Hip-hop act War~Dub wraps their raps in social commentary, and they've been spilling ink on the Clay Willey issue.
The duo of Redmond Littlechief and Bryan Seymour sing about poverty, equality issues, marginalization and trying to lead a positive life in hard circumstances.
They became outspoken critics of the Clay Willey incident once the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP released a report scolding the Prince George police.
War~Dub posted a Facebook comment that read: All Peoples of All colours are at risk when it comes to your word against theirs. So Yall wonder Why many Peoples say F@#$ the POLICE!!!
Littlechief said he wasn't condemning Prince George's police force and would still call on them. Most people, he said, generally have a confidence in the police to do the right thing most of the time, but he added Aboriginal people in particular have seen the worst of the police recently and in the past.
Foremost for Aboriginal parents and grandparents, he said was the police coming for their children and forcing them into residential schools.
It worsens, said Littlechief, when you add in incidents like Frank Paul and Clay Willey who died during confrontations with police; the problems with the Highway of Tears and Lower Eastside missing women cases; and the wrongful convictions of people like Donald Marshall.
These dig at the minds of all Canadians, he said, as does the frustration of police forces sometimes downplaying serious allegations.
Everybody makes mistakes, we can't expect the cops to be perfect, but then they lie about it and try to cover it up a few times, and who can believe them at all after that? he said.
I want to stress, with no doubt, that there are very good cops out there, just like there are good teachers and good Indian chiefs, but a few bad apples ruin it for everyone, just like if a few chiefs get caught misappropriating band funds or a few teachers get caught abusing kids. It makes you distrust everyone after that.
I want to make it clear, I am not labeling the whole Clay Willey thing as wrong. Some of the actions taken by police were justified, but even an elementary kid can see that some of it was just too much.
Littlechief also suggested that people try to put themselves in the shoes of the police before making judgments about their actions. He admitted his own past was problematic, and caused police and the public difficulty.
Police, though, need a model when it comes to the people they encounter for arrest, added Littlechief.
He pointed to the statistic of Aboriginal people making up less than three per cent of the national population but making up almost 20 per cent of the prison system, a sign of a systemic schism between the justice system and Aboriginal people.
It goes from the prime minister to the everyday people doing their jobs and to the police, to get a real understanding of what life is really like for Aboriginal people, he said.
Police come across violence, drunks, poverty, criminals doing the worst stuff, and you have to educate yourself in advance about who those people are and what makes them do those things, and not just react in the heat of the situation.
War~Dub will dispense their views this Saturday night opening for headliners Hopsin and SwizZz at the Ramada Hotel ballroom.
