'Boyz n The Hood' scene resurfaces after Tyre Nichols killing for an important reason

Outrage and protests over the killing of Tyre Nichols have sparked debate online about police brutality and race.

This weekend, protests erupted in cities across the US to advocate for justice for Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after police severely beat him during a traffic stop.

Many protests called for police reform or defunding the police, a familiar sentiment used in demonstrations related to civilian killings over the last three years.

However, some suggested that because the five police officers accused of killing Nichols are Black it could not be another example of racially-motivated police brutality.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

But by using a famous clip from the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, people explained that just because racially motivated police brutality is mostly known for white officers and Black civilians, it does not exempt Black officers entirely.

In the clip, Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) are pulled over by two LAPD officers where one Black officer (Jessie Lawerence Ferguson) illustrates racist and threatening behavior toward Tre.

"For people saying 'but the police who killed Tyre Nichols are Black, how is that racist?' crowd, anti-Blackness is cultural phenomenon shared across racial and ethnic backgrounds," Twitter user Exavier Pope wrote. "John Singleton told y'all that 32 years ago."

"The way that Black cop pulled Tre and Ricky over just to bully and intimidate them isn't fiction. It's a lived reality for many Black Americans regardless of the color of the cop," Pope continued.

Other Twitter users jumped into the conversation to agree with Pope's point.

"Internal racism is real!" Judi Love tweeted.

"They weren’t listening when Ice Cube said 'Black Police showing out for the White cop!'," another Twitter user wrote.

The video of the police officers beating Nichols was released to the public on Friday. It shows the five officers from the Memphis Police Department using pepper spray, a baton, and their fists to beat the 29-year-old.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.