Lecrae - comments on race relations and BLM

[WolfGate]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-declare-black-lives-matter_us_5808be36e4b0dd54ce385412

My mother, my relatives, and closest friends have risked their lives in the area of law enforcement and corrections, so I never have and never will say, “I HATE police.” I know that it’s a culture of its own with many nuances that the average person can’t grasp.

Still, I have had enough experience with and exposure to our policing system to know that it is extremely fractured and the infrastructure is far from fair and just. I’ve been pulled over before a show, spoken to like I was less than human, unlawfully searched for drugs, and left to put my destroyed car back together and make it to my show as the cops drove off.

I’ve had an officer place his knee on my throat as he told me to tell him where a gun (that I didn’t possess) was. My brother and fellow artist Trip Lee was outside of one of his own concerts and was pushed around and had guns drawn on him because he fit a description. These are just a few of some of the MANY infractions I can name.

Does this indict all officers? No. But does the consistency of infraction tell me the system (not just a few individuals) is flawed? Yes.

Certainly not a safe or easy letter for him to write given much of his audience likely does not share his experiences and perspectives on the current state of race relations in our country.

 

[Winken]

Thanks. I read the item at HP, as well.

 

[SummerMadness]

As someone that has dealt with police treating me less than fairly, I can attest to the fact that most police officers are pleasant, but there are enough that do not do the right thing that it is a significant issue. But the main problem is the lack of accountability and proper functionality of the system to remove bad police officers. As numerous DOJ reports demonstrate, there is a clear problem and it is not being addressed. I think police reform and criminal justice reform has been ignored far too long. We need change in how the system is carried out, we need our legislature to commit to these issues because as a person that has never committed a crime, I should never have to worry about being accosted by the police. As I've told many of my friends living in foreign countries, I think nothing of police officers overseas, and while I do not fear police officers in the United States, I've had more than enough encounters with police officers doing the wrong thing that I feel the need to be cautious around them. That should never be the case.