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Police Harassment In Tani Sanchez's Understanding Hip-Hop Cinema

656 Words3 Pages

There are many issues in the black community, issues that have been carried out since the beginning of the Jim Crow Era. Most issues, includes the involvement of police enforcement. As seen in both popular African American films, Straight Outta Compton, and House party. An issue involving officers, that is nearly always a negative reoccurring event in the African American community is the acts of police harassment. Police harassment, in specific, is usually provoked by stereotypical assumptions and racial profiling made towards the African American victims in both films.

In relation to the police officers depicted in both films, the result of harassment made by officers were due to the same common reason, which involved the African American characters …show more content…

This is shown on multiple occasions in both Straight Outta Compton and House Party. In the film, Straight Outta Compton, racial profiling was made towards every African American young man, with the assumption that he was a “gangster” or “slangin’ dope”. In Tani Sanchez’s Understanding Hip-Hop Cinema, there is a statement made by Ice Cube in which he expressed, “they profiled you, and created a profile on you. - they were going after criminals, but when you cast such a wide net, a lot of innocent people get caught in it” (Sanchez pg. 29). This statement made by Ice Cube was exemplified in the film when Ice Cube began to walk across the street towards his own home and was caught in a sweep of police harassment. As the police officer aggressively harassed him accusing him of the common assumptions which were made on all of the young men in his neighborhood, the chief over the officer stated, “We got cards on all of em’ anyway.” This statement supports Ice Cubes argument of

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