AMERICAN hip-hop singer Chris Brown's music has a powerful influence on our rangatahi. And while he says he is sorry for his previous domestic abuse, the lyrics of his songs do not reflect his apology.
But Brown was also raised by a stepfather who allegedly abused his mother. People like Brown are exuding affluence and influence, it's their job. Or is he just a puppet of a manufactured culture designed to lift disenfranchised black American youth out of a life on the margins that so many are destined for? Here lies the dichotomy of Brown's lifestyle and this country's appalling family violence statistic.
Brown is not aspirational for our rangatahi, who are emulating everything about this pop culture of bling that has no place in Maori culture. Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis' hikoi earlier this year was to focus on domestic abuse. He will continue the hikoi annually to keep our country's shocking statistics in the spotlight. Family violence is symptomatic of pressures and not coping.
It is too easy to blame alcohol and substance abuse; we have to get to the root cause of why our people are turning to these crutches which numb the brain and add to the pressures. Lyrics in songs that demean and degrade women become commonplace in the minds of our rangatahi. Respect for our mothers and all women begins in the home. But if our tamariki and rangatahi are seeing their mothers being abused, and they hear songs that have negative connotations towards women, the lines become blurred, the message is one of disrespect, and the downward spiral of family violence is more than likely to continue.
There are lyrics in one of Brown's songs, "no is not an option". Chris, no means no. You said yourself later about your mother's abuse at the hands of your stepfather, that you would not tolerate anyone who disrespected women. No is something we learn at an early age and, for most, no is to protect us from a choice or action that might cause harm.
I am disappointed with some of the support expressed by a few New Zealanders. They say he has done the time for his crime of bashing his former girlfriend, Rhianna. But the problem is that he continues to write lyrics that promote the degradation of women. So I am not convinced of the sincerity of his apology.
There is another problem here in this country, and that is, if you are rich and famous as in high profile sportspeople, they get name suppression for their sexual and violent abuses. Here again we see the hypocrisy of society and the inconsistencies of justice which do nothing to teach right from wrong.
-Adrian Rurawhe is the MP for Te Tai Hauauru.