RHH Section Debate: Have we become too complacent, even "cowardly"? (Bell Verdict related)?

Well, you have to understand, when Rodney King was beat, it was a time when we had people, music, and movies that made a big impact on our society when it came to racism, and self empowerment: "Do the Right Thang",

"School Dayz", "Clockers",etc.

We also had Rappers making,

"Fight the Power",

"Self Distruction", etc.

Lots of folks were wearing Africa Medallions, and hats like Queen Latifah. The Malcon X movie came out.

Black power was stronger and more "in your face" at that time.

We also had to make a statement against the people that owned the "liquor stores, and swap meets" in Los Angeles because they treated us like sh!t. The Asians followed us around and showed us no respect, while we spent several hundreds even thousands of dollars a day buying their beauty supplies, and necesities.

I'm tired of hearing people say that we tore up our own neighborhoods. Those "hoods" were tore up from the getty up!

If you go to L.A. right now, in the same neighborhoods, you will see thet everything has been redone nicely.

You will see that going down Crenshaw from the 10Freeway through Lamert Park, all the way down to the 105freeway, everything looks great now!

AND there are MORE Black Owened Businessess. Magic Johnson played a heavy role in bringing LA back.

I think now everyone is out for themselves and their money.

Now would be a great time for some rappers to come together and make a statement song.

Something powerful!

Something to let them know that were not sleeping. Dammit!

This is a great subject. I was talking about something similar to my family. Self hate.

We hate on everything we do.

Im disappointed in the verdict and in what Obama had to say if that is the entirety of his comment. I think Banner believes this generation is "cowardly" because if we look back in the day of segregation and Jim Crow...Blacks took to the streets knowing that they would get arrested, jailed, and bitten by dogs...if not killed fight for justice. That wasnt really that long ago and they had less rights then we have now.

With that being said with all the rights and freedoms we have now...plus money. Why arent we doing something about this. Ppl got together for Jenna Six then I guess we have to show some numbers for Bell also. Like Banner said where are all the GANGSTAS at...If they so called believe in "*** the police" then why are they not getting organized to do something about this police injustice. The difference between the 60's and now is that WE have a little MONEY now...Were getting paid...and cats feel that WE made it by having that lil bit of scratch. smh So they are comfortable in just looking out for delf...dat all What doesnt effect u doesnt matter attitude. smh

It aint even them anymore ITS US. like Banner said where are Ball players, Senators, black cops at... We have the power now...but why arent we using the little that we have.

As someone that has lived through all these events on the opposite side of the world it seems that whatever people do all cops are going to have their charges overturned from Rodney King through to Amandou Diallo and now to Sean Bell. It doesn't seem to matter whether we would riot or petition or hold marches or whatever.

I look at it more from a Political point of view as my Brother is highly active in Human Rights & Environmental Activism but what do you hear out the mouths of most people our ages. These Tree Hugging Hippies and Left Wing Loonies creating havoc. Most fools believe what Politicians tell them and what they read in the papers and those that are wealthy build their whole lives around exploiting others. Unless you can make people give up their time and take risks like losing their homes, jobs etc to fight the fight for Freedom and Equality it's only gonna get worse. CCTV, Patriot Acts, Globalisation and War on Terror are just part of the start of suppression of Free Speech. I even see fans in this section hating on artists like Immortal Technique because they call them crackpot conspiracy theorists but a lot of what they say is true and we are too scared to admit most of us are pawns to the game.

From what I've been hearing (on the radio) from attorneys, 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement Who Care, and The Latino Officers Association, a federal case isn't going to happen. With that being said, I don't see it as being complacent. I see it as being in despair.

I know the nonviolent protest that has been going on will continue to happen (as u say stroll) and possible economic boycotts will happen in the future, but what will that accomplish?

Then you have people that want to riot and those that want to go and wild out on police officers. I mean actually ready to pop off at the police. If that happens, what will that accomplish?

Today, I still heard discussions about the verdict on the radio and meetings and protest are still happening. This time around, I don't think it'll be the same pattern with injustice and then a fade into silence. I just don't know what can be accomplished, if chances are very slim that a federal case will happen.

this case can't really be a race thing since two of the cops were black.

It was obvious that the cops were set on killing Sean Bell, thats why they reloaded and shot 50 times. They were also staking out the place and had "information" to convince themselves that Sean Bell was guilty of something. The verdict really depended on whether or not this information was valid from the perspective of the police or not. Also, Sean bell did sell one of these cops (who was undercover at the time) drugs, so they knew this wasn't some innocent dude.

Now they definitely shouldn't have been acquited, especially of manslaughter, at least in 2nd degree. But none of this really justifies any type of race riot. Also, a riot wouldn't do anything to help the situation either.

And to answer your question, most people from the hood in ny are just trying to do the everyday. not even tryin to get amped up for any type of riot.

and also, Banner's comments are stupid. Who cares about the rappers and basketball players. Theyre rappers and basketball players. Their job is to rap and play basketball.

Another thing is that in these cases where it seems like something extremely racist is going down, its never the actual. There's a large gray part to it, meaning its not as black and white as it sounds.

Its a catch 22...a double edged sword...When people acted out, like what happened in the King verdict....they did destroy their own neighborhoods which didnt benefit anyone...Now the lack of action seems cowardly...but what are law abiding citizens to do??? Rallying and rioting hardly ever work...Staying quiet isnt gonna work either...I wonder what Obama's opinions were on this situation...and how the penal/court system is being run...

What Obama had to say=LAME...I guess he is doing anything to get the democratic nod...

Edit: Wait a second 50 rounds were fired...but Bell wasnt hit 50 times right??? Not saying that that lessens anything but if he was hit 50 times...then there should be no excuses...

I personally don't know what could really be done about the situation, other than an Official Petition for a Trial by Jury (for those that don't know, the case was handled by a judge only), and I spent a *LONG* time this morning trying to find one and came up with nothing... and I don't even know if something like that would work/is able to work.

EDIT: Angel, you gotta tell me what that has to do with any of this, cuz I'm honestly confused by your answer... not dissin you or nothin, but I don't see a connection

I’m not sure about the citizens of N.Y. in general, but speaking in terms of the Hip Hop community, I definitely think we’ve become too “relaxed.” I’ve sure you’ve heard many oldschoolers say this but the genre and culture is not “for the people” anymore. It’s like what Nas says, Hip Hop doesn’t belong to “us” anymore, that’s why it’s dead. Back in the day, Hip Hop wasn’t just about putting out something hot and makin money, it was for the cause. Hip Hop was very political back in the day. Let someone else come out with a song entitled “F*ck the Police” and see how far they get… for (1) companies aren’t going to endorse them and (2) fans aren’t going to embrace it, because like David Banner said, we are “cowards. ”Nowadays, these corporations basically “own” these rappers like their cattle, these rappers scared to say anything that would be in support of any black movement, for fear of getting their contracts pulled. This is one of the many reasons why we old heads bytch all the time.

Hip Hop is not what is used to be. There’s no sense of “community” and “culture” anymore (like you said, you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us). The culure is gone in Hip Hop. Everyone is all about the dollar now.

Also, just to add, Cali is very liberal, as opposed to N.Y. The rioted in Watts during the civil rights movement, they are home of the BLACK PANTHERS etc.. That could play a role of why they took it to the streets.

And I fully co-sign with Peas. It was very Afrocentric back in the early 90's. RHH fans were WAY more united then, than they are now.

i agree with him but at the same time he told the truth ''we have to think logically'' its not that this new generation is cowardly and which in some cases we have been but lets keep in mind that with all the rioting and things that went on after rodney king what changed............nothing i think at this point we really have to take this one as a loss because we should've fought this one in the courts its too late to try to holla lets take it to the streets the same people who say we gone do this we gone do that were no where to be found and they shouldnt have to be called out by someone else to get involved in the wrong doing of our ''protectors'' so at this point to me i feel like anything done in a rebellious manner to this situation is a cop-out for being called-out so this time i think we just take the L and keep it moving cause we lost this one plain and simple

thumbs me down all u want

i honestly dont know what i would do if this was my son one day its been my brother once in life already so iono it really is a catch 22 personally i was pissed when it happened when i saw it on the news i was with my girl and i threw some **** but at the same time what did i solve even if it were in the case of my son i would be angry i may retaliate but if i could clear my head i would do ALL in my power to fight this the right way and that would HAVE to be in the courts this case CAN be reopend BUT if we react the wrong way then we WILL take the L for it i think thats y we havent seen much reaction because HOPEFULLY we as a people are thinking this one all the way through before just going out tearing up every police car we see

i think sometimes our people get mad and protest the wrong things. yes its messed up that the cops got off but the prosecution didnt do a good job with this case. black folks rioting does no good. it doesnt change anything. it just makes us look bad, which the media already does all the time.we need to stop giving them ammo used to paint us in one stroke.

i believe we need to be more active and outraged with black on black crime. a bunch of people got murdered on the south side of Chicago this past month. i havent seen or heard any outrage over us killing each other. its easy to blame the white supremacist establishment but we gotta look at ourselves too. no one in high government is really concerned about black people. i think we need to stop relying and blaming the government with some of the problems in the black community. we need to educate ourselves more and take some responsibility.