What T.I. and Tiny's arrest says about Black people...

Last night, rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka "Tiny" Cottle were arrested in Hollywood for possession of a controlled substance. The newlyweds were released soon after on$10,000 bail. Yes, this man is a star AND executive producer of the number one movie in the country. Yes, this man got out of jail less than a year ago. And yes, this man is currently on probation. No one knew exactly what controlled substance was found in the vehicle, but TMZ just reported that it was a small amount of ecstasy after previously speculating that they were sipping codeine. Whatever they had, it's a shame that they possessed any kind of drugs when T.I. has had numerous run-ins with the law. Watching this story unfold has shown me three things about Black people:

1. HOOD PEOPLE DO HOOD THINGS - As the saying goes, "You can take the boy out the hood, but you can't take the hood out the boy." I couldn't agree more. Let's just assume that the ecstasy belonged to someone other than T.I. for there were more than two people in the car. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. But the cops also smelled weed when they were pulled over. Let's say T.I. was not smoking. Why would one allow a scene like this to play out knowing you are on probation? I would never let anyone smoke in my car. Besides, T.I. obviously possessed something if he was taken into custody. I hope that it was not enough to land him back in jail. So back to my point, T.I. has a past that shows why he would allow such shenanigans. Early album titles such as "Trap Muzik" indicate that he is no stranger to drugs. No matter how much money or success a person from "the hood" gets, he or she may still do hood-like things.

2. WE CARE MORE ABOUT CELEBRITY GOSSIP THAN IMPORTANT CURRENT EVENTS - Many popular blogs that are geared toward minorities posted information about recent events such as Barack Obama ending the war in Iraq and the recent shooting at the Discovery Channel's headquarters, but these stories received fewer comments than gossip filled ones. This morning alone there were over one hundred comments on the T.I./Tiny arrest story at NecoleBitchie.com.

3. WE'RE NOSEY, WE MAKE IGNORANT JOKES ABOUT OTHERS AND FEED OFF NEGATIVITY- While some people on blog comments glorified Tiny being a "ride-or-die chick" others joked that T.I. needs to use drugs to deal with her appearance. So many people co-signed on the latter and made other ignorant and rude jokes. There were also individuals that expressed concern for the couple's children. Granted, they are not setting good examples for them but when did it become our responsibility to place judgement on others? Why are we so concerned with their lives anyway? I've also seen numerous tweets and facebook statuses about their arrest. If the general public minded their own business I wonder how different things would be. Hmmmm.

This post is just to show that I think that Black people, people in general actually, need to reevaluate what's important. Is it T.I's legal issues, Tiny's appearance, or political happenings that may actually affect you? Regardless of whether or not he goes back to jail, he'll still have more money than most people who are so determined to make jokes or give their opinions about his situation. What are your thoughts?

Thanks for reading,

Alexandria B.