What Are Rappers Really Saying About The Police?

February 19th, 2013 by Guest Contributor

Of course, the rappers — in their collective wisdom — are absolutely correct to suspect that the treatment that their communities receive from the police, corrections, and courts are unfair.  African Americans are routinely targeted by police (see the examples of New York City and Toronto), even though racial profiling doesn’t work; Blacks are are more likely to be arrested and sentenced than Whites, regardless of actual crime rates; schools and juvenile detention systems are increasingly intertwined in inner cities; imprisonment tears families apart, disproportionately harming families of color; and even Black children don’t trust the police.

Steinmetz and Henderson conclude:

We actually found that the overwhelming message in hip-hop wasn’t that the rappers disliked the idea of justice, but they disliked the way it was being implemented.

These communities, then, have a strong sense of justice…rooted in the sense that they’re not getting any.

Lisa Wade is a professor of sociology at Occidental College. You can follow her on Twitter andFacebook.

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Posted in Entertainment, hip hop | 2 comments

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  • Loren

    I agree with this article 100%! I was really getting tired of people always saying that rap music was about
    disrespecting the police. Many black people understand that the basis of these lyrics (for the most part) are not about disrespecting anyone, they are simply talking about different aspects of the criminal justice system that blacks, especially men, have to deal with on a daily basis. For example, racial profiling is very common in the black community but when things like this are brought up in rap lyrics, “White America” tends to dismiss topics like this by simply saying things like, black people do not like police. By making such statements, it allows them to continue not to address such problems and brush them under the rug. however, the more you look at these situations, the more feelings of disrespect can seem justifiable. They aren’t telling everyone to disrespect them, they are simply making it known to the public the events that are taking place and the scandalous things the members of the criminal justice system part-take in. Knowing that people are taking the time to try and understand the reason why rappers feel this way does make me smile. As long as the truth is out there, I cannot really complain. I just hope it makes a difference. The last statement that says, they found that rappers did not have a problem with justice, just the way in which it was being implemented, says it all. it is just another way for us to ask for fair treatment under the law.

  • Loren

    I agree