I caught a bunch of flack here last year when I suggested that cRapper TI's pre-incarceration "I'm so sorry" tour was nothing more than a court-mandated PR move. Seriously, if a guy's dumb enough to purchase a military-grade stockpile of firearms in broad daylight, and in the parking lot of a midtown Atlanta Walgreens at that, he's clearly got some issues. His "Road To Redemption" just might be better off untelevised.
Not that this mattered to anybody, of course. TI went on to do his bid, got out of jail, and rode the tidal wave of "fresh out" sympathy to a summer wedding, #1 movie (Takers), and probably his best work ever, the legendary F*ck A Mixtape.
He was a married man, and a changed man. Or so said the PR spin.
Of course, jail doesn't cure all ails, and now TI and his wife "Tiny" both find themselves in yet another legal jam. And wouldn't you know it, TI is prolly headed back to the clink, possibly for good this time.[1]
Of course, folks have taken to the streets (aka: Twitter and Facebook) and defended TI's right to commit traffic violations while smokin' weed and in possession of E pills. It's just another example of "the man out the get a successful brother". A government conspiracy. You know, sorta like MLK being spied on by the FBI and whatnot.
Negroes Please.
Folks, can we please, please, please hold off on the sympathy this time? Please. How about we just ignore this guy from now on, because he doesn't deserve your pity. Each and every penitentiary chance he's taken has been of his own, completely avoidable, completely ignorant doing.
Nobody was "out to get him". He is not in any way indicative of "the struggle of young black men in America". He isn't even young anymore.
He is not a victim. He is a moron.
Don't drop the soap, Clifford.
Call me nuts, but when you combine the outpouring of sympathy from fans, the willingness of stations like MTV to aid in his "redemption", and a criminal justice system that gave him a comically lenient sentence, it's no wonder that TI didn't "get the message" last time around. I mean, come on, did ya'll see where this guy "did his hard time" last go round? It was at a low security "Club Fed" style prison in Arkansas. I mean, seriously, go check this "prison" out. It doesn't have gates. It does, however, have a salad bar, Television and Music "listening room", and Spanish tutors. It's technically much nicer than my HBCU, and I had to pay them.
So forgive me, but I wonder if this guy isn't getting it, because there really hasn't been any need to.
Question: Does TI deserve your sympathy when he keeps getting his own dumb a$$ in trouble? What's up with the cult of "thug victim hood" that causes many black people to rally around people who deserve no such support?
[1] And by "clink", I mean and another country club prison in rural Arkansas. And by "for good", I mean "till Christmas". Heck, he might beat Lil' Wayne out.
