Sharpton Targets Degrading Rap Lyrics

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks to a standing-room only congregation at Trout Creek Baptist Church in Jena, La., Sunday, Aug. 5, 2007. Sharpton criticized officials in this racially tense Louisiana town on Sunday, saying the attempted murder charges leveled against six black teens show "one rule for white kids and one for black kids." Seated with Sharpton are Marcus Jones, left, and Melissa Bell, parents of Mychal Bell. Behind Sharpton are several of the other accused students. (AP Photo/Richard Alan Hannon) (Richard Alan Hannon - AP)

NEW YORK -- Protests were held in more than 20 cities over the use of degrading lyrics by the music industry, the Rev. Al Sharpton said.

The so-called Day of Outrage, organized by Sharpton's National Action Network, included protests Tuesday in New York; Los Angeles; Detroit; Chicago; Houston; Richmond, Va.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and other cities.

Sharpton, who led a demonstration at the Motown Museum in Detroit, said, "I'm here in Motown in Detroit as a symbol of when music was not denigrating and was entertaining."

He announced an initiative in April to combat the use of gutter terms in rap music.

Sharpton called Tuesday for the withdrawal of public funds from entertainment companies that "won't clean up their act."

Some people in the music industry have defended rappers' free-speech rights but say the degrading words at the center of the debate should be treated the same as extreme profanities and consistently blanked out of clean and radio versions of songs.