Thank You For Not Snitching

I know I probably don't have too many readers at this point, however I still want to apologize for not updating recently.

My life has not only been busy, but I've been unsure what to write about.  I think about things all the time that I wish to share, but to be perfectly honest I either forget about those thoughts, forget about the blog, or think it's not good enough...but that is going to start to come to a gradual minimum.

Now off the blabbing and on to the entry:


The title for this entry is named after an episode of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks, the main topic of which is snitching, or acting as an informant to a certain person or...entity if you will.

In this case, it refers to acting as an informant to law enforcement.  Now under most circumstances, being cooperative with the police is something a good citizen does.  Besides, it feels good to know you had a hand in putting that serial murderer/rapist/bank robber/puppy kicker in prison and off the streets.  But if you go to the "hood", it's a different story;

No...not that one...

A little exploitative of an example, but...yeah...something like that...



Yeah, "snitching", or being a "rat" as always something of a bad rap to a degree...but it seems to a lot of people that any kind of telling in these areas lands one in a pretty bad situation...like "I could seriously get killed if I tell" bad.

Scarily enough, this isn't an empty threat...several instances have happened where informants were killed as a result of their cooperation, including a woman named Angela Dawson, whose entire family was firebombed as a result of her informing of police about drug related crime in the area where she lived.

I, like many people have wondered why even though they (like a lot of us mentally healthy people) want the violence to stop, but at the same time want to stop any and all informants to law enforcement or other entities.

Here's what I will say to you, the person also questioning this little contradiction:



Remember this?

 



Yeah...we as a nation haven't always had the most enlightened issues on human rights, but like it or not, it's a part of our history.

So I ask you to think about this for a moment; We live in a nation that historically speaking (and presently) has been presided over a system that emphasized whiteness over non-whiteness.  Not only to the extent of a sense of superiority, but the enforcement of which through systematic oppression and poverty.

Now...let's say you live in the 'hood and a guy with a badge who says he's from the police department tells you that your buddy Jimmy-Bob has been shot and they're looking for his killer.  You know who did it, and you tell them it was your neighbor Bobby-Jim.

For the sake of argument, Bobby-Jim did, without a doubt, kill Jimmy-Bob...evidence proves it, motive is there, etc...and he goes to trial, is found guilty, Bobby-Jim goes to prison.  Good job, citizen, you have helped put a killer off the streets!

But here's the problem....you just cooperated with the system.

A system that ultimately was (is) responsible for the historical enslavement, oppression, impoverishment, and mistreatment of your people...not to mention, you just exposed another killer in your territory, which is not good for the cause of getting more people to recognize the impoverished as a people who, for the most part, are good, hard-working people, rather than leeches who whine and moan about the same system that gives them a check every month.

In other words...you're a traitor.

Just for my potential readers, this is a reminder that is simply a thought that has occurred, which may be my opinion, and is subject to change.

Thank you for reading and I'll see you next time around!  :)