You know, the biggest issue I think I have,
and many other people have, with Mike Bloomberg
and how he’s defending his stop and frisk record is that
he doesn’t seem to know what he’s defending.
And that, for me, is a problem.
You know? He goes, “Oh, I apologize for the policy.”
And people are not as angry about the policy,
I think, as how the policy was targeted.
Because for so many years, especially in America,
black people have said, “Hey,
the police are targeting us just because we’re black.
They treat us like we’re all criminals.
They’re not just trying to go for criminals.”
And what would people say?
The people – “Oh, you’re overreacting.
Cops are not just gonna throw you against a wall.
You must’ve done something.”
And I can imagine for a long time, for many black Americans,
it must’ve felt like being gaslit.
You know what’s happening to you.
You say what’s happening to you.
And people are like, “That’s crazy.”
And I can imagine how for many white people in America
they’re like, “That is crazy.
You just get thrown against the wall? Why?
You must’ve been doing something.”
’Cause white people are like, “I’ve never been thrown
against a wall. That would never happen to me.
What, what, you just get thrown against the wall? That’s it?
I see cops all the time.
I say, ‘Hello, officer,’ they say, ‘Hello, sir,’
and then I keep walking.
You just get thrown against the wall?
That doesn’t make any sense.”
And then a lot of black people are like,
“You white people are being racist ’cause you don’t...”
And white people are like, “That is insane.
Cops will not just throw...”
And I can see how people have lived in these worlds
for so long.
And then now you have audio of Mike Bloomberg saying...
And that audio, for me, if you break it down into pieces,
has so many issues with it.
First of all, the fact that he says if you look at criminals
and victims of crime, et cetera, you can xerox –
you can just copy and paste it and put it out there.
It shows me that you didn’t even care about
the differences between black people.
You made it seem like black is crime
when, in fact, black is most affected by crime.
That is the thing that you did there.
Alright? That’s the first problem I have.
Secondly, the fact that people don’t seem to realize
the ramifications of treating people like that.
Imagine if you are a black kid living in
Mike Bloomberg’s New York City.
Every day you’re getting frisked and thrown against a wall.
Huh?
Put over the hood of a car.
Every day this is what cops are just – this is your life.
Now imagine if you are a black kid who lives in this world.
A cop gets you, pulls you, throws you into a wall.
“You got something?” “No.”
You carry on. Next day it happens again.
Maybe next week, maybe next month, whenever it is.
At some point, what do you say? Fuck the police.
Alright? And then you get people like, “Why don’t
you respect the police?”
Why don’t they respect me?
They don’t protect and serve me.
These people come and throw me against the wall
and treat me like a criminal.
You know what I mean?
And then what does that kid do one day?
They see the cops, they go, “Screw this.
I’m not staying around for this.”
They run away.
The cops pursue.
Now they catch you. What are you –
you’re evading arrest, you’re resisting arrest.
Now you get arrested for resisting arrest.
Then you go to jail. You can’t afford bail.
Now you’re in prison.
What does prison turn you into more likely than not?
A criminal. Alright?
And even if you don’t become a criminal because of that,
you are still in the system now.
We’ve seen how these kids get locked up.
They can’t afford to come out.
Now they are living a life of crime
without being a criminal.
And then you’re just like, “Oh, but these kids
spend all their time in jail.”
How did they get to jail?
“Why were you running from the cops?”
“Because I was tired of being thrown
against the motherfucking wall.”
I’m not gonna stick around for that.
I remember that in high school.
I didn’t wait. The bully came, and I was like, “Oh, shit,”
and I was gone.
I wasn’t gonna stand there and be like, “Yeah,
well, good afternoon, bully. Nice to see you again.
Different thing today, yes?
Are we gonna talk this out?”
No, at some point you knew the bully was gonna do
what he was gonna do, so you ran before they even got to you.
And then people are like, “Why are these kids running away?
They don’t respect the police.”
But do the police respect them?
And that is something no one can deny.
If you’ve ever been in a rich neighborhood specifically,
not just a white neighborhood,
but a rich neighborhood,
you will see the relationship that police have
with those communities.
It’s very different.
Because they know if they throw the wrong person,
search the wrong person, frisk the wrong person,
that person knows someone powerful enough to make sure
that their job is in danger.
And those are the dynamics that you’re dealing with.
So my problem with Mike Bloomberg is he’s not saying,
“I’m sorry for targeting black people.
I’m sorry for treating black people like
second-class citizens. I’m sorry for gaslighting
black people for so long.”
No, he’s just like, “I’m sorry that stop and frisk happened
to affect black communities.”
And it’s like, no, it didn’t happen to.
You designed it to.