It was easy to get caught up in the raw emotion when it was announced DMX would be fighting George Zimmerman in a 3-round “boxing” match. Stepping back, however, if this “fight” takes place, it will be a travesty on many levels. Not only will it make a mockery of the death of Trayvon Martin, it will also reinforce several of the stereotypes that have dogged Hip-Hop (and those who make it) since it’s existence, and which were prevalent in the subtext of the discussion around Zimmerman’s acquittal. Andreas Hale has written an excellent piece for 2DBZ detailing the nefarious dynamics at play. Take a look at an excerpt below and a link to the full piece.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

“[S]imply put, Earl “DMX” Simmons is the embodiment of a wide range of negative racial stereotypes that a Zimmerman apologist would love to put down figuratively (and, in some cases, literally). He’s loud, angry and scary looking. He has multiple children out of wedlock, does a lot of drugs and is constantly in trouble with the police. He’s a menace to society and by putting a face on that menace; you now are tossing the proverbial blanket over an entire culture.

Attaching DMX and his laundry list of arrests to this fight casts a huge shadow over the hip-hop community. It’s not as if the stereotype doesn’t already exist that hip-hop culture is a bunch of weed smoking, sagging, foul mouthed thugs who disrespect women and profit off of negativity. That’s already out there and constantly (as well as unfairly) driven into our homes courtesy of conservative news outlets. And I’m not suggesting that he hasn’t done anything positive in his life. What I am saying is that he far more known for his multiple arrests due to everything from drug possession and reckless driving to animal cruelty and identity falsification. What it looks like is a person who didn’t deserve success to begin with ended up being what he was before he became a rapper. He’s back to being a criminal.

And that is the man selected to fight Zimmerman?

For the sake of this conversation, let’s assume that DMX gives Zimmerman a savage beat down that puts him as close to a near death experience as humanly possible. Do you think that the media is going to cheer for DMX or will they call him a “thug” who was desperate for the attention once his rap career was in shambles?”

Click here for the full piece.

Related: DMX Will Fight George Zimmerman