Lil Wayne enters Manhattan criminal court in New York (AP Photo/Louis Lanzano, file)
"This be jail, n***a," the young man intones, jokingly. "Not no a spiritual retreat or your recording studio."
Such was the assessment of one my African-American Georgetown students, Derek Bowen, age 20, before he moved on to something more important to him: celebrating the the Georgetown Hoyas' Big East Tournament victory over Syracuse. "But seriously," Derek says, adopting his usual tone and suburbanized accent. "Wayne's a master artist and innovator, like Chopin, or crazy-ass Van Gogh. But what he did was stupid." I ask if jail is the appropriate punishment. Derek shakes his head. "Rikers [Rikers Island] isn't the punishment, man. The reality of Rikers is the punishment."
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