' Anthony, an actual resident of the street, sneers at white perceptions of how blacks talk in the media: "You think whites go around callin' each other honky all day?" While Anthony's theft of the SUV is clearly shown to be destructive, socially as well as morally, the film also shows how black inner city views of law and order have evolved in such a negative and polarized fashion: the presence of the black officer Detective Graham Waters is undercut by the racism and racial profiling of other members of the force.

Racism is circular in nature, and this is revealed in Anthony's lapses in logic: "That waitress sized us up in two seconds. We're black and black people don't tip. So she wasn't gonna waste her time. Now somebody like that? Nothing you can do to change their mind. You expect me to pay for that kind of service?"...
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