Ice Cube Dismantles The ‘Black-On-Black Crime’ Argument And Continues To Support Protests

Ice Cube is using his Twitter account as a platform to combat misconceptions. The rapper has already been outspoken about police violence, including the recent video circulating that depicts an elderly man who was injured by Buffalo, New York police. Now, Ice Cube has taken to social media to dispel a problematic argument. Speaking about the ongoing demonstrations, the rapper addresses an argument used to demonize Black Lives Matter protests and shift the focus away from police brutality: “What about black-on-black crime?”

As protests against police brutality continue across the country, videos on Twitter circulate of officers using tear gas to disperse crowds. As pointed out by many publications, including The Cut, tear gas is classified as a chemical weapon and is banned in war, but technically legal for police to use on civilians. Ice Cube brought up this discrepancy on Twitter, saying that “Gassing American citizens is actually illegal.” One of the rapper’s followers responded, “So is theft and vandalism,” and Ice Cube shot back with, “So is killing BLACK PEOPLE.” The rapper then used the response as an opportunity to shed light on the “black-on-black crime” argument.

Outlining the general argument, Ice Cube wrote: “People always say Blacks kill Blacks more then the police.” The rapper then turned the argument on its head, pointing out that when Black people are violent against each other, it results in jail time. However, oftentimes when police are violent against Black people, there is no jail time. “THIS IS WHY PEOPLE ARE IN THE STREETS,” he said.

Later, Ice Cube reminded his followers why it’s important to keep pressure on elected officials: “I understand that people want to get back to normal. But normal is toxic for us. Keep your knee on these politicians and keep them working in our collective interest. Continue to post, inform and complain.”

Find Ice Cube’s tweets above.