As an old school hip hop head, I am a fan of diss records. Even at my age I still find myself on my phone streaming anything from the 1987 MC Shan diss by Boogie Down Productions, “The Bridge is Over” to the more recent Drake diss “They Not Like us” by Grammy award winner, Kendrick Lamar. Like many I find the songs not only funky, but humorous. However, when in the middle of streaming Tupac’s “Hit Em Up,” I come across a social media post dissin’ Durham, all the laughing stops.
Nothing burns my Bull City barbecue more than the blatant disrespect of a town that many of us love by neighboring towns or residents suffering from a chronic case of Durham self-hatred. Anytime that there is a shooting or some tragedy in the city, the trolls immediately flock to social media and spew the most hurtful comments at residents of the Bull City. The name calling ranges from subtle ribs at the crime rate, to down right racism as the historical tropes of “a bunch of animals” are often used to describe a certain socio-economic segment of Durham’s population.
But why the disrespect?…