Reddit reviews Black Rednecks and White Liberals

You know, Google works wonders. All of this stuff is out there clear as day, but I guess I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. A lot of folks on here are in different regions of the world and may have different experiences that don't allow them to see the same thing I see. So I'll clarify as best I can.

To know what "thug" or "gangsta" culture is, you have to see it first hand. In my 2nd year of college I worked/volunteered in a home for troubled youth. The males in this facility were all part of this culture. They spoke the same way, dressed in a similar way, used the same slang, listened to the same music, had similar demeanor etc. Their medical charts all revealed drug use and petty crime. All of them hated school and all displayed hyper-masculine traits. Fist fights were a very regular occurrence. It goes deeper than this, but just know that visually, you can start to create a personality profile of a person in this culture. Culture is a performance people put on for the world.

Now that we've established the identifiable traits of "thug" culture, you have to make the logical conclusion that, if a) "thug" culture glorifies violence, guns, misogyny, and drugs, and that b) violence, guns, misogyny, and drugs are common characteristics of crime, then "thug" culture must somehow be linked to crime, and vise versa.

See:

• Cummings, A. P. (2010). Thug Life: Hip-Hop's Curious Relationship with Criminal Justice. Santa Clara Law Review, 50(2), 515-546. (Cummings observes that "many commentators agree that some type of divide exists in hip-hop between that which is positive and uplifts the black and inner city community (socially conscious rap) and that which is negative and serves to degrade women, perpetuate violence, maintain stereotypes, and injure the black and inner city community (bling or gangsta rap).")
  
  
• Kubrin, Charis E. (2005). Gangstas, Thugs, and Hustlas: Identity and the Code of the Street in Rap Music. Social Problems, (3), 360 (Kubrin finds that: "Recent research on identity, culture, and violence in inner-city communities describes a black youth culture, or street code, that influences adolescent behavior, particularly violent behavior.")
  
  
• Tucker, C. (2006). OUR OPINION: Racism pales in comparison to thug culture. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, GA).
  
  
• Tucker, C. (2007). The 'ideals' of thug culture are destroying black Americans. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Atlanta, GA).
  
  
• (2009). Thug culture: More children are born, brought up into the gang lifestyle. Daily Press (Victorville, CA).
  
  
• (2010). Sharpton decries thug culture. Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC).
  
  
• Wozniak, K. H. (2016). Neighborhoods, Culture, and Violent Crime. London: Oxford University Press.
  
  If you want even more data, you can study the lyrics of artists like T.I. and Gucci Mane (both went to prison for gun charges). You can watch music videos as well.
  
  You can also read/listen to what Thomas Sowell thinks of "thug" culture.