solicitr wrote:
The problem is not so much that officers in ill-regulated departments thnk that it's okay to beat up black people, but that it's okay to beat up anybody if they are perceived to be the Other Side.
A good friend of mine is a cop is Massachusetts and I have worked very closely with law enforcement officers for many years. That being said, racism and prejudice are definite factors in many decisions our boys in blue make. To tell you the truth, we are all affected by innate prejudices.
In high school (this is going back 8 years) we had a great mass discussion on racism. One black classmate of mine brought up the interesting fact that she was more threatened by a group of black kids walking down the street than a group of white kids.
This stuck with me. Truthfully, especially in some of the neighborhoods I traversed through, I too would find myself more threatened by a group of black kids... But I am as white a ream of copier paper.
Well, more of a almond butter color really.
Anyways, in my generation of urban East Coast teenagers, cultural separation can be endemic. Now, this is not race separation, per say, but let's admit that "Emo" is not "Hip-Hop" and I can't really remember how many black kids I saw at the Taking Back Sunday concert.
Here are some lyrics from "You're So Last Summer" by Taking Back Sunday:
The truth is you could slit my throat
and with my one last gasping breath
I'd apologize for bleeding on your shirt
So "Emo"... If you don't know, look it up, it exists, it is real, and it is, if not a temporary stop in a young person's life, a lifestyle. I will not start that "life-imitating-art-imitating-life" debate here, but I will say that there is an unambiguous and substantial connection between between popular culture and individual behavior.
Here, for comparison, some lyrics from 50 Cent's "187", which is police code for an officer down:
Half the niggas jumped me, bumpin' my head
Thinkin' I wish I had a gun I fill a nigga with lead
Took a kitchen knife, Im finna poke me a nigga
Wishin' I had a gun so I could smoke me a nigga
Oh, and the chorus to this lovely little ditty:
They say Im grimey, Im greasy
I make a 187 look easy
F**k that, I lay my murder game down
Push me nigga, see what Im about
My influences as a young white child were John Lennon, Pete Seeger, and the oldies radio station; while they might reference drugs and revolution, I chortle to think of good ol' Pete strumming his banjo singing about "smokin' a nigga". 50 Cent, on the other hand, was, in real life, a crack-dealing gangster, and 9 time gun-shot victim.
John Lennon wrote "Imagine" and his worst crime, as far as I can see, was meeting Yoko.
Cite socio-economic disparities between race, cite "the white advantage", but I will draw and indelible connection between culture and prejudice and crime. John Lennon and Pete, they speak to me; they remind me of my childhood, they give me hope, they reflect my views and ideals.
50 Cent does not. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/50_Cent)
What we have is a role model who speaks to a culture; a group of like-minded people who identify with this type of message. The worst part of 50 Cent, is that he manages to crawl out of his criminal hole and place himself in a position to speak to this demographic and spread a different message...
But...
...no...
...he writes "187".
I don't know, I grew up seeing far too many young, beautiful, and intelligent black kids thinking that their only out was sports, crime, or rap... Maybe things are changing, but if you subscribe to a cultural ideal and parade that fact around, expect to reap the consequences of the way that culture advertises itself.
I told the same thing to my friend who wondered why he kept getting pulled over and searched when he had Phish and pot-leaf stickers plastered to his rear bumper. Oh, and one that said, "Pretty Much High, All of The Time."
But when he gets pulled over, he never has to think, "Is it because I'm black?"
That is a curse that only time, triumph, love, and understanding can cure.