Thank god someone finally asked this question.
I'm black myself and too tell you the truth I'm kinda embarrassed by this ****. Not to say that I build my image from what other black men do, I don't feel that rappers are 'my people' simply cause we're the same skin color, but sadly society does .
To answer your question though.. The cause for these guys getting more respect than honest hard working people is not due to one specific reason, I'll list the reason i think it's happening.
1. Most of these morons grew up poor or in ghettos, just like I did, but what happens is that after they make a few 100k-200k selling drugs they project a life that seems over the top in the ghetto but isn't really all that impressive to someone with real success. Example. A drug dealing 'rapper' who drives around a set of 4 or 5 sports cars and has a luxurious apartment in the GHETTO might impress teens in harlem but looks like a fool to a CEO with houses in 4 continents and a classic car garage in 3 states. But the difference is that the CEO doesn't flaunt his accomplishments, he looks like a square to kids because the drug dealer is the loudest , shiniest example they have of a person with money. Also it helps the drug dealer that in today's ghetto, everything is justified with ' who cares? he got money '.
2. Rappers and Drug dealers stay in the ghetto, throw a few dollars into community programs during the day and at night go back to the same bullsh*t they rap about, but feel it's ok because they bought a few computers for a school and held a block party. On the other hand honest people get tired of the ghetto and run away kicking and screaming, something I have to admit I might do could I afford it. I don't feel people in the ghetto are 'my family' i don't know 99.9 percent of them nor do i care, I couldn't give less of a **** about yuppies (who I can't stand) but in a yuppie area you don't have to be scared to go downstairs and buy a sandwich at 3am. What I want to say with this is that drug dealers and rappers are psychologic pied pipers for kids in the ghetto, the only thing they really have to look up to as all the honest hard working blacks run away out of fear of their kids getting infected by the same 'who got more money than who' mentality where materialism rules people who have NOTHING and who work out of protocol and not love of trade to get it. A VERY valid fear in my opinion, cause as you said that scene is an attack of honest black men.
3. The Media,
This drug dealing/bling-bling/ 20 inch rim bullsh*t is being pumped into the airwaves 24/7 as hard and as loud as stations can put it out. According to the media life as a young american black man only means one thing... HIP-HOP, you and I both now that's completely false but that idea is being shoved down the throat of every human being on this planet. And after 1997 it hasn't been the innocent urban party music of the 80s, now it's a way of life you HAVE to adhere to be respected, you HAVE to have money, you HAVE to have jewelry, you HAVE to f**k 3 different girls a week and have the big TV , the xbox , the car, the sneakers, the this , the that, all worthless **** they only get so that other people see them with it. Is it all the medias fault? no but they do play a huge part, they were the ones who made american blacks so complacent to what hip-hop culture COMMANDS them to do, who to listen to, who to care about, what to buy, and how to act.