A.D.'s Soapbox - Snitch Culture

There are so many things taking place in the world that is seems hard to keep track of what’s been going on and even harder to make sense of them all. I’ve brought it upon myself to try to write a weekly editorial entitled “A.D.’s Soapbox” where a common guy will try to make some sense of what’s going on. I hope that I will not only inspire and entertain, but also inform you, the reader, of what’s going on from my point of view.

I hate to say it but ever since ‘Stop Snitching’ went up as a public marketing movement, what was once a silent code of the streets has now become the anthem to an entire generation blessing ignorance. The term “snitch” is usually implied when someone provides incriminating information usually to someone of law enforcement. Generally, this terminology can apply to anyone anywhere, but its main focus has been targeted to those of the African-American/Black-American community in the inner city where crime is rapid. Everyone says ‘stop snitching’ until something happens to them or someone they know. I say we finally pull the plug on this whole ‘stop snitching’ ordeal and bury it for good because it honestly serves no purpose.

There is no such thing as gangsta or gangster rappers, they’re an oxymoron. In order to be a gangster there’s a certain thing called Omerta, a code of silence and rappers tend to “snitch” on themselves in songs by naming what they’ve done or what they are gonna do and who’ve they done it to, will do it to and who’ve they’ve done it with. Everyday regular people tend to “snitch” on themselves via MySpace, Facebook and especially YouTube when they post incriminating photos, videos and messages about themselves, someone they know or something they seen and/or know. Besides, we live in an era where nearly everything is being recorded in some way or another. Onstar in cars track everywhere the vehicle has been, credit and debit cards keep track of our purchases no matter how trivial they might be and cell phone calls (especially text messages) are stored in the phone company’s database. I’m not trying to promote mass hysteria but I am saying be aware of your surroundings, more importantly of what you do, say and the type of people you associate with.

I’m assuming this stop snitchin’ comes from distrust of law enforcement. In cases like Rodney King, Diallo and Sean Bell, police have been known to react more than unfavorably towards our community. Not all police officers are corrupt and immoral. Yes, the system is flawed, but it’s with these flaws we must learn to correct those problems and not exploit them. It seems like we as a culture (African-American/Black-American) don’t really unite as a whole until something racial happens then that only lasts momentarily before we’re back to the same old thing.

Unfortunately, snitches do get stitches and occasionally wind up in ditches as we all know. There’s much more to life than living in fear. You shouldn’t have to be afraid to walk around in your own neighborhood no matter what time it is, and our children should be able to play outside without borders as to where they can’t go because it’s considered to be too dangerous. If you know something that could save someone’s life or help a grieving family in the healing process, it’s up to you to do the right thing.

You can tweet your questions, response, comments and suggestions to me as well as follow me for updates and for more of A.D.’s Soapbox… www.twitter.com/handsomeboyad

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