I Am Chip

 (Warning: Mr. Chappelle's routine contains graphic language.)

Dave Chappelle's a brilliant comic.  Dave Chappelle is black.

Dave did a routine about police a few years back;

Told some stories of past interactions with the cops...

His friend Chip and he involved in minor traffic stops.

Both of them as high as kites (and Chip was driving drunk)

Still, he didn't find himself spread-eagled on his trunk.

Chip received a warning; the exchanges were polite.

Dave was shocked to see how cops treat people who are white.

Wasn't his experience in dealings with the law;

Blacks are frightened by police and that's a fatal flaw.

You'd feel smothered too if cops were breathing down your neck.

If I didn't trust police I'd be a nervous wreck.

Just like Chip, I've always felt policemen were my friends

But, with recent studies showing such disturbing trends,

I would not feel quite so sure if I weren't quite so pale...

Fearful that the slightest thing could land my butt in jail.

We have got to shift perceptions; training is a start

And the body camera idea is also smart.

That way cops can document if people give them lip

And they're motivated to treat everyone like Chip.

Dear NRA... So Much For That

 

So much for the argument that "good guys" toting guns

Is the way that we'll protect our daughters and our sons.

Tell that to Sybrina Fulton; go tell Trayvon's dad.

Jury didn't seem to think George Zimmerman was bad...

Just a guy who tried to help protect his neighborhood.

Volunteered his time; believed that he was doing good.

Just a guy out in his car - patrolling - packing heat.

That's the guy who gunned an unarmed child down in the street.

If George had no gun then things would not have gone so far;

Would have done as he was told and sat tight in his car.

But he felt like Dirty Harry, caught up in the chase.

Gun gave him the courage to get in a scared boy's face.

You don't have to be a lunatic for kids to die,

All you need's a weapon and a tense, untrained "good guy."

Think the NRA and LaPierre will now recant?

Let's ask Trayvon Martin what he thinks...  Oh, right.  We can't.

Trayvon Martin's Mom - Dear Ms. Fulton

excerpted from an
Article first published as Trayvon Martin's Mom; Dear Ms. Fulton on Technorati.

Trayvon Martin's parents; Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin.

Trayvon Martin's mom?  I can't imagine how she feels.

Sorrowful, of course...  But ever since this news grew wheels

She has had a politician knocking on her door

And Black Panthers offering to settle up the score.

She's been on the evening news - on every TV screen;

She's maintained her dignity in every shot I've seen.

But, the dreadful knowledge of his loss in her eyes -

Of that single gunshot cutting off his frightened cries.

My son wears a hoodie, too... He's also Trayvon's age;

I have always warned him that he, too, should not engage.

But, my son is not like hers because my son is white...

I don't tend to worry someone may shoot him some night.

Victim of that difference - I bet she's mad as hell.

I know I'd be furious (and you would be, as well)

If the man who killed my son was walking free and clear.

Ma'am, I am so sorry.  We are praying for you here.

(Photo credit: The Washington Times)