Jay Z Influence On African Americans

The bad man in African American folklore came about in the postbellum period, after the civil war. During this time, many plantations adopted the sharecropping system, this entailed former slaves living on site and tending crops on the “very same plantations where they and their parents had been slaves” (Starr and Waterman, 33). There had also been a rise in groups such as the Ku Klux Klan that supported violence targeted towards the African American community. The bad man served to be a figure that was “celebrating the courageous and often rebellious exploits of black heroes” (Starr and Waterman, 33). Bad men stood up for the African American community, they were tough and confronted and overcame their obstacles. “The bad man in black folklore did provide emotional catharsis, an understandable reaction to racism, but they also offered hard lessons about the effects of violence within African American communities” (Starr and Waterman, 33). It provided a character that showed that African Americans could survive and come out victorious.
He overcame all the obstacles that was put in his way to make it to the top, Jay-Z came from an area a low-income area with not much to his name. He used the tools he had to make his dream come true, eventually dominating music charts. Jay-Z had predominantly made an impact in black culture, he has stood up for blacks the recent issues of police brutality. As a rap and hip-hop artist Jay-Z uses his outlet to be a figure that will stand up for the black community and voice his opinions. Like the bad man, Jay-Z is “amoral, tough, unafraid of authority” (Starr and Waterman,