Category Archives: Viva!

Why Are NYPD Cruisers Playing the Ice Cream Truck Jingle?

Editor’s note: This article describes racist imagery and slurs.

In early June, an ice cream truck jingle rang out in Brooklyn, yet it drew no children, produced no soft serve, and evoked no nostalgia. It was midnight, and it came from an unmarked NYPD cruiser.

It was the third night of an 8 p.m. citywide curfew, issued by Mayor Bill de Blasio, ostensibly to curb looting and violence. Despite the order, peaceful protests continued well past 8 p.m. It was around 11 p.m. in the historically Black neighborhood of Crown Heights that police officers descended upon a group of protesters headed home. Sounds from the street brought Taylor, who wished to have his last name redacted, and many of his neighbors to their porches and windows.

“At least six cop cars showed up, and a few dozen cops in full riot gear popped out with their batons and started tackling and aggressively detaining the protesters,” says Taylor. “It was just sheer violence.” He says neighbors broke out in Black Lives Matter chants while the arrests took place, such as the call-and-response “No justice! No peace!” In response, says Taylor, the police taunted the neighbors. “They were yelling back, like, ‘Is that all you got?’”

The cruisers dispersed around midnight, though one unmarked car remained in front of Peter Chinman’s apartment. “They couldn’t start their car, and all the people in the surrounding buildings started really jeering at them,” he says. When they finally got the engine running, however, they made a curious exit. “They drove off giving everyone the middle finger, while playing the ice cream truck song.” A video of their departure taken by a separate witness and posted on social media immediately garnered thousands of likes and comments.

The next night, I heard the jingle as well. At 2 a.m., the unmistakable melody emanated from an N.Y.P.D. cruiser rolling slowly down a Bedford-Stuyvesant thoroughfare framed by housing projects. I returned to the Instagram post to find an outpouring of similar testimony. “They’re playing this in Harlem every night,” read one comment. “This is not an isolated incident,” read another.

So, why are police officers blasting this jingle from their cruisers in predominantly Black neighborhoods? As of the time of publication, the NYPD has refused multiple requests to comment. But with the nation in the midst of a racial reckoning, it may be illuminating to look at the melody’s place at the intersection of ice cream and Black history.

The tune many recognize as “Do Your Ears Hang Low?” first reached American shores with an influx of Scots-Irish immigrants in the 1700s; it was originally a fiddle song called “The Rose Tree.” Early Americans took kindly to the meandering melody, and by the early 1800s it became “Turkey in the Straw,” a playful exploration of rural Appalachian life. The jingle was borrowed again later in the century for an altogether new, and uniquely American form of entertainment: traveling blackface minstrel shows.

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As Theodore R. Johnson writes for NPR, the earworm lost its innocence in the 1820s when it became “Zip Coon.” The song introduced a blackface character of the same name who, after finding freedom and moving into a metropolitan setting, clumsily attempted to fit into white society with fancy clothing and big words. By the time of Andrew Jackson’s presidency, “Zip Coon” was the most popular song in the United States.

The success of the melody as a vessel for white supremacy hit a fever pitch in 1916 with Harry C. Browne’s “Nigger Love A Watermelon Ha! Ha! Ha!,” released by Columbia Records. Oddly enough, music of this ilk found a happy home in American ice-cream parlors.

To keep American families entertained while they enjoyed their soft serve with sprinkles, many parlors housed music boxes that played popular songs of the day. Unfortunately, well into the 20th century, that meant minstrel show tunes like “Camptown Races,” “Dixie,” “Jimmy Crack Corn,” and, of course, “Zip Coon.” When ice cream went mobile in the 1920s, newfangled ice cream trucks kept the parlor soundtrack, blaring instrumental versions of the aforementioned hit songs into newly constructed suburban neighborhoods. Thus, the catchiest tune of them all, “Zip Coon,” became simply known as “the ice cream truck jingle.”

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When Johnson’s article went viral in 2014, detractors argued that ice cream trucks were, surely, only playing the innocuous “Turkey in the Straw.” Yet as Johnson points out in a follow-up article, early-20th century sheet music for “Turkey in the Straw” featuring racist imagery proves that “Zip Coon” had made such a splash that even the once-innocent song leaned into its more problematic connotations. As Johnson wrote, “There is simply no divorcing the song from the dozens of decades it was almost exclusively used for coming up with new ways to ridicule, and profit from, black people.”

So is the NYPD playing this storied jingle as a joke, by coincidence, or as an obscure dog whistle? A quick survey of officers’ sense of humor suggests it could be the latter.

The NYPD’s challenge coins—small, members-only medallions bearing departmental insignias and slogans—offer a look at both a rich trove of departmental inside jokes and how they view the civilians in their jurisdiction. East Harlem’s 25th Precinct covers several drug-treatment clinics, an area they call “Zombieland.” Queens’ 42nd Precinct depict themselves (“Warriors of the Wasteland”) as muscle-laden vikings beating criminals with spiked bats. A “Justified 4X” coin pays homage to “supercop” Ralph Friedman, who killed four people on duty between 1970 and 1984, one of whom was a burglary victim who called the police for help.

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The department’s impressive grasp on even antiquated racist tropes is public record as well. From displays as conspicuous as wearing blackface while tossing fried chicken and watermelon into a crowd from a Labor Day Parade float in 1998, to more subtle ones like flashing white-supremacy symbols at recent George Floyd protests, many NYPD officers have used an array of blatantly racist imagery. In 2015, a federal monitor tasked with overseeing police reform within the NYPD recommended new training that included “Do not tell or tolerate ethnic, racial, or sexist jokes.”

The ice cream truck jingle’s history is as complicated as it is obscure. And while a look at the NYPD’s historic sense of humor is telling, the officers’ exact motives for playing the song in today’s climate remain uncertain. For the time being, however, we can surely all agree that the jingle is best left to those who actually sell ice cream.

India and China add to nuclear arsenals in 2020, report says

Not good but other also “modernizing” their holdings – dumb

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STOCKHOLM (BLOOMBERG) – India and China have added to their nuclear warhead stockpile in the past year while all other nuclear-armed nations such as the US, Russia and France, continued to modernise their arsenal, according to a recent report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

India increased its arsenal from an estimated 130-140 nuclear warheads in 2019 to 150 in 2020, whereas China increased its stockpile from an estimated 290 warheads to 320 during the same time, the SIPRI report said on Monday (June 15).

China and Pakistan, which has an estimated stockpile of 160 nuclear warheads, individually have more nuclear warheads than India, the report added.

China is modernising its nuclear arsenal and “developing a so-called nuclear triad for the first time, made up of new land and sea-based missiles and nuclear capable-aircraft”, the report said. On the other hand, India and Pakistan were both increasing the size and diversity of their nuclear weapons, it noted.

The SIPRI report on India and China increasing their nuclear stockpile comes at time when the two neighbours are engaged in a six-week-long border stand-off at multiple places along their 3,488 kilometre long unmarked border. Although, meetings between senior military personnel and at the diplomatic level have eased tensions, the confrontation continues.

Globally nine states together possessed an estimated 13,400 nuclear weapons at the start of 2020 which is slightly lower than the 2019 count of 13,865, SIPRI Yearbook 2020 said. The drop was largely due to the dismantling of retired stockpile by Russia and the US, which account for more than 90 per cent of the world’s stockpile.

Of the 13,400 active nuclear warheads, the SIPRI estimates about 3,720 of the nuclear weapons are deployed with operational forces and another 1,800 are stored in a state of readiness.

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‘Danger is real’: why viruses long thought extinct are re-emerging

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In 2016, a 12-year-old boy died and more than 70 people were hospitalised in north-eastern Siberia after an outbreak of a bacteria that scientists had long believed was dormant.The culprit: global warming.Scientists say the anthrax bacteria was released by the permafrost melting. Temperatures rose, and animals became ill. Then, people ate the meat of a sick reindeer, becoming infected themselves. As global warming thaws soils, releasing pathogens, the occurrence of such outbreaks could become…

Open Thread | How Much More Do You Need To See Before You Take COVID-19 SERIOUSLY 🤨🤨

Too many leaders think they are exempt from dying, so they risk the death of tens of thousands and don’t lose sleep at night. They need to look at the coffins!

I take it seriously. I don’t think a nice chunk of you do 🤨🤨😒😒

 

 

The US has performed its first double lung transplant for lung damage caused by #COVID19. The recipient is a 20 yr old woman. She remains on a ventilator at this time. The damage inflicted by #SARSCoV2 is stunning. Via @nytimes https://t.co/SrJG56VOlR pic.twitter.com/sAAB0Z8V4W

— Tatiana Prowell, MD (@tmprowell) June 11, 2020

Like I said…

To work.

Back home.

That’s all the energy that I have.

The imperative for policymakers isn’t shutdown vs no shutdown; it’s securing public confidence and safety. There’ll be no recovery as long as people remain worried about their safety; and it’ll only come with measures that control spread and empower people to protect their health https://t.co/kMW8HF41O5

— Scott Gottlieb, MD (@ScottGottliebMD) June 14, 2020

Today half of US states have moved to red = trending poorly.
These 5 are the most concerning.
Arizona’s positive test rate now >18%, South Carolina >13%
Data https://t.co/BuuW28dyJl
Yesterday’s summary belowhttps://t.co/F6UpiyFoLt pic.twitter.com/5p1RDKA6wI

— Eric Topol (@EricTopol) June 13, 2020

If you look to positivity rate in testing, you can also detect countries or states which aren’t testing a lot (and hence don’t report many #COVID19 cases).

Then suddenly #Iran and #India also had high values when they reopened, but #Arizona also remains in the top of the list. pic.twitter.com/kTzbb1HBXM

— GHoeberX (@ghoeberx) June 13, 2020

“Where is it going to end?” Dr. Fauci asked. “We’re still at the beginning of really understanding.” https://t.co/01yWmZqZkw

— NYT Health (@NYTHealth) June 13, 2020

Terrific interpretation of the latest @CDCgov #Covid19 numbers from former CDC director @DrTomFrieden.
It’s not gone, please. Magical thinking isn’t a forcefield we can throw around ourselves. https://t.co/1q4wmyRArx

— Helen Branswell (@HelenBranswell) June 13, 2020

your blood thick as hell. Or that you may have to be on oxygen for the rest of your life. COVID is designed to kill. It is a highly intelligent virus and it attacks everything. We will run out of resources if we don’t continue to flatten the curve.

I’m exhausted.

— Cherie Antoinette (@sheriantoinette) June 14, 2020

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Tulsa Health Official Warns Trump Rally Could Swamp Local Hospitals’ COVID Capacity

“A large indoor rally with 19-20,000 people is a huge risk factor today in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” he said before suggesting Trump could fall ill as a result of his own event. “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”

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The top public health official in Tulsa wishes Donald Trump would stay away next week. When the president recently announced he would resume his in-person arena rallies after they were put on pause because of the coronavirus pandemic, his first scheduled stop was set for the Oklahoma city on June 20. While the campaign plans to fill a 19,000-person indoor stadium there, health officials are cautioning that the rally could have deadly consequences.

“COVID is here in Tulsa, it is transmitting very efficiently,” warned Dr. Bruce Dart, director of Tulsa’s City-County Health Department, in the Tulsa World. “I wish we could postpone this to a time when the virus isn’t as large a concern as it is today.” On Saturday, Oklahoma reported 225 new infections, a new daily high. As of Sunday, Oklahoma was reporting more than 8,000 infections and 359 deaths.

“It’s an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic.”

Dr. Dart blames the spike in infections on several factors, including quarantine fatigue, and warned that a large outbreak had the possibility of overwhelming the county’s health system. “A large indoor rally with 19-20,000 people is a huge risk factor today in Tulsa, Oklahoma,” he said before suggesting Trump could fall ill as a result of his own event. “I’m concerned about our ability to protect anyone who attends a large, indoor event, and I’m also concerned about our ability to ensure the president stays safe as well.”

“I think it’s an honor for Tulsa to have a sitting president want to come and visit our community, but not during a pandemic,” Dart added, telling the newspaper he was concerned infections touched off by travelers and crowds attending the rally could swamp local treatment capacity. 

Several states that, like Oklahoma, were spared the worst in the early days of the pandemic are now recording a surge in infections and hospitalizations. On Saturday, 22 states reported increases in their daily cases. Relaxing restrictions aimed at stemming the virus’s spread have prompted health experts to warn that the country could see more outbreaks, spurred along by growing indoor gatherings.

But the president is prepared to go ahead with the rally, after rescheduling it from June 19, the day the Juneteenth holiday is celebrated marking Black people’s liberation from slavery. (Critics had pointed out the insensitivity of hosting a rally on that day, especially given the city’s history as a site of a major 20th century anti-Black massacre.)

Despite his track record of downplaying the seriousness of the disease, fumbling the federal response, and shunning masks, Trump and his campaign know they are subjecting his fans to risk by holding the rally: attendees must submit a form agreeing to not sue the campaign if they contract COVID-19.