They are Taking Personal Stabs at Roxy

"They are taking personal stabs at Roxy because she is white. To say that someone does not have a rightful place in a certain sector of the music business based on race, in the year 2004, is simply outrageous."

Sayer Sweeney is a USD freshman who said he used to spend a lot of time flipping back and forth between the two local hip-hop stations: Jammin' Z-90 and Blazin' 98.9 (formerly called "More FM"). Sweeney, 18, said he has permanently tuned out 98.9 because of the overtly racist promo ads that 98.9 airs against the only other local hip-hop station -- Z90, whose morning host goes by the name "Roxy."

"They repeatedly say on the air, 'That morning DJ thinks she's hip-hop. Have you seen her? That's not hip-hop.' I knew right away what they were getting at. The clear insinuation here is that because Roxy is white, she cannot be hip-hop. What gives an African-American or Latino person more credibility as being hip-hop than a white person?"

Roxy declined comment, deferring to her boss Diana Laird, Z-90 program director.

"I think it's uncalled for," said Laird, who said that the Roxy-bashing promo has aired repeatedly on 98.9. "It's racist. Hip-hop is a lifestyle, and it's a musical genre that appeals to everyone. I'm not going dignify it by responding to it on the air."

"I can assure you that my radio dial has turned to 98.9 for the last time," said Sweeney, a Boston-area native. "If our status as Caucasians classifies us as unfit to spread the culture and music of hip-hop, then it also renders us unfit to tune in and support it."

Repeated attempts to get 98.9 program director Tommy Del Rio to respond were unsuccessful.