From The Village Voice by Richard Goldstein
Slim Shady, Censor
"Lyrical Judge Praises Eminem in Lyrics Fight": That was how the Times saw the ruling last week that held The Source in contempt for failing to follow a previous order involving the removal from its website of certain lyrics by Marshall B. Mathers III. According to The Source, the lyrics go back to 1993, not to Em's adolescence in the '80s, as he has claimed. Back then, he felt free to vent on African American women—as in "black girls are bitches." Eminem has acknowledged writing that rap, attributing it to "anger, stupidity, and frustration when I was a teenager." At least he didn't blame his mom.
But black women weren't Mathers's only targets, according to Source CEO David Mays. In one song alluded to in the magazine, Mays says, "he called black people 'spear chuckers,' 'porch monkeys,' and such." In its February issue, The Source printed several pieces pointing to Eminem's prior racist tendencies. The lyrics were meant to illustrate that thesis. The law usually allows a publication to reproduce a work being commented on, but in this case the judge held to a very narrow definition of fair use, limiting The Source to releasing only 20 seconds of the songs in question.
All the judge saw was the danger that publishing Eminem's early musings would damage his credibility as a white artist working in a black form. That's not unlike the protectiveness many white critics extend to Eminem in refusing to face his biases. By censoring the evidence of hardcore bigotry, Eminem can prevent a true reckoning with the meaning of his success. That's why The Source is planning to appeal the judge's ruling. "It's about the media's right to report on something the public needs to know about," Mays says.
Dennis Dennehy, a spokesman for Eminem, had no comment.
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