I think I might have been about 35 or so when I took my first drink in front of my dad. Maybe even older. I do remember that I was fully grown, with a husband, two babies, a full-time job, a car note, several books under my belt and enough sense to know that my father had to be eased into seeing his baby girl enjoy a glass of wine in his presence before I could even think about drinking in front of him. I’m also pretty sure that my mother passed away having seen me drink only once—at my wedding.
I thought this was just, like, the way with African American parents.
I mean, growing up in Long Island, I do remember being around a certain element of teenager whose parents were comfortable serving cocktails and beer to their kids and their friends. The parents would argue that it was better for their kids to get their drink on in the safety of their basements and backyards than to let them go out and sneak a six-pack of beer or wine coolers with irresponsible young ‘uns who wouldn’t be so invested in keeping their friends from doing dumb stuff while drunk. Honestly? Even at 15, that reasoning sounded dumb. Drunk teenagers are never rational—no matter whether their parents are “supervising” or not. This was the general belief of every last one of my black friends’ parents. Period. (Not saying that my white friends’ parents’ all plied their kids and teen friends with liquor; I’m just saying that the parents who did put the drinks in their teens’ cups were all white.)
Soooo… you’ll have to excuse me for being just a tad taken aback and confused by the picture up top of Snoop Dogg smoking weed with his son, Corde “Spanky” Broadus. Corde, 18, a promising football player who decided to forgo college sports to pursue a rap career, posted that picture on his Twitter page sometime last week, along with a series of other photos showing him lighting up, with tweets lamenting how much he misses school and extolling the virtues of getting high, high, high.
O_o
Er, um—okay, I get it: he is, after all, the son of Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus, hip hop’s cannabis connoisseur. Snoop’s made millions rapping about weed, talking about weed, smoking weed, lobbying to make weed legal and being arrested for having weed in his possession. Basically, the man loves him some weed. And, well, obviously, the apple hasn’t fallen too far from the tree—and at 18, I guess the apple is full grown so there isn’t too much his father (and mother) can do about what young Corde chooses to do with his free time, his cash, his career choices or his Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Still, I can’t help but to feel some kind of way about a father—a former reality show star who used his platform on Snoop Dogg’s Father Hood to brag about how great a dad he is—who not only condones his child purchasing and smoking illegal substances, but who actually lights up with his young ‘un. Like, seriously, where they do that at? And despite that one Jezebel columnist thinks Snoop should be commended for not being a hypocrite with his kids, why would any parent look at some mess like that and say, “Why yes, what a terrific son Corde is for lighting his father’s bong, and what a terrific dad Snoop is for sharing said bong with his baby boy!”
Suffice to say, I’m not feeling parents who club with their kids, drink with their kids, curse with their kids, hunt for mates with their kids or, by God, take drugs with their kids. That mess just ain’t right. In no kind of way, shape or form. Even if you are Snoop “Weed Is Awesome” Dogg and your darling son, Corde Broadus regularly smokes it. Come on, now.
Denene Millner
Mom. NY Times bestselling author. Pop culture ninja. Unapologetic lover of shoes, bacon and babies. Nice with the verbs. Founder of the top black parenting website, MyBrownBaby.
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Didn’t Snoop convert over to the Rasta culture found in Jamaica? I mean honestly there isn’t enough proof in American society what weed does to people but other countries like Jamaica still use weed for pregnancies even. At least it isn’t a bottle of vodka or a bottle of pills. I understand the OH MY GOD HE DIDN’T factor but lets face on the big bad scale weed isn’t as damaging or lethal as somethings. I am 23 and a Mom. I smoke daily. And have smoked since I was 17. I graduated from high school a year early and have a college diploma. Weed just like everything in life is completely based on each person individually and what they decide to do with their own life. I just think like with alcohol and cigarettes it should be a choice we have as ADULTS to make because on it sits on the same scale as cigarettes and alcohol. Not on the se level as cocaine, Meth, and crack.
Thanks for your comment, Little Bit. I’m not arguing the merits of legalizing marijuana; I’ve never smoked it, I don’t condone its use or sale around my family and I’d be pissed to the highest of pisstivity if I found it on one of my kids. But what you do in the privacy of your own home is your right (so long as you’re straight when you, say, get behind the wheel of your car or operate heavy machinery around other humans, ect. If I get hurt because you chose to smoke weed and thought you could make it to the grocery store high? Problem.) My problem is that this grown man—a father—is smoking ILLEGAL substances with his son. Would you smoke weed with your child? And do it in front of cameras (and presumably other people)? And then condone your kid posting those pictures on the internet, so that future colleges, employers, business partners, etc., could see them? Is that the way they parent now? Because if it is, I don’t want any parts of it.
I have 2 siblings who started their lifetime of drug addiction/alcoholism by smoking pot with their father. Though I am for legalizing marijuana, father/son bong-a-longs are still not appropriate.
I just saw these photos and could not shake my head hard enough. Snoop has lost his damn mind.
He’d have to have a mind to lose it. I seriously, seriously doubt he’s ever had anything in that head of his that one would feel bad about his losing.
I feel the same way and had similiar experiences growing up, only on the opposite side of the spectrum regarding black friends and white friends – and I dont drink at all now as an adult. I really don’t understand this mentality of being friends with your kids and being permissible with anything and everything because they ‘are probably doing it anyway’. If your gonna give up on helping your kids to make responsible kids bc the possibility exists that they may make poor choices, you shouldn’t have kids, IMO
Wow. Just wow. Snoop’s kid better hope his dad has a nice big ol’ trust fund for him or that his rap career takes off, because his football hopes will not be going anywhere once college teams see these pictures.
My parents drank and one smoked weed my entire childhood. But until I was 21, I was never offered alcohol (except for half a dixie cup of champagne once when I was 19 on NYE) and to this day (at 31) have never been offered weed by my parent. My parents created strict guidelines around what children do and what adults do. Illegal things were never encouraged – whether that was smoking weed or underage drinking. I plan to be the same way with my kids (although I haven’t smoked since before my kids were born and don’t plan to ever do so again.)
Come on people, weed don”t kill, because if it did, trust me it wouldn’t legal in some states that provide as a medical treatment. You think? Well, that should tell you something..
Well that sounds like a GREAT reason to smoke drugs with your kids. Because it’s used for medicinal purposes in one of the 50 states. *insert side-eye and massive sarcasm here*
Snoop doesn’t see weed as a ‘dangerous drug’ like you do. To him, like many others, weed is a relaxing pasttime. Just like a cold Coke or a candy bar.
Now, I’ll bet most of you don’t have any serious qualms about serving your children candy and soft drinks, knowing full well how the large amounts of sugars and saturated fats that actually do have a negative health impact.
Yeah, except as bad as pop and candy bars are to your teeth and waistline, they do not run the risk of impairing your memory, deadening your motivation or producing a high that impairs judgement (I expect Snoop just tosses the car keys to his kid after they smoke a bag).
i respect your views on weed and the whole ather son deal, but in all honesty, im a grown man, who has smoked since 15, i just dont see where smoking weed with his son is a testimony to snoops parenting abilities. and lets face it….. We ALL watched the show. and im sure most know about snopp buying a whole team and bus and so on to.push his childrens dreams of playing ball. kid chose his own path.
So what if him and his son enjoy smoking in their meantime? It’s not sick. It’s a male bonding thing, just like if a father wanted to take his son hunting. I would rather smoke marijuana, a medicinal plant that has been in our culture for thousands of years with no proven illnesses or deaths related to it than go show my son how to shoot a gun and kill something. I do believe that a father should allow his son to complete his education and land a stable job before even thinking about smoking it with him. That’s what I did and I’m glad I did, otherwise I’d probably still be trying to get it. Also, you shouldn’t be so disgusted with it. Any normal person wouldn’t care, but for you to go out of your way and remark on how disgusting and vile it looks to you really shows that you have nothing better to do with your life. If you had tried it before and didn’t like it, that would be understandable, but you’ve never tried it once, so what right do you have to talk bad about it?
Scott,
You have the right to think it’s okay to smoke illegal drugs with your child, just as I have the right to be disgusted by it. That’s the beauty of America. And I’m preeeeetty sure that when I’m gone from here, my work will speak for the fact that I’ve found PLENTY to do with my life. What are you, ten? Who stomps onto someone else’s site and says “you have nothing better to do with your life” besides a 5th grader? Actually, I probably just insulted 5th graders. Carry on.
leave snoop dog.his doing right thing for his kids