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.

Unsolicited Advice for Ferguson

(Cartoon/Courtesy of www.investors.com/cartoons)

Protestors were in the streets of Ferguson last night,

Angry at the failure of Grand Jurors to indite 

Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown.

Some began to riot and set fire to the town.

Liquor stores were looted; there were rocks and bottles thrown

And, despite the pleas for peace, the anger's only grown.

Shots were fired, highways blocked, with multiple arrests.

Tear gas filled the streets patrolled by guys in Teflon vests.

Unlike this Grand Jury, I do not have all the facts.

I just know there are too many senseless, violent acts

Where a young, black man is killed for looking like a threat.

They don't get the benefit of doubt that white kids get.

"He looked like a demon," is what Darren Wilson said.

Now, because that's how he saw him, Michael Brown is dead.

Young, black men know they're perceived with deep mistrust and fear.

How we change those attitudes is not exactly clear.

One thing that I guarantee won't help is rioting.

Fueling racial prejudice will not fix anything.

Criminals demanding justice? That seems pretty strange.

Peaceful demonstrations are the only way things change.

Unsolicited Advice for Missouri's Governor Nixon

(Photo/Courtesy of youtube.com)

 

"Always listen to police," is what I've told my sons.

"They'll protect and serve you and, besides, they're wearing guns...

"Doesn't do to argue with a person who is armed."

But I've never really worried either would be harmed.

Both my sons are white, suburban teenagers, you see.

That police might kill my kids had not occurred to me.

I cannot imagine how a black man's mother feels;

I have tried to do it...  The imagination reels.

Teenage boys do stupid things sometimes; that's just a fact.

If it's bad enough that the police get in the act

Studies show that, if you're white, you're probably okay...

If you're black they handcuff you and haul your ass away.

It's no wonder white police do not inspire trust.

Something has to change...  I think diversity's a must.

We need more equality within policemen's ranks.

Then we have to ask ourselves; do local cops need tanks?

A Peaceful Night in Ferguson, MO

Good question.  (Photo/ksdk.com)

Ferguson stayed calm last night for, though "the law" was near,

It was not their local forces wearing riot gear.

There weren't any S.W.A.T. teams pointing automatic guns;

There weren't K-9s snarling for a chance to bite their buns.

Protestors in Ferguson are upset with police;

One just killed an unarmed boy.  Since then, there's been no peace.

Roving mobs set fires and then stopped to grab some loot.

Elsewhere, crowds began the chant of "Hands up" and "Don't shoot."

Heavy-handed tactics - armored trucks and stun grenades,

Tear gas, rubber bullets, cops dressed up for Black Ops raids -

Didn't lead to confidence from people in the town

Who are, justly, angry at the killing of Mike Brown.

No one's sure if last night's peace will hold, although there's hope.

(Highway cops will stay to help the local forces cope.)

One thing that seems certain is this kind of tragedy

Strikes at young, black men with an alarming frequency.