Queen Latifah Says Police Need to Be Held Accountable for Their Actions

Queen Latifah appeared on The Today Show last Friday (July 8) to promote her new film Ice Age: Collision Course. During her interview, the "U.N.I.T.Y." rapper shared her thoughts on the recent deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and five Dallas police officers.

"I'm Queen Latifah, but I'm Black wherever I go," she said. "I deal with the same experiences that other people deal with. I'm also the daughter of a cop, I'm also the sister of a cop, the cousin of a cop and the niece of cops. So, do I want the guns to now be turned on cops? I don't want the guns turned on police any more than I want the guns turned on us."

Queen Latifah stressed that there needs to be accountability for police officers' actions. The actress explained that the frequent lack of punishment leaves the Black community with no hope for justice in these situations.

"Every time these things happen, no one is really brought to justice at the end of the day," Latifah said. "By the time it's all said and done, the police officers usually walk. And what it does is leave us feeling empty, feeling hurt and feeling like we have no recompense and that it's going to happen again. And what it also does is endanger the life of police officers. It just creates more animosity. You make all these good cops have to walk out here dealing with bad cops' BS, dealing with the stuff bad cops are doing."

The rapper-turned-actress felt that higher-ups in the police ranks are leaving the good cops powerless to speak out. She emphasized how people cannot keep ignoring this dire situation as the racial issues of policing must be addressed.

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