REVISION
There has always been tension between Black culture and the Police, going all the way back to the civil war, Blacks have always been skeptical of the authoritative figures in charge, and for good reason. The police seem to have always given them a harder time about everything, even going back to voting and finding ways to keep them out of the voting booth even though the laws said that cleared African- Americans to vote. While always in the background, this hate had always found a way to be swept under the carpet, but really began to bubble to the surface in the 1960’s. The black culture had enough of the constant dehumanizing efforts from police departments from all over the country and decided to do something about it. Relations reached a boiling point after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray was convicted of Murdering Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4th, 1968. The Black community was rightfully incensed, and riots began nationwide. The anti-police sentiment grew from there, and it didn’t cool down. N.W.A had a first-hand experience of the police brutality that came as response to the rioting, and that became their inspiration for the album “Straight Outta Compton”. Compton was a major “hood” that saw way more than its fair share of police brutality. With a group consisting of black youths in the center of this, getting arrested, and experiencing the subject matter that they later wrote their songs on, there was no one as accredited on the matter to narrate.
N.W.A was a key voice in rallying against police brutality. Politicians, police, and conservative hated them, but record sales from sympathizers kept them more than afloat. In the album, a single anti-police anthem stands out. “Fuck tha Police” is a very graphic and very telling song about the struggles of growing up in the hood, and the shortcomings of the police. With rhymes like “… So police think, they have the authority to kill a minority” and “Taking out a cop or two, they can’t cope with me”, they proved they meant business, and inspired many young males to join gangs and fight back against the injustices. They most intriguing line of this song to me is, “But don't let it be a black and a white one,
‘cause they'll slam ya down to the street top; Black police showing out for the white cop.” This shows that the divide between black culture and police doesn’t necessarily mean white police, as black cops try to prove their worth by being even harsher on their black community.
‘cause they'll slam ya down to the street top; Black police showing out for the white cop.” This shows that the divide between black culture and police doesn’t necessarily mean white police, as black cops try to prove their worth by being even harsher on their black community.
The majority of N.W.A.’s music is considered by most as inappropriate. Even though that this may be the case, their music tells a story. Without the profanity, the story would be incomplete. Artists shouldn't be limited to what and how they tell their story. There will be some that hate it and some that relate completely to it. All they can hope for is that their voice is heard and some type of change can come out of it. But many people try to silence change, which seemed to be the case with the N.W.A., so they created the album “Straight Outta Compton” as a response. This directly shows the role the black community plays in this fucked up world. They are seen as the dirty, half-life, scum that can’t do anything but smoke weed and steal welfare money. Although this clearly isn’t true, this is what some of the white community believed. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this, and attempted to disprove this stereotype through peaceful, educated protest. When the riots broke out, white people were happy to sit back and watch the arrests pour in, because the black violence completely turned back the clock and proved that they couldn’t control their “primitive instincts”. Malcom X feed into this even more, which worsened their case for some white people. The converse of this is that fear began to have a place in the “Race War” of sorts, and blacks began to use this new outlet to get what they wanted. The anger that was kept down inside them for so long could finally burst to the surface, and shit got real. This album was created at the perfect time to capture this mindset and turn it into a battle cry. It became a catalyst for the young “Robin Hood” figure that was gonna fuck up the white neighborhood in order to help the black families out. This was an admirable effort, but had one major side effect.
White culture responded with violence of their own. This was embodied with the group that had the most contact with the black aggressors, police officers. This wasn’t the start of police brutality, but this was the first time in America when it seemed as if the cops got called out on it, instead of being praised for “beating up another black thug”. Fear tactics worked on police, leaving some refusing to leave their vehicles in certain neighborhoods, and others to use way more that acceptable force on their victims, to ensure that they didn’t have the opportunity to fight back. This created a never-ending cluster fuck that lead to both sides being perpetually mad at exciter, an issue that is still going on to this day. Legislators refused to address the issue, and so did almost everyone in white communities. They were angered by N.W.A.’s album, and saw at as beyond disrespectful, and thought that it was inciting violence. I think they were way off. The song didn’t “incite violent”, their actions did; and the songs were like the soundtrack. If whites listened to the music, maybe they could begin to understand how blacks thought on the issue, but they refused to get off of their high horse. This is an issue that still goes on today, and has no easy solutions. But if all sides listened to each other progress may be made swifter. This album creates a great forum for a moral discussion, as well as being kick-ass music and intriguing social commentary.
