Los Angeles Times
September 22, 1990, Saturday, Home Edition

O'CONNOR'S ERROR?


   Sinead O'Connor, in receiving her MTV Video Music Award, stated that
"censorship in any form is bad but when it's racism disguised as censorship,
that is even worse" (Sept. 8 ).

   O'Connor was obviously referring to the controversy surrounding the rap
lyrics of 2 Live Crew's album "As Nasty as They Wanna Be." But has O'Connor
actually heard these lyrics or has she, like most people, only heard the subject
discussed in the abstract?

   The failure of most of the media to actually quote the lyrics has allowed the
impression to be created that racism is what has motivated the criticism and,
consequently, this has allowed for record-industry manipulation of the public,
and maybe O'Connor herself.

   To expose the fraudulent claim of racism, the lyrics' violent offensiveness
-- namely the exultation over a man's bursting of a woman's vagina -- must be
exposed.

   In a letter to the New York Times, a black assistant professor of philosophy
took a white columnist to task for defending these lyrics as part of "black
culture." As she states, to treat the sexual abuse of black women as an
affirmation of black culture is "horrific."

   O'Connor, I would guess, has personal bodyguards and travels in a secure
manner. Most women, however, especially the woman in the ghetto, do not have
that luxury.