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The justice system in this country
sucks ass. We all know that. There are plenty of times when the
judge, jury and executioner don’t give a damn whether or not you’re guilty.
The jails are filled with folks of color and the reasons behind that are
convoluted and countless.
Is everybody in prison guilty? Hell
no. The system is racist and unyielding in its desire to incarcerate our
folks. Do we help the system? Hell yes. For every horrifying
story of the innocent spending years behind bars or folks being over-sentenced,
there are 10 stories about dudes who actually belong there.
That’s why this “no
stitching” doctrine confuses me. There are times when it’s probably
best that you keep your mouth shut, but there are also times when giving up the
information is the better course of action. The hard fast rules hurt more
than help in many instances, especially considering the source. Have you ever
noticed that most of the people barking all that snitch s**t are the ones who
have never been confronted by anyone related to lady justice?
How many have been in that
situation? How many of those who claim to live by the no snitch code have
actually found themselves in a position where they had to evoke said
code? Jake asking you if you saw your boy lift that DVD from the FYE down
the street does not count. Seriously. When was the last time you
found yourself in a hail of bullets only to cradle your best friends head in
your arms and watch his life drain from the bullet wound knowing the only thing
you can do is call the law? I’ve never been there. I don’t want to
be there and it’s unfair to judge anyone who has.
Can you truly say that your adherence
to some street law would be more important than attempting to bring some
homicidal maniac to justice? Oh, I forgot. You would drop that vigilante
hammer on them, huh? Posse up and go hunting humans, right? Stop
boo-boo. Stop. You watch too many f###### Charles Bronson movies.
I think that in all aspects of our existence
there is evolution. We are products of our experiences which are driven
by the decisions we make. In the absence of that experience; your hard
core Hip-Hop-coated thought process doesn’t amount to a hill of beans to that
person who is living it.
You can feel what you want. You
can concoct every situation possible that might require you to answer a
question posed by a homicide detective. Stand in your mirror and practice your
‘f**k you copper’ face. Take notes from Juice and Menace to Society and get
yourself ready. I still really hope that you are never faced with such a
horrible circumstance. However, at least we know if you are, you will be able
to slick tongue yourself out of actually helping to bring your loved one some
justice and making the neighborhood a little safer for the rest of us. We
thank you.
Even Killa Cam explained the code in
more detail once his camp apologized for the infamous Anderson Cooper
interview. He explained that it’s not code, but apprehension that drives
the silence. He said folks who cooperate with the police are frowned upon
in the community and open themselves up to more criminal attacks. So does
that mean the code is nothing more than fear and apathy rather than a disdain
for the criminal justice system?
That fear is palpable and regularly
cemented by brutal attacks on those who choose to do the right thing.
However, when you don’t have the strength to speak up for your own community,
should you be berating those who do? I don’t think so.
We have developed a mistrust for law
enforcement that is valid. You can drown in the reams of paper that
document the scandalous mistreatment of minorities at the hands of the boys in
blue. However, once you remove a single experience from that context;
once you look at the lives lost and pain suffered; you have to admit that we
also mistreat ourselves and that remaining silent or criticizing those who
speak may be just as scandalous.