Strangeness,
you dont control this, you barely hold this/
Screaming brand new, when they just sanitized the old s###/
Suppose its, just another clever Jedi mind trick/
That they been runnin across stars through all the time with/
–
Black
Star, Thieves In The Night, Black Star
(1998).
They
dont know, who we be/
–
DMX,
Who We Be, The Great Depression
(2001).
What are weHip-Hop
fansto make of the revelation that Christopher Dodd, the U.S. Senator from
Connecticut, was involved in the legislative changes that created a loophole
through which AIG executives could receive their bonus payments. More
surprising than Dodds
confession, however, was his unwavering refusal to admit who, from the
Treasury Department, ordered the changes to be made. Chris Dodd, on Wednesday,
confirmed that Treasury officials met with him, last month, to request a
modification of an amendment in the stimulus bill, which denied bonuses to
firms receiving aid from the federal government. That, strangely enough, would
be the farthest Dodd was willing to go. This sophisticated duck-and-dodge can
be reduced to a more simplified term: NO SNITCHIN.
The Senate is an old boys
network, and Washington is even more direct in its secrecy. With most
politicians owing some sort of allegiance to unscrupulous groups, corporations
and lobby enterprises, it is less surprising when lawmakers are willing to
place their heads on the altars of sacrifice, in order to salvage the
reputation of a comrade or colleague (case in point: Scooter Libby). In essence,
the will to protect each others a#### is only logical.
Dodd is smartereven more
decent (often progressive in values)than most of his counterparts, but Im
still left troubled by his unwillingness to come clean. Another angle in the
recent twist of events is the shameless hypocrisy Chris Dodd exuded, in his mums the word attitude to the AIG bonus
controversy. Lord knows if Chris Dodd was a rapper, the unfettered excoriation
he would face, for withholding such pertinent information, would make a
righteous man bleed. The same elected officials, who spent the 90s scrambling
to find ways by which they could further the Gangsta-Rap-is-the devil saga,
are the same ones who, unabashedly, personalize the very characteristics they
sought to abolish.
In the last decade, much
hoopla has been generated over the alleged indifference young Blacks and Browns
champion, when they rail against any cooperation with law enforcement, in
criminal investigationscolloquially known as, Snitchin. Most critics see the
surge in NO SNITCHIN merchandise, as ample sign of the demoralizing
influence commercial Rap is having on young people. Documentaries, TV reports
and seminars have been produced to combat this crisis in the urban community. In 2007, when CBSs 60 minutes aired
a special on the Stop Snitchin movement, it seemed as though the sky was
due for falling any minute soon.
CBS contended that, 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. As CBS saw it, Stop
snitchin is a catchy hip-hop slogan that embodies and encourages this
attitude
Stop snitchin once meant dont tell on others if youre caught
committing a crime. This Hip-Hop attitude, according to CBS, meant one
thingand one thingonly: dont
cooperate with the police no matter who you are. This has led to
worries, expressed by police officers, that witnesses are not coming forward
which, in turn, leaves many murder-cases unsolved. Using Harlem rapper, Camrons assertions
that under no circumstances was it okay to talk to the police, except in a
friendly exchange of greetings, CBS had all the validation it needed, to brand
the concept of NO SNITCHIN a Hip-Hop and inner-city construction. With Camrons
initialas it was modified latersuggestion that even in the case of a
serial-killer neighbor, I wouldnt call and tell anybody, but Ill probably
move, the birthday wishes of many Hip-Hop haters appeared to have been
granted. Unfortunately, a lot of the same talking-heads seemed to have missed
the point, all together. Their rush to judgment made it seem as though
Hip-Hops cold shoulder to the police department has no historyas though the Blastmaster, KRS-One wasnt right in his
assessment that, you wanna get away with murder? Kill a rapper.
The long-and-winded
history of police brutality, in the inner-city, also plays a part in the
distrust expressed by many rappers, and Black/Brown people, as it concerns
cooperation with police officers. What is clear, however, from this ordeal, is
that many of the stigmas which have been conveniently perceived as exclusively
Hip-Hop-related/created, are common traits everyone is susceptible to. If my
memory serves me correctly, President William Jefferson Clintons relations
with Monica Lewinsky wasnt so radically different from what goes on in many
tour buses, across the country. Chris Dodds predicament might not be cause for
celebration, but its a sobering reminder of how created equal, we all are.
Tolu
Olorunda is a Columnist for BlackCommentator.com.
