NCJ Number
160267
Date Published
1995
Length
3 pages
Annotation
Many critics of violent rap music support censoring or regulating it; rap artists have a right to express their views, and censoring rap, not rap itself, is what would threaten society.
Abstract
Ice-T's rap song "Cop Killer" is an expression of black anger at how the police treat young inner-city black males, and one reason the song is so shocking is that in postliberal America, black anger is virtually taboo. Because it is taboo, it sells. An overreaction to this song includes a national boycott, not just of this particular song or Ice-T, but of all Time Warner (producer of the song) products. President Bush has denounced Time Warner and Ice-T, and Ollie North's Freedom Alliance has started a petition drive aimed at bringing Time Warner executives to trial for "sedition and anarchy." Those who view the song as "dangerous" have visions of suggestible black youths hearing the song and following its violent suggestions. Although "Cop Killer" is irresponsible and vile, it is nothing more than one more entry in pop music's long history of macho hyperbole and violent boast. Remember the Rolling Stones singing "The time is right for violent revo-loo-shun" from their 1968 hit "Street Fighting Man." "Cop Killer" contains strong and offensive speech, but the Constitution protects it. The critics of "Cop Killer" should also examine the context out of which Ice-T's anger comes in the real world of young inner-city black males. A black youth is seven times as likely to be charged with a felony as a white youth who has committed the same offense and is much more likely to be imprisoned. The U.S. Justice Department has received 47,000 complaints of police brutality in the past 6 years, and Amnesty International has just issued a report on police brutality in Los Angeles, documenting 40 cases of "torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." "Cop Killer" is nothing more than a gesture of macho defiance against such treatment.