Will Americans Boycott 'Ghetto Fights'?

This is a partial transcript from "Hannity & Colmes," April 25, 2005, that has been edited for clarity.

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SEAN HANNITY, CO-HOST: On Friday night we got a lot of reaction from you when we brought you the story of two DVD's that are coming out in May called "Ghetto Fights 2" and "Wildest Street Brawls 3."

Now again, we want to warn you that some video in this segment is graphically violent.

Fall Thru Entertainment, who is behind these videos, claim that they are just portraying what happens naturally on the streets. And the company releasing the video says that they have sold over 500,000 copies of earlier visions. But should the African-American community be boycotting these videos?

Joining us now, former Democratic presidential candidate, the Reverend Al Sharpton.

We're going to agree tonight. This is bad stuff.

REV. AL SHARPTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is terrible stuff. First of all, it is an image of our community that's not true. Is there violence? Yes. Is there only violence? No.

HANNITY: It's not just African-Americans.

SHARPTON: Well, you said African-Americans.

HANNITY: No, that's what they call it.

SHARPTON: They are depicting it as African-American. It's clearly more than African-Americans in it, but it also glorifies and gives kids who are influenced by this, that this is our life. This is natural. To have something as despicable and violent as this projected as what goes on in our communities or any communities, is something everybody should boycott.

HANNITY: You know what bothers me? You know, I guess there's a lot of ways in life that you can make money, Reverend Al. There's a lot of ways you can make money, but when you do it on human misery this way, it's just like some of the more violent rap lyrics that degrade women, degrade, you know, humanity the way they do. Refer to women the way they do. It's amazing to me that — why do people patronize, you know...

SHARPTON: I think the issue is patronage. I mean, I've said that I'm against rewarding people for violent acts. But people have the right to say what they want or do what they want. We also have the right to boycott it. The First Amendment also means you can...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Why are people buying this stuff?

SHARPTON: Well, I think that people shouldn't buy it. And I think that more of us should speak out and talk about how it's breaking down our society, breaking down our communities and giving our kids the wrong image of who they are.

HANNITY: What do kids think when they see something like this? I mean, what does it...

SHARPTON: I think that they think it's vogue. I think that they think it's exciting. And I think that we've got to say it's not exciting. It's not vogue. It's breaking the self-esteem of young people all over America, no matter what community you live in.

HANNITY: Yes. You know, I read the book you had produced some years ago, and you talked about you being a boy preacher.

SHARPTON: Yes.

HANNITY: And how old were you when you started?

SHARPTON: I preached my first sermon when I was 4. I was ordained when I was 10 in the Church of God.

HANNITY: It's unbelievable. They were smart enough in the Catholic Church to say, when I was in the seminary, everyone can think about being a priest but Hannity.

SHARPTON: Let me say this. I came out of a single-parent home, hard- core ghetto, which is why I don't accept the excuse that we have to be violent. My mother raised me. I never knew I was underprivileged until was in a sociology class in college, because they described underprivileged.

So you can come out of a circumstance and still excel. There are social conditions. I fight them every day, but you don't succumb to them as a way to rebel against them. You rebel by beating the odds, not by succumbing to them.

HANNITY: It seems to me it's the popularity of stuff like this, the popularity of the violent rap music, you know. There's too much of a desire for these products.

SHARPTON: Well, I think it's too much of a saturation of the product, because there are many conscious rap artists. There are many positives, that can't get a contract. They can't get a contract, a lot of good ones.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: You know what's happening here? It's amazing. You are Sharptonizing Hannity.

HANNITY: No, no.

SHARPTON: I'm Sharptonizing him.

COLMES: You're Sharptonizing him. Look, the fact that they call this "Ghetto Fights 2" is pure and simple racism.

SHARPTON: No question, because even though it's not just blacks in it, the ghetto title, it is branding a community, like this is African- American culture, and that is racist.

COLMES: But all they care about is making money. In between these acts of violence, they have women apparently making out with each other. Whatever it takes for them to sell this, they're doing it, and that's all they care about is the profit.

SHARPTON: And I think that these guys ought to be boycotted. I think they ought to be exposed. I think they ought to be hounded on this one. I agree with Sean Hannity, my new convert.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I'm Hannitizing you.

COLMES: And here's what bothers me. In addition to calling it "Ghetto Fights 2" — I don't happen to know of "Ghetto Fights I," but I don't know if they're just trying to trump it up — but they're saying this is more brutal than the previous one, more violent, more disturbing, more heart pounding. This is how they're marketing it.

SHARPTON: And the intention is to be as despicable as they can and say that this is how you market to various young people and various communities and call it ghetto. That's absurd.

COLMES: Here's the other question. Beside the fact that these really disreputable people are selling it, who are the people to whom this appeals? Who's buying?

SHARPTON: I think not only who it appeals to but who distributes it. I think that some people ought to say, "I'm not bringing it into my store." I would like to say, and I'm certainly going to be talking to people around the country, the National Action Network.

We went when there was a game out called "Ghettopoly" and told stores, "Don't sell it in our communities, because we won't buy it from you." We ought to go to those that distribute it and say, "We're not allowing this."

COLMES: Well, they sell it on the Internet. Basically, you can go online and just click something and buy it.

SHARPTON: You can't bother the Internet, but you can certainly deal with kids walking into stores in your community.

COLMES: Have you thought about taking action about this?

SHARPTON: As I've seen this, and as this gets ready to come out, I'll certainly be talking to the network. I think this is certainly that we probably will take on in our fight against violence.

COLMES: If you can take away the profit from them or somehow find a way. Like you, we believe in the First Amendment.

SHARPTON: Of course.

COLMES: And certainly we shouldn't make something illegal.

(CROSSTALK)

SHARPTON: You take profit out of it, though.

COLMES: But how do you discourage people from buying it?

SHARPTON: You take the profit out of it. If they put this out and nobody buys it, if they start putting it out and can't get distribution, and even on the Internet can't sell it, they will not have a motive to do it. The motive is they're making quick money at the expense of the integrity of our communities.

COLMES: But as long as there are people who get a kick out of this, who watch this and like to see destruction and like to see violence, there's going to be a market for it?

SHARPTON: But as long as those people feel that they are being ostracized and people feel that they are silly and ridiculous, it takes down that motive. People have to no longer think this is cute to have in their library.

COLMES: So what are you getting ready to run for now?

SHARPTON: I'm running on Hannity's conversion.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: That's a full-time job. Believe it. I've tried for nine years.

SHARPTON: It's exhausting.

COLMES: It's a full-time job. Totally exhausting.

SHARPTON: Exhausting.

HANNITY: Listen, I have never agreed with you, but this is important. You know why? Because this is our children. You know what we're doing, Reverend? We're robbing them of their innocence. We're robbing them of their childhood. They're not having fun. They're watching this. They're inspired by this. This is bad stuff.

SHARPTON: And it also gives them a sense that there's something natural about it. The more you watch something like this...

HANNITY: You think it's normal.

SHARPTON: You think it's normal. It's no big thing, and that is bad. That is devastating.

HANNITY: Are you going to really run?

SHARPTON: I haven't decided. I haven't ruled anything in or out.

HANNITY: Did the FBI tape you?

SHARPTON: I don't know. They may be taping us now. I hope they're taping these guys and help protect young America.

HANNITY: All right. Reverend Al, good to see you.

SHARPTON: Thank you, sir.

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