Stop Snitchin'

Rapper Cam'ron: Snitching Hurts His Business, "Code Of Ethics"

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on April 22, 2007. It was updated on Aug. 8, 2007.

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.

Reluctance to talk to police has always been a problem in poor, predominantly African-American communities, but cops and criminologists say in recent years something has changed: fueled by hip-hop music, promoted by major corporations, what was once a backroom code of silence among criminals, is now being marketed like never before.

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The message appears in hip-hop videos, on T-shirts, Web sites, album covers and street murals. Well-known rappers talk about it endlessly on DVDs. It is a simple message heard in African-American communities across the country: don't talk to the police.

"When I was growing up, kids used to talk about snitching…. It never extended as a cultural norm outside of the gangsters," says Geoffrey Canada, a nationally recognized educator and anti-violence advocate. "It was not for regular citizens. It is now a cultural norm that is being preached in poor communities."

Canada has been working with children in Harlem for more than 20 years. He grew up poor in a tough New York neighborhood, but says the message kids are getting today is very different and dangerous.

"People are walking around with shirts. People are going out making, making music. People are saying things that if you're a snitch it's like being an Uncle Tom was when I was growing up," Canada says. "It's like you can't be a black person if you have a set of values that say, 'I will not watch crime happen in my community without getting involved to stop it.'"

"So this slogan, this 'stop snitchin'.' It now extends to rape, robbery, murder, really any crime?" Cooper asks.

"Any crime," Canada says. "It's like we're saying to the criminals, 'You can have our community. Just have our community. Do anything you want, and we will either deal with it ourselves, or we'll simply ignore it.'"

Canada could no longer ignore it on Feb. 5, 2006, when Israel Ramirez, a student he had mentored and loved like a son, was shot to death outside a soundstage in Brooklyn.

Ramirez was working as a bodyguard for the rap star Busta Rhymes, who was making a music video.

A person who was there told 60 Minutes Ramirez was shot in front of Busta Rhymes. He died at the scene two days before his 29th birthday, leaving a wife and three children behind.

"You know, I just think of him, being shot, falling down, probably thinking, 'This might be it.' And I just wonder, who held his hand? Who caressed his head? Who told him, 'I'm gonna be here?' Who stayed with him? Who made sure this man just didn't die alone for nothing?" Canada wonders.

New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says there were at least 25 people who may have witnessed the shooting. But he says nobody has come forward to testify.

"The people that we've located, either were inside and didn't see anything. Or you'll get a version of, 'I have to work in this business. Ask Busta Rhymes what happened,'" Commissioner Kelly says.

The police would like to ask Busta Rhymes what happened but, even though he talked vaguely about the killing on a cable TV show, he refused to talk to investigators, or to 60 Minutes.

Geoffrey Canada believes it's because Busta Rhymes doesn’t want to jeopardize sales of his music and videos; Canada says being labeled a "snitch" might have damaged Rhymes' "street cred."

"One of the things that sells music is when the artist is looked at as someone who's come up from the streets. Not just any streets, but the toughest, meanest streets of the urban ghetto. And that's called 'street credibility,'" Canada says.

Busta Rhymes did put a tribute to Israel Ramirez on the video he was making when Ramirez was killed. "Just wanted to make sure people seen this so they know you ain't die in vain. Love you and I miss you, Homie. Hope we make you proud," Rhymes said in the video.

"I think that's horrid," says Canada. "I ask you Busta, as a man, if that was your son and you watched someone kill your son, would you remain quiet or would you get justice for your son? This is murder. This is murder. This is watching someone getting murdered. How do we walk away from this?"

[richu5]

I guess the entire stop snitching theme doesn't matter to people in the hip-hop community or any community. When jail time is staring them in the face, let a singing begin. Look at Michael Vick's friends turning on him when confronted by the police. What a joke.
Rich

[peaceout9]

It surprises me Anderson Cooper would not mention the correlation of the African-American community to the Italian-American community nor the Hispanic-American community of the past century. One need only walk in most inner-city areas to see several huge T-shirts, tattoos and posters with images of %u201CScarface%u201D or %u201Cthe Godfather%u201D. Scarface is 23 years old! The Godfather is 35 years old! Yet it speaks volumes to those who feel lost and powerless.

The report seems to conclude that Stop Snitchin is strictly about street image and business. That may be so what about trusting the police and mindless consumerism? The response was overwhelmingly %u201Cno%u201D in trusting the police. The opening scene of the Godfather shows this brilliantly. %u201CThere were courts of law and you didn%u2019t need a friend like me. But you don%u2019t ask for friendship, you don%u2019t ask for respect. But now you say Don Corleone bring me justice. What have I done to have you treat me so disrespectfully?%u201D

So is %u201CStop Snitchin%u2019%u201D really just about image and business or is it more about who can you trust and consumerism gone awry?

Tony Montana %u201CDo you know what capitalism is? Getting f#*&^ed.%u201D

"The World is Yours". But what kind of world you you want?

[mourka-2009]

As Cam'ron said, "it's all business." I assume that is why Anderson Cooper did not ask him about his support by the New York Yankees. He was wearing the Yankees logo'd material in his video.
They would have to pay for that placement or sign a release for the usage. One would think that the Yankee organization would not support the anti-law enforcement message but they must be comfortable with this. Cam'ron must sell thousands of baseball caps for them.

[islandspice-2009]

Of all the intelligent hip hop artists, why interview Cam'ron, one of the most ignorant people out there? Who made him the voice of hip-hop? I'm glad he said that he was only speaking on behalf of himself. Other artists would give a totally different point of view when asked if they would report pedophiles, rapists, molesters, and serial killers.This is more an issue of fear and safety than street credibility. How can community backlash be overcome when there is no protection by the same police who want your cooperation? I should help your case, and then you throw me to the wolves? Witnesses, informants, snitches, whatever you call them are placed in danger when their personal information is leaked to the public. I know of instances where the police bring suspects to witnesses face to face and ask,"Is this the person you saw?" That would never motivate me to cooperate.When they can guarantee my safety then I'll help, until then I'll continue to call the anonymous tip line. This isn%u2019t a black or minority mentality. There are many persons of minority who cooperate with law enforcement and also many whites who don't. There are also whites who only get involved when the alleged criminal is a minority and minorities who only report whites.Until there is reform in law enforcement we will always have these problems. The rappers and community won%u2019t take all the blame. That's one thing we're willing to share with law enforcement.

[islandspice-2009]

Of all the intelligent hip hop artists, why interview Cam'ron, one of the most ignorant people out there? Who made him the voice of hip-hop? I'm glad he said that he was only speaking on behalf of himself. Other artists would give a totally different point of view when asked if they would report pedophiles, rapists, molesters, and serial killers.This is more an issue of fear and safety than street credibility. How can community backlash be overcome when there is no protection by the same police who want your cooperation? I should help your case, and then you throw me to the wolves? Witnesses, informants, snitches, whatever you call them are placed in danger when their personal information is leaked to the public. I know of instances where the police bring suspects to witnesses face to face and ask,"Is this the person you saw?" That would never motivate me to cooperate.When they can guarantee my safety then I'll help, until then I'll continue to call the anonymous tip line. This isn%u2019t a black or minority mentality. There are many persons of minority who cooperate with law enforcement and also many whites who don't. There are also whites who only get involved when the alleged criminal is a minority and minorities who only report whites.Until there is reform in law enforcement we will always have these problems. The rappers and community won%u2019t take all the blame. That's one thing we're willing to share with law enforcement.

[keithle1]

"And if someone does hurt or even kill someone in your family. You DON'T SNITCH. You handle it yourself"

Does this mean you go out & buy a gun & take the law into your own hands? That makes a lot of sense.

Another pearl of wisdom from bayyyboiii:

"Didn't your mom ever tell you, "DON'T BE A TATTLETALE"!! Well, that is exactly what snitchin is doing...TATTLETALING."

You know exactly what your mother was talking about. The stuff that brothers do to their sisters & vice versa. Somehow I don't think your mother was referring to murder & rape. Felonies.

[ramseur2]

What goes around comes around. In saying that I would like to add the injustice of a crime going unpunished due to lack of evidence or willing witness is like waiting for your turn to be murdered, maimed, or raped. By this I mean if a crimmnal can get away with a crime, then he is more than likely to commit another crime, and so on and so on .... Until it affects you personnally. On the other hand, are the police offering protection to the so called snitchers?

[painthard]

What this story was realy about was THE GROWING IGNORANCE OF OUR YOUTH IN REGARDS TO OPORTUNITIES PREVIDED BY A COMUNITY.Y?,you ask. Have you ever heard of a METAPHORE, it is very coman in literature.LITERATURE plays a part in lyrics, at least good ones. These lyrics nead a source and that is the neighborhood. RAPPERS ARE NOT KILLING ANYONE THEY ARE WRITING. So, as the youth and some adults, gets dumber due to lack of oportunities to grow people begin to take everything literaly. This is another example is there such thing as a real life Odiseos or Hary potter, no but they are symbols. PS. I'm a painter, so i find it insulting that you crucified (thats a metaphore)These peoples time writing. Thanks for your time if you gave it to me?

[saylaam]

This was an extremely dissappointing story considering that it came from 60 minutes. I cannot even express how crazy it is that Anderson Cooper and the segment producers left out the whole issue of FEAR. YES, FEAR! Are they that in the dark about how fear factors into all of this. Those kids that Cooper interviewed were trying to act cool by saying that "No snitching" was just a simple code of the streets. Or maybe someone who responded with the obvious assessment that if you live in the 'hood, you will be harmed for snitching. Did the 60 min producers need to watch THE WIre to get an idea of what happens to snitches? And that goes for any community affected by crime and crime lords. It's one thing to say that these rappers are fools but it's another to portray the inner city black community as wild animals simply b/c the producers failed to think this situation through and confront the obvious, non-sensational, truth of the matter. Fear keeps you quiet.

[bayyyboiii]

And if someone does hurt or even kill someone in your family. You DON'T SNITCH. You handle it yourself