Dehumanization In Jay-Z's 'Decoded'

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Semar Smith TF Jason Silverstein Anthropology 1862 4 May 2015 Question #1 Dehumanization by definition is the act of “depriving [someone] of human qualities or attributes; divest of individuality” (Dictionary.com). This physical and psychological process causes people to view these individuals as less than human beings to a point where they are no longer worthy of moral consideration. Very easy and important examples are that of the African people enslaved in many different countries around the world or the Jews during the Holocaust. In both instances, there is a large group of people, similar in a distinct way, being treated as if they were not placed upon this Earth to live a life similar to those that are dehumanizing them. Dehumanized…show more content…
Many people today hustle for the same reasons that they have done in the past: they’re doing it for the money. For they believe they cannot obtain their desired amount any way else. He states that he was only sixteen years old when he would hustle. Already, he is being robbed of human qualities. As a teenager, one should not feel forced to “go out with [a friend] on the streets and [work] for sixty straight hours” (Jay-Z 74). No teenager should be doing anything for sixty hours straight. Are these not the years that our biggest worries should be about what class one will take next year, or how high up on will be on the depth chart? Jay-Z then continues by saying that he “stayed awake by eating cookies and writing rhymes on the back of the brown paper bags” (Jay-Z 74). How is one supposed to feel human when they’re doing that while their counterparts are sleeping and preparing for a less stressful day? They can’t. They can only lie to themselves and believe that everything in the end is worth it. Instead of heading to practice or home to study, Jay-Z and his crew went to the park and confronted [another crew] at four in the afternoon, both sides armed and ready to shoot it out. Jay-Z and other hustlers don’t realize that they should not be living like that. This is how their moral and physical fortitude is being taken from

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