I'm sure many of you saw the Daily Show piece last night about the so-called "stop snitchin" cultural movement. If you didn't, and don't know about it, the basic premise is the idea that people in urban communities that inform the cops about crimes are "selling out" or "snitching" and they shouldn't be doing so. I had heard of this many years ago, but it seems to have really taken off in the past year or so. There is even a stop sign downtown that has "snitching" scrawled across the sign under the word "stop." Whether this specific case is serious or not remains to be seen, but this seems to be a very popular movement. The rapper they showed on the program went so far as to say that if there was a serial killer living next door to him, he wouldn't tell anyone. This really is a strange phenomenon. Does anyone have an explanation for it?
Comments (3)
I think that is crazy. I think that mentality will only fuel the stereotype of hip-hop culture as harmful to the youth.
Posted by Emily Limpic | May 7, 2007 11:39 PM
Posted on May 7, 2007 23:39
No. I have no freaking clue why anyone in their right mind would hide a serial killer from the cops. I would piss my pants and call the police immediately if I knew my neighbor was a serial killer. And I would still feel uncomfortable even after they took him away. I can't believe that people are against "snitching." I could understand if people look the other way during a small crime that maybe benefited the culprit without harming others. But not "snitching" on a serial killer is a bit insane.
Posted by Jay Howell | May 8, 2007 5:24 PM
Posted on May 8, 2007 17:24
This has been going on awhile, most often on T-SHIRTS with a large stop sign that alot of rappers have been so bold as to wear to court appearances.
Its not that different than the "Question Authority" bumper stickers of the 60s.
But I agree, its gone too far when its become a "campaign" that prevents the solving of inner-city crime.
Posted by Peter Lyrene![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://ehub.journalism.ku.edu/fall07/201/nav-commenters.gif)
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May 9, 2007 12:08 PM
Posted on May 9, 2007 12:08