B. Rabbit's ability to deliver the knockout rap comes as a result of his coming to terms with what people think of Jimmy Smith, Jr., and his own acceptance of his place in society. (At first he tries to hide the fact that he lives with his mother in a trailer park; by the end, he claims to be proud of it.) While one might assume that his "place" is that of a white rapper in a black world, in fact the class line is more important than the color line. The working class has been written off for so long that everyone had forgotten about them as a viable category. When Rabbit finally says he's proud to be "trailer-trash," it's a reminder that the term is still meant to feel like an insult; like the "N" word, it has be reclaimed by those who it oppresses. And yet, while even writing the word 'Negro' is enough to make this article controversial (perhaps rightly so), 'redneck' and 'trailer-trash' are acceptable derogatory epithets. After 400 years of slavery, race is not an acceptable reason for discrimination. But after 226 years of republicanism, class still is.

In the final rap off, Rabbit has taken the race battle and turned it successfully into a class battle. The black audience in 8 Mile ends up identifying, not with Clarence/Papa Doc, with whom they have race in common, but with Jimmy/B. Rabbit, with whom they have class in common. Although in the film this paradigm shift from race to class is less important than Rabbit's own personal triumph, this shift raises interesting questions about what Eminem might do as a mainstream national celebrity. Given his ability to describe his world, incorporate criticism and articulate his feelings in a popular and multi-vocal way, might he help shape a wider debate? If Rabbit can use his class consciousness to speak as a white man to black folks, can Eminem use his race to speak as a working class man to the rich?

Think about it: In a country where politics has been replaced by entertainment, poverty is buried in the race issue, and liberals have abandoned even the pretence of social critique, who better than Eminem to speak for white working class rage?

Certainly not a traditional politician. Would ten million Eminem fans pay $12.99 to hear the latest speech of a populist union leader? Would they pay attention as a Green Party activist attacked the 'disgusting excesses of Jack Grubman, Kenneth Lay, Jack Welch; the boards of Lucent, WorldCom, Halliburton, Enron; and the many other plutocrats who are driving the economy of this great country into the ground more surely than any terrorists'? If the voter turnouts in the recent election (which gave the plutocrats still more power and authority) are any indication, they're not even willing to take half an hour to punch a ballot.

And certainly not an academic. Barbara Ehrenreich's "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" should be essential reading for any thoughtful citizen today. But a college professor explaining how 'the political system has abandoned the working class and is rapidly abandoning all but the upper reaches of the middle class' simply doesn't get the message across like Eminem telling us that 'every single person is a Slim Shady lurkin / He could be workin at Burger King, spittin on your onion rings / Or in the parkin lot, circling /Screaming "I don't give a fuck!" / with his windows down and his system up.'

And, so far at least, not a 'ethnic minority' either. Perhaps what is ultimately needed to appeal to the electorate is someone with crossover appeal-a woman, or someone from one of the so-called 'ethnic minorities.' Someone who has worked from the bottom to the top of the ladder without selling out, and who could say from experience that 'within our lifetimes we will be paying for clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and clean land to walk on, in the way that we already pay a heavy premium for poison-free foods, worthwhile medical care, and a decent education.' Maybe that what will still happen, but at the moment, no one is listening.

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