In my experience, the first step toward hatred is generalization, or perhaps more accurately extending general resemblances past their actual relevance.

The belt-below-the-butt look is, to my eyes, ridiculous, but one that my own sons--both nice white boys, have affected in the past. Come to think of it--they both driven old Hondas as well.

Generalizations are like credit cards--useful in a narrow application and debilitating everywhere else. I personally don't like to use either.

I think we should also realize that those who defend the indefensible aren't necessarily influential. What has been made clear in the past decade is that apologetics have their limits. Lots of people stepped up to defend Bill Clinton's Oval Office antics, but in the end, the Democrats have tacitly acknowledged that sexual proclivities in their politicians are a losing proposition. Everyone running nowadays is a model or propriety--at least until they get caught with a hooker.

I hesitate to comment too broadly on the black community, but I do note that there are in fact voices raised to promote objectively profitable behavior. Bill Cosby and Juan Williams come to mind as better known examples, but I am fairly certain they aren't voices in the wilderness. Similarly, there are a lot of crazy white people, a great many of which seem to work in the administration of our universities, that promote behavior every bit as damaging and anti-social as the hip-hop lifestyle.

Barack Obama suggests that we need to have a conversation about race. I find that a rather large paradox for a man campaigning on the premise of unity. Race is a political construct designed to keep us apart and keep the Democrats in power. We don't need to talk about race, we need to talk about education, about community, about drugs and about what we can do to help.