"According to Butler, Black men who face constant police intervention handle it in two different ways. In both instances, he asserts that when they leave their houses, their lives become heightened performances. “One reaction — and I think the typical reaction — is what’s called ‘learned helplessness,’ ” says Butler. “It makes a lot of Black men in communities where they’re subject to being stopped and frisked reluctant to leave their homes. When they do leave the home, [they] engage in performances to assure the whole world that they’re not thugs. They might wear their high school or college T-shirt. In Chokehold I tell the story about a group of high school football players in Brooklyn who got stopped and frisked when they were walking down the street together after practice. They asked their coach if they could wear their uniforms when they’re in the street, because that way they wouldn’t get stopped. Again, that’s what the impact of being stopped and frisked over and over does to a person, and the police exploit that. Another, [that] I think is healthy, is anger and outrage. And I think that we see that response consistently from 2Pac.”"
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Paul Butler as quoted by Alec Banks, “The Oakland Police Lawsuit, the Gangsta Rap Defense, & Chokeholds”, Rockthebells.com
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/African_Americans
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African Americans
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