Anti-Snitchin' Culture

This cartoon from Kansas City's own Lee Judge is a sad commentary about the civility discussion in America and the bad influence that hip-hop music has had on our cuture. I remember the first time that I really listened to one of these 'songs' that my son had bought when he was in Junior High. I was shocked and amazed at the crude vulgarity of it.

Many of these 'artists' have now taken the word rebellion to new lows. I sat and watched a CBS 60 Minutes story last Sunday about how hip-hoppers are telling small kids in urban communities not to cooperate with the police. Here is an excerpt from the show:

In most communities, a person who sees a murder and helps the police put the killer behind bars is called a witness. But in many inner-city neighborhoods in this country that person is called a "snitch."

"Stop snitchin'" is a catchy hip-hop slogan that embodies and encourages this attitude. You can find it on everything from rap music videos to clothing. "Stop snitchin'" once meant "don’t tell on others if you’re caught committing a crime."

But as CNN's Anderson Cooper reports for 60 Minutes, it has come to mean something much more dangerous: "don’t cooperate with the police – no matter who you are."

As a result, police say, witnesses are not coming forward. Murders are going unsolved. You can read more about this here.

God help us.