What Did Pete Buttgieg Just Say About Adopting Non-White Kids?
Two Former CNN Hosts Interviewed Each Other on a Podcast. What They Discussed...
Trump Wanted Proof to Vote—A Judge Had Other Plans
This State Is Paving the Road With Ambiguity to Effectively Legalize Infanticide
Vance's Vatican Visit Brings Nonviable Reporting, and More 'Fatherly' Evidence From Abrego...
Woke Prosecutor Under Fire for Who She Went After and Who She DIDN'T
State Department ‘Target-Rich’ for Cuts, WH Deputy Press Secretary Says
For Real?! Tim Walz Is Still Going After Elon Musk, Donald Trump
While Congressional Democrats Were In El Salvador, Bernie Moreno Went to Israel
Judge Rules Against Trump Administration Withholding Funds Over DEI
With Durbin Not Running for Reelection, Is This Top Democrat Next to Retire?
It Sure Looks Like the DNC May Have Had Enough of David Hogg's...
California Ready for Red Wave, Steve Hilton Says
Jasmine Crockett's Appearance on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' Leaves Us With More Questions Than...
Excellent: Youngkin, Virginia Just Made a Great Move for Kids in Schools
Tipsheet

Watch: Black Celebrities Unite For Video, Oversimplify Everything

In partnership with Mic.com, singer Alicia Keys has created a video called “23 Ways You Could Be Killed if You Are Black in America” featuring prominent African-American celebrities such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Chris Rock and Queen Latifah.

Advertisement

The video comes in the aftermath of the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling by police officers, which set off Black Lives Matter protests and waves of retaliatory violence against law enforcement across the country.

Motivated by the two deaths, Keys and other famous black entertainers filmed themselves listing what they say are the reasons various black people were killed by police. Each clip then cuts to a picture of the person that did the specified action and was shot by police.

“Riding in your girlfriend’s car with a child in the back,” Beyoncé said, referencing Castile’s death.

“Laughing,” Van Jones said.

“Wearing a hoodie,” Pharrell Williams said, referring to Trayvon Martin’s death.

It’s a somber video, and clearly the celebrities are upset by these deaths. Indeed, if black people were really shot en masse for the simple act of laughing, it would be a disturbingly bad trend. Imagine if every black person wearing a hoodie was killed just because they were wearing a hoodie.

But the video plays fast and loose with the facts of the 23 cases they explain; it’s a highly unreasonable proposition to assume every person in the video was shot only for the reason listed. Facts and evidence are vital to any investigation, and before anyone is convicted, it is essential to take a critical look at the situation.

Advertisement

For example, hip-hop artist Talib Kweli said police shot Oscar Grant III for “riding a commuter train.” But by Mic.com’s own article in 2013 explains that Grant had been drunk and involved in a fight on the train before he was shot.

Now, see? Grant didn’t die for riding a commuter train. There was a larger context to the situation, and lawyers can litigate the case for guilt or innocence on the facts of that larger context.

It’s important that actual racist murderers go to jail. But this star-studded tribute video paints every police officer in the country with that brush of racism, something that is egregiously and factually inaccurate. In this time of great divide, the video drives an even bigger wedge between police officers and black community.

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Recommended

Trending on Townhall Videos

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement