I never tire of referring to one of comedian Dave Chappelle's most famous routines: "When 'Keeping it Real' Goes Wrong."

The setup is painfully familiar. A black corporate vice president is in a meeting with his white colleagues when the co-worker who mentored him makes an inadvertently patronizing comment, one that could even be interpreted as racist if you're feeling really uncharitable.

The black executive has the choice of ignoring the comment and giving his colleague the benefit of the doubt, or he can "keep it real" and take offense. The executive chooses to "keep it real," despite being the only one in his family to escape poverty, drug addiction and violence.

So the executive terrifies his white colleagues by shoving the man who offended him back into his chair, shouting racial epithets and barking non sequiturs like "thug life" and "Wu-Tang."

It is a hilarious performance, though tempered by the fact that we know it will end in the black executive's termination. We next see the executive, who used to have a six-figure income, scraping ice from a car window at a gas station in New Jersey where he makes $6.25 an hour. He "stinks of gasoline even when he's not at the station," the narrator says, adding, "It's as real as it can be."

"Keeping it real" isn't the exclusive folly of black folks, of course. It is an intrinsic part of being human. Dave Chappelle brilliantly illustrated how that mix of hubris and stupidity always ends in disaster, especially when there is a power imbalance.

When I saw the YouTube footage of the arrest of two black Seattle teens by a white cop this week, I immediately thought of Dave Chappelle's skit.

Angel Rosenthal, 17, and her friend Marilyn Ellen Levias, 19, were jaywalking near their school when Officer Ian Walsh ordered them to stop so he could issue citations. The school had specifically requested more police presence in the area because of the increase in vehicle near-misses and pedestrian accidents.

Ms. Levias and Ms. Rosenthal ignored Officer Walsh, who then grabbed Ms. Levias by the arm. She tensed up and started cursing at the officer. Ms. Rosenthal came to the aid of her friend and pushed the officer. He responded with an overhead punch to her face.

Meanwhile, a taunting, hostile crowd was recording the altercation on cell phones from every angle. Officer Walsh resumed his arrest of Ms. Levias, who continued to curse him out. When she was finally handcuffed, the officer proceeded to arrest the woman he'd punched in the face. Ms. Rosenthal also resisted, but was quickly subdued in a headlock.

During the struggle, the cop radioed for backup and was soon surrounded by colleagues who probably couldn't believe that a routine jaywalking citation had escalated into a tense racial confrontation.

Honestly, I think it was pettiness on the cop's part to pursue giving the young women citations when they were determined to ignore him. He was putting all of their lives in danger by taking them on without backup. What would he have done if he felt profoundly threatened? Would he have shot them over a meaningless jaywalking ticket? Officer Walsh was trying to "keep it real" in front of all of the witnesses.

As for the two females, they were clearly in the wrong, especially the young woman who shoved the officer. One of the first things loving parents tell their children as they enter their teen years is never to put their hands on an officer under any circumstance. Ms. Rosenthal violated a cardinal rule of civic law and common sense by "keeping it real."

Both Officer Walsh and the two jaywalkers felt they couldn't back down given the circumstances. They were surrounded by a crowd, so saving face was high on everyone's agenda. But there was a glaring power imbalance the teens lost sight of, so they lost.

Because they both had run-ins with the cops before, there isn't a lot of public sympathy for them, though the Seattle NAACP has called for the cop to lose his job.

On the other hand, it wouldn't have killed Officer Walsh if he had simply let the pair go with a shouted warning that he would be on the lookout for them next time. Writing citations for jaywalking in an urban neighborhood is more than a one-cop job. Trying to arrest two people without backup is crazy.

My tentative support for Officer Walsh doesn't mean I'm soft on police brutality. I don't think anyone can credibly accuse me of that, given my past columns. I am big on common sense, though. Civilians and police have an equal duty to obey the law. That's the only form of "keeping it real" I can respect.

Tony Norman's weekly video, the Last Word, is featured exclusively in the Insight section on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.