Ice Cube recently sat with John Heilemann of Bloomberg TV where he discussed a range of topics. They discussed the induction of his former pioneering rap group N.W.A. into the Rock ‘N Roll Hall of Fame, and the parallel between black culture back in the late 80s and early 90s to today.
As Ice Cube explained to Heilman, as far as the politics of the streets as it relates to neighborhood policing and police brutality, not much has changed. To him, one good thing of note is the fact that there is now a nationwide consciousness on the issue, due in large part to the activism of protesters and activists in B;ack Lives Matter.
When asked about Black Lives Matter (10:51), Ice Cube stated:
“The fact that you even have to say Black Lives Matter let’s you know how bad the problem is. And I know a lot of people blur the lines and say, “Well, do black lives matter to black people: of course they do. You know, and they talk about black on black crime, but all communities commit crimes their own, so there’s white on white crime, Mexican on Mexican crime, Chinese on Chinese, Japanese on Japanese, Indian on Indian, whatever. Everybody does that….what their talking about with Black Lives Matter is the government killing citizens. That is a whole different texture and a whole different argument and it’s apples and oranges to me. When the government is against you, who’s with you in the country?
When asked his opinion on Black Lives Matter interrupting Bill Clinton’s speech in Philadelphia to confront him about the 1994 crime bill and Hillary Clinton referring to black youth as “superpredators,” Ice Cube offered a very poignant and measured response:
“To call your own citizens super predators is pretty harsh: it’s a pretty big indictment, just like the term thug or hoodlum. It’s just an easy brush to paint somebody with, and it’s really not solving the problem, it’s just making it worse because now you have the people or authorities feel like now they’re justified in how they treat these super predators.”
He went on to add:
“If I’m a black kid and I’m not in a gang, but I look like a gang member to this white officer, then it’s a war on me. That’s the problem with the term super predator.”
To check out the full imterview to hear Ice Cube talk about political accountability, his thoughts on Donald Trump, and why he’s not “Feeling the Bern” where he questions how little Sen. Bernie Sanders has done in Congress in the last 25 years, be sure to click play on the video above.