The Issues Between Police And The Black Community

The song “Fuck Tha Police” by N.W.A highlights the issues between police and the black community. Stories are told about male African American individuals, one who is being arrested, one who is getting pulled over, and how their interactions with the police go ending with a trial against the police. Also included is how interactions with the police go during daily life and with the black community in general. The acknowledgment that the black community is targeted more heavily by police than the white community is emphasized as well. One of many messages construed by the lyrics is that the black community although a minority, is built up of a strong group of individuals.

This song correlates to multiple concepts acknowledged by Sociologists.

The “follow along” reaction is strong within the police force and is extremely damaging to communities and is how institutional discrimination is formed. Officers at high ranks in the office are idolized for their behaviors and lower-rank officers tend to follow suit to that in order to succeed. Although excessive violence and targeted checks, such as pulling over a group of African American males just because of who they are like in the song, is not necessary but if trained that way the behavior may continue to happen. Another factor involved in institutional discrimination in the police is the power that is involved with the job. When a person becomes an officer they have an amount of authority that outranks others immensely. Police have authority such as the right to enforce the law that may be addressing and arresting those who are breaking it. This power can go to officers' heads in the sense that they feel they are the law. Some officers use their prejudice as a driving force in how they act with different individuals while they work. For example, a white officer who is using his prejudice as a driving force would give a warning to

The officer's discrimination in this instance is completely unlawful yet will still be the case which is a complete injustice to those on his “bad radar”. There is one part of the song that touches on white privilege and how that affects these interactions. N.W.A writes “'Cause they'll slam ya down to the street top Black police showin' out for the white cop”, which shows how black cops may feel a need to act rough like the white cops in an attempt to fit in. This is also another example of how institutional discrimination occurs even with members of the same race. Although the African American cop is a part of the black community, they feel the need to fit in with the police community while working so they will do what it