20 years go by and the Violence Hasn’t Changed

"20 years go by and the Violence Hasn’t Changed"

 

  

 I’m sure we have all heard of the famous rappers; Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E and the rest of N.W.A, but what most people don’t know is what these artists went through. N.W.A. faced many conflicts with the police to get reach the level of fame and success that they did. In the movie Straight Outta Compton we get to witness what it was like growing up in Compton, as an African American who were main targets to the police. Although the movie takes place over 20 years ago the police violence is very similar to what we see in the media today.

All five members of N.W.A grew up in the City of Compton, which is infamous for its gang violence and rap music. In the 80’s gang violence was at an all time high averaging over 70 homicides each year, this caused the police to start cracking down. The police forces in Compton were racial profiling, assuming every young black man was in a gang. Ice cube stated that growing up in Compton in the 80’s was hard because the police chief, “had considered a war on gangs, which was really a war on young black youth that looked like gang members." In the movie it seemed like every time members of N.W.A. stepped out of their house they got into a conflict with the police, which as a viewer was very frustrating to watch because we know they weren’t doing anything wrong. In one scene the police approached all five members of N.W.A while they were simply standing outside of the recording studio, pinned all of them to the ground and started patting them down. When N.W.A’s manager, Jerry Heller, came out to ask what they are doing the police officer said that they look like gang members so they are making sure they are clean of any drugs or weapons. Heller argued that the police can’t arrested people because of what they look like. Once that was said the officers let them go and this incident of many sparked the idea for the song “Fuck Tha Police”.

                     N.W.A in Straight Outta Compton being confronted outside of the recording studio by local police officers.

       When N.W.A came out with the song "Fuck Tha Police" the police threaten to shut their concert down and arrest them if they performed the song. The group ended up performing the song and, as expected they were arrested. N.W.A was not afraid to speak their mind, “Our music is our weapon” Ice Cube once said. Their music was a way to express themselves and they didn't care what anyone thought. They didn’t just speak for themselves; they spoke for everyone who was going through what they were with the police. Anther incident that had a big influence for the song "Fuck Tha Police," was what happened with Rodney King. Rodney King was a young black man who was in a high speed police chase in 1991. When the police caught him instead of just arresting him, multiple cops surrounded him and beat him. A whiteness caught it all on video and it was all over the news. In the movie they showed the group watching this on the news and when their manager told them to get back to work there response was, “This is work”.


Riot in LA April 1992

      What happened with Rodney King started riots in L.A that got deadly. 52 people died and 2000 were injured. It’s very similar to what has happened recently in Ferguson. Michael Brown was an unarmed black teenager that was shot and killed by a white police officer, who was found not guilty of murder. The death of Michael Brown sparked a breakout of protests in the area around Ferguson for weeks. They first started out as non-violent but soon turned violent. Many were hurt and arrested, many cars and nearly 25 businesses were burnt down during the protest. Multiple other black men were killed by police officers after the Ferguson incident which has sparked many more violent protests. 

Police during the protest in Ferguson, MO

                               Ice Cube and his son on Conan O'Brien discussing police brutality then and now.

O'Shea Jackson Jr., Ice Cubes son who played him in Straight Outta Compton, said in an interview with ABC.net "If you make people aware of a problem it usually leads to a solution, but we are still dealing with the exact same problems." Usually countries learn from mistakes in their history, but it seems like black Americans are dealing with problems similar to those that N.W.A and young black men growing up Compton had to deal with over 20 years ago. 

   

Work Cited

Green, Adrienne. "Straight Outta Compton and the Social Burdens of Hip-Hop." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 14 Aug. 2015. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

"Ice Cube: NWA Rapper on Straight Outta Compton and Race Tensions in the US." ABC News. N.p., 03 Sept. 2015. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

"Dr. Dre and Ice Cube Relive Youth on 'Straight Outta Compton' Set." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.

"What Happened in Ferguson?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 23 Sept. 2015.