson's career in the NBA he has had frequent run-ins with his coach, Larry Brown, and with members of the media. Iverson and Brown have publicly feuded over Iverson's supposed insubordination, including being late to practice or often not showing up at all on so many occasions. For this, Iverson is also unapologetic. During a press conference after his team was eliminated from the 2002 playoffs, Iverson even ridiculed a member of the sports media for chiding him on not going to practice. Iverson pointed out that his performance in games, which has always been outstanding, was what he should be judged by, not practice. Many took Iverson's comments as another indication that he was simply a thug in a basketball uniform, intent on breaking every rule possible and obeying no one in particular. For all of these reasons Iverson has become the menacing face of a merger between basketball and hip hop culture that has angered many individuals. To these people Iverson is a thug who represents the worst possible image of a modern-day basketball player. He is considered selfish, arrogant, incorrigible, flamboyant, and he is always located against a backdrop of some potential criminal intent. His detractors see Iverson as someone who might just as well be out robbing banks or selling dope were he not so occupied with basketball. Therefore, his indictment on these criminal charges goes right along with the negative perceptions; guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. The excessive nature of the charges in this case became highlighted by the counts involving the making of terrorist threats. In the aftermath of September 11, the allegations of terrorism against Iverson reveal just how hyperbolic this particular indictment is. To equate Iverson's supposed actions with terrorism, even rhetorically, after witnessing the real terror of September 11, is not only irresponsible, it is unequivocally racist. This situation also brings to mind the accusation of "maiming by mob" that Iverson was originally charged with back in 1993 when as a prominent high school athlete he was involved in a racial confrontation that resulted in a bowling alley brawl in his hometown of Hampton, Virginia. "Maiming by mob" was originally an offense included in an antilynching law, but here they flipped the script and used it to indict Iverson. Though the offense and Iverson's conviction were eventually overturned, he spent several months in jail before being pardoned by Virginia governor Doug Wilder. The presumption of guilt though has remained with him in the same way that the allegations of July 2002 will continually inform his representation. Iverson will forever be guilty in the kangaroo court of American public opinion. The excessive trumped-up charges in both cases are at the core of a criminal justice system and a prison industrial complex intent on placing as many Black men as possible behind bars. The individuals in question are guilty by birth; their skin is their sin. Iverson is a young Black man with a distinct ghetto sensibility, and he is damn proud of it, too. Like so many other young Black men of his generation, he has been stereotyped as a menace to society. Additionally, the media have made Iverson the example of what is wrong with sports today. The racial implications of this are not lost here either. There remains a certain contempt for young Black men in this society, especially those who have the financial resources that Iverson does. This contempt is pronounced when those in question not only have money, but refuse to act in accordance with the straitjacketed rules that society often imposes on its young, Black, urban male citizens. Yet the Allen Iversons of the world use their money and elite status as a buffer between themselves and the rest of the world. They are, like that famous line from the Hughes brothers film Menace II Society, "young, Black, and don't give a fuck." This refusal to conform, and having the money to sustain this posture, is at the core of what I am calling the redefinition of the American Dream. For quite some time this cliched notion of the American Dream--a house in the suburbs, 2.5 kids, a dog, and a white picket fence--was dangled in the faces of African Americans like a red cape in front of an angry bull, or better yet a cholesterol-filled buffet dinner placed in front of a starving man, only to be snatched away as he's about to eat. The American Dream for Black people was at best a pornographic tease and at worst a cruel and unusual joke that was never intended for them in the first place. This concept was bogus from the start, so any redefinition of this elusive notion is to be expected. Why would Allen Iverson or anyone else who fit his description be overly concerned about maintaining social standards that were never intended for them in the first place? Why would one assume that simply because an individual had made some money and gained some recognition that they would now feel the need to embrace an idea that was otherwise thought to be out of their reach, beyond their grasp, and over their head? Iverson's ability to rise to the top of his game and in turn make large sums of money doing it, against all odds that he would even survive adolescence, is what defines his existence. I see Iverson's hip hop disposition as a most appropriate one. The American Dream for Iverson and all others who subscribe to this hip hop ethos has to do with making money off of their immense talents, gaining leverage and visibility because of it, and then telling a hostile and often racist America to collectively kiss their "young, Black, rich, and famous" asses in no uncertain terms. This sense of vengeance and retribution, marked by a colossal indifference to mainstream taste and coupled with the money that affords such freedoms, is the new American Dream, one redefined to suit the purposes of those who were excluded from the original version of this otherwise empty concept. Mainstream society is critical of those who change or "go Hollywood" when they encounter wealth and good fortune, yet this is never extended to Iverson and his colleagues. Though Iverson refuses to change, he is criticized for this. Yet it is this authenticity that endears him to so many in the hip hop world, who find his plight and his disposition to be directly in line with their own beliefs. He is what he is, and the minute people stop trying to make him fit into a slot that he refuses to be pushed into, all of this nonsense will stop. Iverson is the epitome of young, Black, rich, and famous. His connection to basketball and urban culture has most certainly allowed him to redefine the lingering notion of the American Dream. He has become the face of a generation of basketball players who shun the ways of old and are determined to push forward, doing things their own way and not conforming to any societal expectations. Excerpted from Young, Black, Rich, and Famous: The Rise of the NBA, the Hip Hop Invasion and the Transformation of American Culture by Todd Boyd All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
