‘Cop Killer’ Rap Song Dropped From Class After Parents Object Teacher Said Class Only Talked About Controversy Of Song

It has been five years since actor Charlton Heston read lyrics from the Ice-T song “Cop Killer” to shock a Time-Warner shareholders meeting.

Once condemned by President George Bush, the song now has been banned from a middle-school music class where it was being used to teach students something about the history of rap music.

The song drew national protests and boycott demands against Time-Warner for its adult language and lyrics such as: “I’m ‘bout to dust some shots off, I’m ‘bout to dust some cops off. Die, die, pigs, die!”

Music teacher Ron Lepp said he didn’t play the song in his class at Pleasant Hill Middle School or show his students the lyrics. Instead, he described the controversy surrounding it and read some of the lyrics, stripped of profanity.

“I ask them if they understand the First Amendment, and if these artists have the right to sing these lyrics,” Lepp said. “We discuss it in light of social responsibility, the First Amendment, and consumerism.”

But two parents objected to the song, causing the superintendent of the Pleasant Hill School District and the middle school’s principal to decide last Friday to drop “Cop Killer” from Lepp’s “music exploration” class.

“We won’t let every complaint make us change the way we’re doing something,” said Superintendent Jim Howard. But in this case, “it’s not worth it.”

A spokeswoman for Virgin Records America, the recording label for the group Body Count, said she was surprised to hear the controversy still has an effect.

“We haven’t heard a word about ‘Cop Killer’ lately,” said spokeswoman Kathy Acquaviva.

She noted that Virgin represents only the group, Body Count, and not Ice-T individually. The group, which has the same name as the Ice-T album released in 1992 with “Cop Killer,” plans to release a new album, “Violent Demise,” in March.

Ice-T, who has left the Time-Warner label, had defended “Cop Killer” as an expression of black rage during a time of unrest in Los Angeles following the Rodney King beating by police.

But he said last fall when announcing his latest album that Body Count should be treated as parody, and not taken so seriously.

“Body Count is intentionally offensive to the point where we think it’s stupid,” said Ice-T, born Tracy Marrow in Newark, N.J. “It’s all about dark humor. You gotta laugh because it’s so crazy. If you take it seriously, you’re missing the point.”

The parents who objected to the song said they feared their children would miss that point.

“I don’t have problems with rap, but this song is a particularly violent one,” said Janet Welch, the parent of a sixth grader. “What could the kids learn from this song other than violence?”

Doris Wafer, whose daughter is in Lepp’s class, said the song raised issues that should be handled by parents, not teachers.

“I personally don’t feel it is his job to teach moral values with that kind of music. At home we teach moral values with the Bible and common sense,” she said.