1,127 people were killed by police officers in 2020. Of those 1,127 people, black people made up 28% of those people, despite only making up 13% of the population. There were only 18 days in 2020 where police went without killing someone. This alone is enough evidence to come to the conclusion police brutality and inequality still exists, and black people and other people of color are still forced to face such inequality on a day to day basis.
Award-winning music artist Kendrick Lamar has touched on the topic of inequality and police brutality through the poetic lyricism in many of his songs. One of these songs, The Blacker The Berry really focuses on this. He talks about how he came to an epiphany at the age of 16 how he is distinguishable based on his race, and looked down upon/oppressed for his race and being black. In his lyrics he includes traits that many oppressors and uneducated stereotypers use to attribute to the majority of black people, saying “My hair is nappy, my d*** is big, my nose is round and wide.” He also briefly touches on black on black crime, and how those who commit such crime are no better than the oppressors of society, as he states at the end of the song: “So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street/ When gang-banging make me kill a n**** blacker than me?/ Hypocrite!”
While it may be perceived by some as just another rap song, this song is very relevant and important with a deep meaning and heavy topics discussed, manifested in the form of poetic lyricism. This song came out as part of Lamar’s album To Pimp a Butterfly in 2015, which is fairly recent and modern. Especially now more than ever, police brutality and violence against black people has appeared more prominent than ever in society, as we have seen with the many BLM protests that have taken place in 2020. The things Lamar speaks about in his song are very applicable to modern police brutality cases/violence against black people, such as George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor. We should care about this because it is shockingly scary how many people still approach black people and people of color with racism and oppressive behavior, and it really reflects how uneducated, violent, and disgusting a lot of the people within our society are. This is something we all need to be made aware of, educate ourselves on, and try to take action about and put an end to if possible.
While I can not say I firsthand experience such oppression black people and other people of color do as a white person, my empathy and sympathy is wholeheartedly present. It is important we educate ourselves and keep ourselves in the loop in regards to police brutality and the BLM movement in order to further work towards combating racism and oppression within our society.
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