Hip Hop the lifestyle

In the images viewed on the power point you see Allen Iverson who is portrayed as ghetto and you see the ESPN cover that states “The BAD Boys are BACK”. What makes an individual bad? Is it the way they dress, the neighborhood they grew up in, or is it the color of your skin?
On October 17, 2005 David Stern implemented a dress code for the NBA that banned clothing associated with the hip hop culture.
In different neighborhoods and among different races people grow up with different ways of living. The way you grow up and the neighborhood you grow up in usually shape the music you listen to, the television programs and movies you watch, the way you dress, the sports you play and how you defend yourself. In many urban neighborhoods adolescents grow up listening to rap and hip hop music. Boys want to bling like the rappers and girls want to be pretty and have sex appeal like the video models. On television there’s a whole network geared toward this culture that represents black people and how black people dress, the music black people listen to and the programs black people watch. The reading Basketball's Ghettocentric Logic by David L. Andrews and Michael Silk states
“The NBA’s new racial order exists and operates between and beyond both the racially neutered populism of the Jordan script ( Willis, 1991), and the racially demonized “ hip-hop… ghetto mentality” of the generation that succeeded him on the basketball court ( Leonard, 2004 2006b, p.158; Markovitz, 2006; Tucker, 2003). “
Why is a culture, the way people dress, talk and look seen as ghetto? When is it okay to be ghetto? Is playing basketball ghetto? Is rapping ghetto? Is hip hop dancing ghetto? These are all aspects of the hip hop culture learned and taught in urban neighborhoods.
In urban neighborhoods recreational activities are expensive and not affordable. Basketball and rapping are inexpensive recreational activities. To play basketball all you need to buy is a basketball and to rap all you need to buy is a notebook therefore young men in poorer neighborhoods start playing basketball and rapping at a young age. In the so called “Ghetto” all the boys play basketball and all the boys are rappers. Basketball and rapping is a way for boys to bond together and have fun. If you’re good you develop popularity.
This idea of rapping and playing basketball is seen as the only way of making it out of the “Ghetto”. It is a great idea to want more and want to have a better life for yourself and your family the only problem is in the “hood” you don’t live next door to doctors, lawyers and professors. Children in the “Ghetto” are not exposed to successful educated black people but when they turn on the television they are exposed to “ghetto” uneducated rich black athletes and rappers. This is seen as an attainable goal in the so called “Hood”. Rapping and basketball is seen as a means to an end. It’s seen as the only way to come up and positively make lots of money to support yourself and your family. Since all the little black boys in the urban neighborhoods are basketball players and rappers it creates lots of competition. Everyone cannot make it as a basketball player or a rapper so for the ones who don’t what are they left to fall back on? What else does playing basketball and rapping all your life prepare you for?
In 2006, the NBA eligibility rule changed declaring that players must have one year out of High School to be eligible for the draft. I would like to see players have to get a degree to be eligible to play in the NBA. The reason I feel this way is because boys are growing up with the automatic assumption that they can play in the NBA when they grow up left with no skills when that dream doesn’t pan out to reality. If players are required to get a degree they will be told at a young age “you know if you want to be a NBA star you need to get good grades so you can go to college and get a degree to become a NBA star.” If this was the case and all NBA players had a degree would they still be seen as ghetto?
Why is the image of ghetto the only image displayed by media for the players in the league? The fights are quick to be broadcasted but what about the charity work and community service done by the teams? Why does ESPN show the BAD Boys of the NBA on the cover of the magazine instead of the individual organizations the players have to help children and people in need?