The Atlanta Journal reached out to former UN ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young today to get his thoughts on the news of rapper T.I.’s latest arrest.
According to AJC writer Rhonda Cook, T.I.’s arrest in Los Angeles for drug possession has bewildered former Atlanta Mayor Andy Young, who counseled T.I. after the rapper pleaded guilty to federal drug charges last year.
T.I., real name Clifford Harris Jr., and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, were charged with possession of a “small amount” of ecstasy — a drug that is taken before sex to intensify sexual arousal and orgasm.
Young said the arrest “hurts his heart” because T.I. “not only has a successful marriage going for him and some wonderful children but his new movie is a big hit.”
Young also alluded to racial profiling as the reason T.I.’s Maybach was stopped for making a U-turn on Sunset boulevard in West Hollywood.
“There’s another culture in L.A. that I don’t understand,” Young said. “Most people in Los Angeles would wonder why he was stopped … I don’t know why they should have been stopped … When a black man is stopped and not speeding … you call that driving while black.” Read more…
