Thank God it isn’t such a painful memory in retrospect but when I was 12-years-old, I went to Jerry Sandusky’s football camp.
It was a four-day, overnight skills camp at a Penn State University branch campus in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Fortunately, I walked away unharmed. That was in 2003, five years after it was reported to Penn State officials that Sandusky had showered with a young boy, one year after it was reported to Penn State head coach Joe Paterno that Sandusky molested that boy and nearly three decades after court documents revealed Paterno was told by another boy that Sandusky molested him.
Sandusky was still running football camps for boys on Penn State campuses. He was even allowed onto the school’s campus up until 2011 when the media volcano erupted, leading Sandusky to be charged on 48 counts spanning 10 victims. He was found guilty of 45 counts and sentenced to 30-60 years in prison. And yet, when all of this happened, Penn State fans, former players and alumni came out in droves to support their beloved Paterno, even though evidence was indisputable of his guilt by not only his silence but by covering up Sandusky’s actions. Just as Paterno put football ahead of the lives of children, so did these fans by supporting him and by attacking anyone who rightfully criticized him.
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Right now KRS-One is acting just like those fans. The mere thought turns my blood into scalding hot DNA.
Following the numerous accusations that Afrika Bambaataa sexually molested teenage boys – accusations weighty enough to cause his dismissal from the Zulu Nation – KRS-One spoke in favor of Bambaataa. He said during an interview with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN’s “Drink Champs” podcast, “For me if you keep it Hip Hop, nothing can be taken away from Afrika Bambaataa...But if you want to dig into dude’s personal life and accusations that’s being made and so on…Personally — me personally – I don’t give a fuck. Look, if somebody was harmed or whatever, y’all gotta deal with that shit. Deal with it. That don’t stop Hip Hop. That don’t stop what you did for Hip Hop. It don’t take away none of it. History is history. But deal with that. That’s personal.”
That was a distasteful response, stating he personally didn’t care about the matter, and that even if the allegations were true, it needed to be dealt with, but that it doesn’t superceded Hip Hop. However, I understood part of what he meant. After all, scumbag athletes, even some who are in prison, can still be recognized for their talents and contributions to their sport. Bambaataa’s contributions to Hip Hop surely still matter, right?
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But he didn’t stop there. He went on with a pathetic attempt to rationalize exactly why he doesn’t care that one of the founding fathers of Hip Hop is an alleged child molester.
“Even if you knew the facts, a person like me, I deal with dudes that are questionable all the time,” he continued. “Not even just if the accusation is rape. If you know anybody from prison, if you know anybody from the shelter, if you know anybody – if you’ve lived really in the hood, you know shooters. You know dudes running from the cops. You know your man might have an open warrant on him right now. I’m not judging these motherfuckers, man. That’s my nigga right here, yo. That’s it. Now what you do and your crime, and your shit and your bullshit, whatever you’re doing, that’s on you. That’s you, my G. That’s how I always dealt with it. I can’t pick and choose.”
So, because you associate with some less than reputable people, that makes it OK with you if Bambaataa went and molested kids?
After media posted articles that KRS-One dubbed “sensationalism,” he fired back at us by claiming his words were taken out of context. He also backtracked with an explanation not at all in line with his original comments and said that people need to go back and listen to the whole recording concerning his comments.
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Well, I did, and it only made him sound worse. N.O.R.E. was the one interviewing him. “I think of you, Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, as the fathers,” he said, referring to their place in Hip Hop’s lore. KRS-One acknowledged that, and N.O.R.E. asked him, straight up, how Hip Hop is supposed to respond to the situation with Bambaataa. N.O.R.E. made it a point to say, “You being our father, whatever you say I have to move in accordance to it.”
With N.O.R.E. telling KRS-One, The Teacha, that Hip Hop was looking to him on this matter, his response was to emphasize Bambaataa’s Hip Hop contributions and downplay the alarming allegations against him.
For his part, Bambaataa is vehemently denying the allegations from four men who say he sexually abused them when they were juveniles, including former music industry executive and Bronx Democratic Party activist Ronald Savage.
“I never abused nobody. You know, it just sounds crazy to people to say that, hear ‘you abused me,'” Bambaataa said in an interview with Fox 5 News’ Lisa Evers. “You know my thing is you know all my people back then, you know the hundreds of people that been around me. If something like that happened, why you never went to none of them?”
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Yes, these are only allegations. To that end, KRS-One’s words ring in my head: “Even if you knew the facts, a person like me, I deal with dudes that are questionable all the time.”
Again, trying to dismiss alleged alarming behavior on the basis that you know other people who behave alarmingly?
Come on, bro. Hip Hop, as important, as powerful, as life-changing and relevant as it is, should not be emphasized over the lives and safety of children.
There are certain rappers from which I’d expect this. Not KRS-One. To share N.O.R.E.’s sentiment, he’s an elder statesman of Hip Hop, one of the greatest and most influential emcees of all time, and a spokesperson for the culture.
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The lesson learned here is not even your teacher can be right 100% of the time.
