Controversy Over ‘Cop Killer’ Rap

Here’s what bothers me about Ice-T and his song “Cop Killer.” From slavery through the era of the civil rights movement, African-Americans have always held the moral high ground in the battle against racism and injustice. The civil rights movement won the respect and admiration of the world because it refused to advocate violence or express hate against whites. As a result, the movement successfully ended legal segregation in America and put the issue of equal opportunity at the forefront of the nation’s agenda.

But lyrics like “Cop Killer” unfortunately strip away some of the soil from that moral ground. It leaves many whites wondering if their sympathy and support for the African-American struggle still mean anything. And it allows bigots to turn the table on blacks and depict them as violent-prone racists.

This could pose a deadly trap for young blacks who continue to be at greatest risk from homicide and other violent acts. Those who defend Ice-T’s lyrics as a genuine expression of black anger and pain need to ask themselves how those lyrics will play in the streets the next time there is a confrontation between nervous young blacks and nervous police officers.

EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON, Inglewood