J. Cole: "I Think The Term 'Good Cop' Is An Oxymoron"

(J Cole Performs at Made in America Festival; Photo Vickey Ford for Okayplayer)

J. Cole has made no qualms about speaking his mind on politics and social issues in the past, and in a new interview with Combat Jack, the North Carolina MC made it clear that he thinks there's no such thing as a good police officer.

Using questions like "Don't you think there're good cops?" as his jumping-off point, Cole shared his view, which is both hard-lined and impressively nuanced:

"I think there are good and great people who are cops, but I think the term...it's an oxymoron. Because the job ain't good. They're all part of a machine that's not good, they are agents of a machine that are not good. Are there good people in those roles? Absolutely. Great people who really thought they would join it to make a difference and make a chain, but now find themselves currently fucking up people's days."

Cole's words come at a time when the public's tenuous fear and respect of law enforcement officers is being severely strained, thanks in no small part to a string of high-profile killings of unarmed black persons whose names are almost too numerable to list in this space. The notion that a good person can work as a cop, but the role itself is a socially broken one, is interesting, though, and harkens to the notion of Louis Althusser's "Ideological and State Apparatuses," which, if you've got time for some French critical theory this morning, is a very worthwhile read.