Word: griff
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Offensively, Princeton is led by three juniors: co-captain Chad Adams, forward Justin Kerr and midfielder Griff Behncke. Adams has been labeled a very hard worker, perhaps because he has fought his way off the bench to become co-captain...
These people are not about breaking taboos, they are about making money, and they know where to draw the line. A few years ago, there was an understandable controversy about the anti-Semitic statements of Professor Griff when he was a member of the rap group Public Enemy. He was soon gone from the group. That is a perfect example of how responsibly the industry can work. We will hear no "reports from the streets" that give voice to the mad ravings of Khalid Muhammad or Louis Farrakhan, regardless of the young black people who cheer them at rallies...
...familiar in American political discourse. Here's how it works: 1) a semi-obscure black figure says something outrageous or anti-Semitic; 2) pundits pontificate, word processors whirr; 3) one by one, black leaders are forced to condemn the offending words and the offensive speaker. It happened to Professor Griff, formerly of the politically charged rap group Public Enemy. It also happened to Farrakhan, when he called Judaism a "gutter religion." Now Muhammad's words have put him -- and the Nation of Islam -- in the cross hairs...
...doesn't rap seem to glorify the worst aspects of ghetto culture? Not necessarily, says Simmons. He dissociates himself from the misogynistic and racist statements his rappers make. The president of his company is a woman. During the uproar three years ago over anti-Semitic statements made by Professor Griff, then a member of Public Enemy (later severed), Simmons condemned Griff. Nevertheless, he steadfastly defends the right of his performers to have their say and to say it however they want. "I let the rappers be what they are," he says. "I try to choose the most acceptable part...
That was also when Public Enemy got burned by its own flame. A nonperforming member of the band, Professor Griff, used a newspaper interview to vent some unsavory racial theories (among them: that Jews are responsible for "the majority of wickedness that goes on across the globe"), which caused enough criticism for Chuck D to fire Professor Griff and disband the group. The Professor, Chuck D remarked later, "almost burned down the house." When the group re-formed two months later, its leader was careful to say, "We are not anti-Jewish. We are not anti-anyone...