Here was a stunning little news bit out of Arizona, apparently a cop (white) stopped a couple guys (black) and made them rap to get out of the ticket they were receiving for littering.Now I know what you're thinking, no way race plays a factor here, because if it were two blonde girls pulled over they would have had to spit hot fire AND
What's funny (or perhaps not so funny if you're, um, BLACK) is that this was only found out about because they recorded the segment for a cable show, Tempe StreetBeat. It's kind of like the "What would you do for a Klondike Bar?" commercials except they're real, and there's no ice cream, only a police officer in a position of power, and two black kids who are not. Yay!
Apologies have been issued, so all you black folk about to cry the beloved freedom, calm down, I'm sure those kids are quite happy they didn't get 50 shots to the dome instead. Or a littering ticket for that matter. Win-win baby.
One thing's for sure, once you see the video, it should certainly dispel the myth that all black people can freestyle. Jeesh. I'm surprised he didn't just go ahead and lock them up after that performance.
Arizona Police Give Littering Ticket, Gain Admission To Minstrel Show [Yahoo News]
I would have made them play basketball.
ReplyDeleteDid I really just leave that comment? Ewww. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteThis simply isn't fair. White boys have no skills to fall back on when it comes to getting out of tickets. Women can bat their eyelashes, lick their boobies and whatnot while gentleman of African-American ancestry can provide witty off-the-cuff verse. What am I to offer? Shall I ask the officer if I can comment on his latest blog posting?
ReplyDeleteThe man is keeping me down. AGAIN. And STILL.
Damn.
What I most adore about this story is the fact that it was the police department itself which put the footage on the air.
ReplyDeleteReally, if we must have such racist dumbfuckery, may it always be of this variety: which cannot appreciate its own irony, adding to the ease with which thinking people may observe and know institutionally racist behavior for what it is - including when it is not so spastically obvious.
I'd be willing to bet some serious dough that if those kids HAD been good rappers, they totally would have gotten a record deal out of that...
ReplyDeleteabsolutely ridiculous
ReplyDeletemist1 - that's not too bad. you didn't go on a fork in the ass rant a la mr. richards
ReplyDeletejetpacks - i think if you lick your boobies you'll be set free also.
victoria - amen
rover - ha. I think it would have had to be a very compelling and exotic freestyle. one that trumps the ridiculousness of the police officer.
It's definitely racist. The officer wouldn't ask white people to rap?!!? He wouldn't ask Asians. Are you kidding me? He asked because they were black. Whether the kids were offended is something else. But the cop's actions are overtly racist.
ReplyDeleteI read an article about this incident that I have since not been able to find, if I find it I'll post the link. But, just to clear a few things up:
ReplyDeleteThe cop wasn't white, he was hispanic.
The officer said that off camera the men told him they were in town because of somthing music industry related.
The officer sent the man back to pick up the litter and only asked the guy to rap as an afterthought, it wasn't necesary to get rid of the ticket.
I knew people would get pissed off and the story would be sensationalized, it does sound fucked up if you only read the headline, but the officer seems like a good guy who is getting fucked over by the press.
Life is pretty convenient sometimes.
ReplyDeleteHow convenient, Mr. or Ms Anonymous, that this officer said these exonerating statements off camera.
How convenient that you are anonymous.
How convenient that you suddenly can't find your favorite article for a story that's less than a week old.
Those in blue take sensitivity classes before they see their first day on the beat. I doubt that this officer could not forsee that his statements could very easily be taken in a racist way. If his IQ is under 70, then maybe. But someone with an IQ under 70 shouldn't be allowed to be a cop.
The only "if/maybe" I have is if this officer had been black. I can see a black officer in this same scenario mentioning rap while trying to develop a rapport.
I think i've been to your blog before. But it's been a while. I've got to get myself in gear and come more often.
ReplyDeleteOkay herb, my name is Luke.
ReplyDeletehttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5244079467196081993&q=littering+ticket+rap
this video says most of what the article says.
My bad for saying the officer said that off camera, apparently it was on camera, just not on the 93 second clip about not littering that was played on the cable access show.
And, I never said this was my favorite article. I don't care much about the story. I think its a shame that stories like these are overplayed because of their entertainment value, and that underlying causes like racial inequality are not seriously adressed by the media.
fringes - I don't know. I share the spirit of your argument/point, but I don't think there's enough evidence to support it. Perhaps the presence of laughter is enough to question the charge of racism, but it doesn't elimante the possibility. We don't want to overreact, but there's enough there to raise an eyebrow and investigate further.
ReplyDeletechoatey - yes, agreed. thel aughter could be just nervous laughter, it's a police officer, it'd be stupid to express anger or resentment. i think it was definitely racist, but was it racism with bad intent? Still under debate.
anon - ok, that all classifies as mitigating circumstances, but regardless of race even, i think it's poor judgement on the officer's part. This was done as a show, so was it edited to look like this? It just smells very questionable to me.
bougie - hi. or rather, "welcome back brother." do come again.
it's ARIZONA. the only state in the union that doesn't honor martin luther king jr. day.
ReplyDeleteHOWEVER, as a woman, i will say that i have had police officers say very sexually offensive things to me when my ex got pulled over for a speeding ticket.
The bottom line is that all cops are pretty much pigs - they belittle everyone, regardless of race, sex or creed.
Thanks for responding, Luke (nee "Anonymous"). The video you link to is from Fox, and Fox added its usual fair and balanced lack-of-spin to the story.
ReplyDeleteI have a few quibbles, but we all have bigger fish to fry. I whole heartedly agree with you, Luke: it's a shame that stories like these are overplayed because of their entertainment value, and that underlying causes like racial inequality are not seriously addressed by those of us in the media.
i don't see how this story is "overplayed." part of why folks see this as a story is because it's a striking example of a widespread and offensive phenomenon-- the police singling black folks out for special treatment. thankfully, this didn't end up like the Sean Bell shooting, but i don't think something like this can be overplayed. we should keep it in the "news" until something's done about it
ReplyDeleteella - good call on the state of Arizona. For not being in the south they're a little behind the times on the race stuff
ReplyDeleteherb - you're always ready to be the bigger man.
theylion - funny name ...
but if the two men were Asian, what would the cop asked them to do? Or what if they were Hispanic? Or Italian?
ReplyDeleteOr Jewish?
The possibilities are endless when you are a bigot with power.