Dumb Down Nothing

My grandma is always clipping articles for me, and she had me read one from the Chicago Tribune right before I left for Europe. On the plane to Germany from Dublin I was listening to Lupe Fiasco and the words of "Dumb it Down" really hit me and I started thinking about that article and getting angrier and angrier until I just started writing. I didn't send this letter to the editor in, because I don't want it edited. But I thought I'd share it with the world anyway because its something I feel really passionate about.


Clarence Page's September 17th article in the Chicago Tribune urging Barack Obama to "dumb it down" if he wants to capture the American citizens' votes struck a disturbing chord in me. It reminded me of the words of another black Chicagoan, the musical artist Lupe Fiasco. In Fiasco's song "Dumb it Down" from his most recent album, The Cool, he discusses calls from fellow rappers, record executives, and critics to make his lyrics more applicable to the perceived common listener. "You're going over n****'s heads, Lu. They tellin' me that they don't feel you. We ain't graduate from school, n****. Them big words ain't cool, n****," the first chorus goes. Lupe echoes the voices of some in the rap community who believe songs with small, easy to understand words like "money" and "ho" are what fans want to hear. These fellow rappers have claimed Lupe's rhymes are too intelligent, his attitude too cultured. It was this same feeling I got from reading Mr. Page's article in the Tribune. I fear that readers of his article will join the bandwagon in condemning shows of intellect, condemning Barack Obama's attempt to bring competence back to the White House. Mr. Page claims that Americans are too stupid to understand Obama's goals for our country. I know that after eight years of President Bush, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton, America's collective intelligence has been depleted. This miseducation of America has led to our decreased reputation abroad. Our people are viewed as complacent and mindless, and in some cases we have become as such. In this time of forgotten knowledge and widespread apathy, our salvation will not come through idiotic candidates who talk endlessly but say nothing. Instead, our country needs someone with a capable mind, who understands the complex issues which surround our nation daily and can be a role model, not for the elite, but for those seeking a higher level of education.

Furthermore, my fear is that Obama's "dumbing down" is exactly what white conservatives are hoping for. There is a fear, I think, that Obama's eloquence represents more that just a well-spoken politician. Obama's prominence in this race symbolizes a great change in the United States, threatening the current social order. Lupe Fiasco's second chorus corresponds closely to this phenomenon, as a white voice decries with increasing distress, "You done shedding too much light, Lu. You're making 'em wanna do right, Lu… They're trying to graduate from school, Lu. They're starting to think that smart is cool, Lu. They're trying to get up out the 'hood, Lu. I'll tell you what you should do: dumb it down." Obama has proven that he has the power to motivate people. His words, just as they are, coming from a self-made, educated son of an immigrant, who has shown a strong commitment to organizing communities, have already created a world-wide movement of support. His words, just as they are, have given hope and power to people who have been living without those things for generations. But to the current regime, Obama's power to mobilize those with little power represents a threat to the normalcy of the lives they have been allowed to live. They are a threat to the system that has continuously held down those of color and lower socioeconomic status, making the nation believe that is just the way things are. The current regime is beginning to realize that they can no longer get away with the level of ignorance they have been allowed to exist under these past eight years. But they will stop at nothing to turn Obama's words of promise and hope against those he aims to reach. Mr. Page's call for Obama to simplify his message so those effortless and lazy citizens amongst us can understand a few words is not helping the situation in the slightest. So I urge Mr. Obama, like Lupe Fiasco whose album has gone gold, to flatly refuse. Dumb down nothing. It is YOU, American citizen, who needs to wise up.