As an old school hip hop head, I am a fan of diss records. Even at my age I still find myself on my phone streaming anything from the 1987 MC Shan diss by Boogie Down Productions, “The Bridge is Over” to the more recent Drake diss “They Not Like us” by Grammy award winner, Kendrick Lamar. Like many I find the songs not only funky, but humorous. However, when in the middle of streaming Tupac’s “Hit Em Up,” I come across a social media post dissin’ Durham, all the laughing stops.
Nothing burns my Bull City barbecue more than the blatant disrespect of a town that many of us love by neighboring towns or residents suffering from a chronic case of Durham self-hatred. Anytime that there is a shooting or some tragedy in the city, the trolls immediately flock to social media and spew the most hurtful comments at residents of the Bull City. The name calling ranges from subtle ribs at the crime rate, to down right racism as the historical tropes of “a bunch of animals” are often used to describe a certain socio-economic segment of Durham’s population.
But why the disrespect?
Historically, Durham has been a shining Southern example of black economic advancement as well as a wall of resistance against conservative politics in N.C. So, Durham has been known as an oasis of liberalism in a largely right leaning state.
Durham has also been the home of activists such as Dr. Pauli Murray and Ann Atwater. Not to mention housing such institutions as Malcolm X Liberation University and the Know Bookstore and Cultural Center which preserved the black cultural tradition for decades.
This has caused some folk to hate the Bull City and see us as the only thing standing between them and a conservative takeover of the Tarheel state. In 2025, while some want the new state song to be Petey Pablo’s “North Carolina Raise Up” there are others who would prefer a version of Dixieland by someone like Kid Rock.
Many of us are fed up with Durham being the redheaded stepchild of the Triangle. But the question is what to do about it besides getting upset or engaging in a desperate act of self deprecation by hee-hawin’ along with the jokes.
The latter would be somewhat understandable if it wasn’t for the socio-political and economic fall out surrounding the jokes. Remember, until a couple of years ago, the Durham police would turn a blind eye to the kids riding dirt bikes as long as they weren’t causing trouble. All that changed during that infamous Bimbé Cultural Festival weekend when the busy bodies in Raleigh and Chapel Hill complained about those thuggish, ruggish Durham youths invading their turf. More recently the crackdown has been on so-called street takeovers, as the participants have become Durham’s new public enemies.
Recently, some of us got together and formed the United Hoods of Durham Coalition, a.k.a. U-Hood with HOOD meaning “Hope Out Of Despair.” We have a two fold mission. to defend the Bull City from slander and negative propaganda and work together to make the city better for our children.
So, with Durham’s unique cultural history, in regards to the other cities as Kendrick would say “they not like us” … and we are perfectly OK with that.
Min. Paul Scott is Minister of Information of the Black Hoodie Brigade faction of the United Hoods of Durham, on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/uhood/
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