stop snitching, so cam'ron can make a buck

so i was watching CNN last night and Anderson Cooper had a piece on 'Stop Snitching'. the same piece aired this past Sunday on 60 minutes.

the piece focused on how rap music encourages people not to snitch when they witness a crime. Geoffrey Canada was the voice of reason (thank God)! he commented on how the stop snitching mantra is undermining the moral fabric of the community.

tell me why they featured cam'ron (the rapper) and why was he ignorant as hell? Anderson asked him if he would call the police if he knew a serial killer lived next door and he said something like "no... but i would probably move"

it was so upsetting to see cam'ron so nonchalant and flippant. its as if he failed to see the relevance. although law enforcement has not been the fairest when it comes to communities of color that does not mean that we should not cooperate and in that cooperation try to change the system.

in the same piece, busta rhymes bodyguard was murdered and apparently busta witnessed it. but refused to cooperate with the police, because he didnt want to loose his street cred (credibility).

two things come to mind with this specific case. first, it encourages people to take the law into their own hands rather than let the police do their job. i dont know about you, but i would not want people running around shooting people who they believe are responsible for someones death. now the justice system may not be perfect, but its there for a reason.

second, i think it teaches our young men that they have to 'act hard'. im tired of seeing young boys eschewing their emotions. you know this belief that nothing can hurt them. these are the same young boys who grow into men one day but are unable to hold down jobs, relationships, etc.. because they dont know how to deal with their anger, authority figures, and/or conflict.

cam'ron is a millionaire. that means someone is buying his music. it makes me sick that so many of our rappers have this whack mentality, that seemingly allows them to divorce themselves of the consequences of their work. while they poison our communities with their violence, misogyny, and lack of morals they dont see THEMSELVES as the problem.

cam'ron closes with:

"I just think that rap takes way more slack than the video games and the movies. We don't make guns. Smith and Wesson makes guns," Cam'ron argues. "Like, white people make guns and bullets and all we're doing is rhyming and putting words together."

again. there is a failure to take responsibility in the rap community. own up to it dammit. you cant just say smith and wesson makes guns and leave it at that. yeah, they make guns but they dont force you to use it or idolize using them either.

i would add that just because your record label isn't appalled by your lyrics or maybe even encourages such lyrics... that does not mean you should write songs that boldly claim that snitches should be killed. where is your pride? apparently the money is too good. you would rather sell the whole community to earn a buck.

wake up black people. we have got opportunist amongst us. while we struggle going to school, working, raising kids these rappers benefit off prejudice and stereotypical images of us.

they make millions living grandiose, over hyped lifesytles while they kindle the fire that is slowly burning the fabric of our communities.