from Part I - Policing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2022
Paul Butler considers NWA’s 1988 song, “Fuck tha Police,” as an invitation to think about putting the police on trial for crimes against African Americans. It examines the resonance of “Fuck tha Police” over time, up to and including the George Floyd inspired protests. It will also use the song to analyze how civilians should feel about cops in a democracy. Are they a positive good, as many white people might suggest, a necessary evil, as some people of color might suggest, or an unnecessary evil, as suggested by the “defund the police” movement? Butler also will explore the meaning of the trial metaphor in the song – what would it mean for African Americans to put the police on trial? What would be the crime and the appropriate punishment?
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