For the last 400 years, white supremacy has taken over America. There have been many songs, movements and advertisements that have attempted to make a change. An example would be Tupac Shakur's song “Changes.” “Changes” by Tupac Shakur is one of the most influential songs that talks about the fight against systemic racism. Tupac was an African-American rapper and former member of the Black Panther party who was assassinated in 1996. Despite being over twenty years old, the song's message still resonates today. This Tupac Changes essay emphasizes the artist's call to action for racial unity and equality. Through the use of allusions, anaphors, and rhyme schemes, Tupac Shakur challenges ethnic norms and draws attention to the marginalization of people of color. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. Tupac uses rhyme schemes to disrupt the values ​​of systemic racism and ethnic norms. In the first verse he says, “Cops give a damn about a nigga/Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he's a hero.” Tupac rhymes the words “nigga” and “hero” to show how when a cop kills a black man, he is seen as a hero; he does it to upset the ethnic norm according to which blacks are recognized as criminals. Tupac is showing the listener that blacks are seen as heroes because they shoot to bring society closer to equality and justice against systemic racism; By shooting, blacks help end racism. It erases the negative stereotype of black criminals and replaces it with a positive compliment. As the verse progresses, Tupac also states, "I got love for my brother / But we can never go anywhere unless we share with each other." Using this rhyme scheme, Tupac emphasizes that progress cannot be made if society does not work together and appreciate each other's differences. It is destroying the belief of systemic racism by implying that if people of all colors work together, they can create equality. Also, in the next verse, Tupac states, "Cause both blacks and whites smoke crack tonight." He states this to show the reader that both whites and blacks use drugs, but only blacks have the derogatory image of being a criminal. Tupac is drawing the listener's attention to the fact that white people should also be considered criminals if they do the same actions as black people. This use of a rhyme scheme between the words “white” and “tonight” disrupts the belief of ethnic norms because it shows that this black stereotype of drug use is intertwined with whites. Tupac uses innuendo to highlight the flaws of ethnic norms and systemic racism. . A clear example would be in the first verse when he states “'Time to fight back', that's what Huey said/Two shots in the dark, now Huey's dead.” Tupac alludes to Huey P. Newton, founder of the Black Panthers, to accentuate the problem of ethnic norms. He wants to show how white people are exploiting their power by killing powerful black people in the hope of defending their supremacy. This upsets the values ​​of ethnic norms because it shows that white people are actually the social criminals and that they should be the ones to bear that label. Additionally, Tupac shows how heroic a black person can be because he poses a threat to achieving equality. As the song progresses to the third verse, Tupac states, "It's a war in the streets and a war in the Middle East." The “war in the Middle East” is an allusion to the Gulf War. This allusion by Tupac highlights how America focuses on the war outside the country instead of, 66(1), 21-35.