Copper;8655922 said:
He criticizes people getting shot /assaulted for not dressing like a GQ ad while they go about their daily lives....
The same people he made millions off of while dressed like one of them
I think ya'll are misrepresenting what he's saying. He's not really criticizing victims for how they dressed.
“When you think about some of the brothers who are being brutalized by the police, you also got to have them take a look, and us take a look, in the mirror, at the image we portray. If I’m a cop and every time I see a young black youth, whether I watch them on TV, movies, or just see them hanging out, and they’re not looking properly dressed, properly refined, you know, carrying himself, conducting himself proper hours of the day—things that a man does, you’re going to have a certain fear and stereotype of them,” he espoused.
Here he's basically just saying that if every time you see a black male with a certain look, be it on tv or in real life, that male is always up to no good, it's only natural that some fear or stereotyping will arise from that. That's absolutely true and not even isolated to black people. As a white dude with a bald head that likes boots and camo if he's ever been mistaken for a Skinhead. That shit happens. He didn't say anywhere that people were wrong for dressing that way. He just said that if we push that image in a way that associates it with negativity, people will eventually come to stereotype everyone who fits that mold. Again, that is 100% true, right or wrong, that's the way of the world. Where I think he's wrong is that he seems to imply that we have more power in pushing that image than we actually do. While I agree the we do bear some of the blame (Ironically hardcore rapper are probably the worst culprits), the white media is far more responsible for promoting those negative stereotypes.
“I tell my sons, I say, if you’re going somewhere, you don’t have to wear a hoodie–we live in New York, so a hoodie and all that is all good. But sometimes, you know, button up your shirt. Clean up. Look like a young man. You’re not a little kid, you know what I mean? I think that’s another big issue we gotta pay attention to. Is the image that we portray that could invoke a fear into a white officer, or any officer,” he continued.
For the most part, what he's saying here is not wrong either. Every responsible parent teaches their children this regardless of race. You think white people teach their kids to go into business meetings in whatever casual style of clothing white kids wear these days? Of course not, they teach their kids the same thing that there is a time and place for everything.
I'm not saying Rza is right. We have more than enough evidence out there to know that being well dressed does not save black people from police brutality, but ya'll are misrepresenting what he's saying just so you guys can go on the standard "coon rants" that you seem to love so much. He didn't say that Tamir Rice got shot because Rice was dressed like a thug. He said unfortunately certain images of black males have been put out there negatively and you have to know that if you put on that image it will attract negative attention. Right or wrong, that is 100% true. A lot of white people associate dreadlocks with thuggery. Does that mean blacks should stop wearing that hairstyle? Hell no. But there is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out that it may attract some negative attention.
