Last month, Chris Rock made news after he started documenting the number of times he’s been pulled over by the police and posting the photos on Twitter. Rock didn’t state the reasons as to why he was being pulled over, but people assumed that he was making a point about being racially profiled. In a recent interview with The Guardian, Rock discussed being profiled and the recent uprising in Baltimore.
“I’ve always been stopped by the cops. Cops stop black guys who drive nice cars,” he told The Guardian.
Being racially profiled is nothing new for black people, but nowadays, in the wake of the killings of several black men by police officers, Rock should consider himself lucky to have been able to just drive away after his stops.
When Rock was asked whether police brutality against black men was on the rise, he noted that we’re now more exposed to it because of the news cycle.
“It’s not that it’s gotten worse; it’s just that it’s part of the 24-hour news cycle. What’s weird is that it never happens to white kids. There’s no evidence that white youngsters are any less belligerent, you know? We can go to any Wall Street bar and they are way bigger a—holes than in any other black bar. But will I see cops stop shooting black kids in my lifetime? Probably not,” Rock said.
Rock also went on to state that he was shocked that the cops involved in Freddie Gray’s death had charges brought against them. “I am kinda surprised, and you know, unfortunately, it may have something to do with the black mayor and the black police chief and all that stuff. But, hey, charged and convicted are different—so we’ll see.”