"Stop Snitching" Explained For Once And For All...

The media has been engrossed in a "Stop Snitching & The African American Community" discussion for quite some time now. They have been projecting that the premise of the whole "stop snitching movement " is that Black people are plagued with a street ethos which disallows them to report crimes to the police. This nonsensical supposition has been fueled by lightweight commentary given by mass media approved notables. By spewing such shallow conjecture, the media and their loudest mouthpieces have missed the boat of connecting the real issues that could solve the problem.

Below is a quote from, "Inner Lives: Voices of African American Women In Prison" By: Paula C. Johnson, that captures the historically fractured relationship between African Americans and the law enforcement system: "Enactment of racially specific criminal laws, discriminatory application of purportedly neutral criminal laws, and official failure to enforce legal protections on behalf of African Americans have created an enduring ethos of distrust of the U.S. criminal justice system within many Black communities across America. This distrust is reinforced by present circumstances in which African American men and women are disproportionately incarcerated under harsh criminal law penalties in the U.S. Many share the disillusionment expressed by civil rights and anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells in 1887, which prompted her to ask, 'O God, is there no redress, no peace, no justice in this land for us?'"

The lack of communication between law enforcement and African Americans is neither a "new street movement" or a phenomenon sparked by a "code of street ethics." It is caused by the traditional abuses of power by the criminal justice system. These abuses have reasonably bred mistrust. No one is going to share dangerous, confidential information with someone who has been proven untrustworthy. Moreover, no one is going to turn to an entity that has been abusive and irresponsible during their most sensitive times of distress (and in many cases, has even been the cause of that distress). Hence, the unwillingness of community members to communicate with the police.

Fix the system, and you'll earn the trust of the people. This is the side of the "stop snitching" debate that the media has failed to report.

[SIDEBAR: Question: Isn't The Blue Wall Of Silence > Stop Snitching??? Just asking.]