JayMillionaire's Blog

Being a black male born and raised in the Washington DC area there are a lot of things that play a role in crime in this city but the number one reason most crimes go unsolved I believe is the definition of SNITCHING or being labeled a SNITCH. 

We recently had a conversation in the barber shop with some young men and I brought up this topic.  I asked one of the young men what he considered a snitch and his definition was so vague that anyone in the barber shop could have fit the description.   

I asked them if they were sitting on a friends porch minding their business and a car came speeding around the corner and there was a child crossing the street and he hit the child and kept going and you saw the tag number would you tell.  His response was “No, cuz I ain’t no snitch”. 

Amazed I continued… even though I knew that the next questions had no chance but I asked it anyway.

So if you and some friends robbed a store or a bank and on your way out a woman parking her car saw you and wrote down the tag number and told the police what is she?  Of course his answer was the same “man that B is a snitch and she should have minded her own business” was his friend response which seemed to draw high fives and a few giggles.  

Okay if you are selling drugs in front of someone’s home and they call the police.  You guessed it again they consider that a snitch.

So I asked them one final question before I gave my definition

So if some shot, robbed, rapped, or murdered a family member and there were people who saw this crime take place and all your family member was doing was walking home from work minding their business would you want someone who saw the incident to come forward?  Not a word and that’s when it was very clear to me that these young men thought they knew what a snitch was.  I am from the same streets they are from and they are aware of this so I wasn’t worried about them thinking I was a snitch.  Some of these young guys looked up to me growing up so I know they will at least listen to what I am saying.

This is what I told them I considered being a snitch. 

If 4 people are in a car and they are out to commit a crime rather it be a misdemeanor or a felony crime and upon getting caught or getting away 1 of them 4 decides to tell… that is a snitch.

 Someone who agreed to be involved but decided to tell to save their own…. that is a snitch.

Someone who decided to sell drugs and upon getting caught tells on the person that gave him the drugs… that is a snitch

Law abiding citizens out to live and make a better way and witness a crime and decides to come forth does not give them the label of a snitch.  We argued for a bit but at the end most of the young men agreed that they did look anyone that gave information as a snitched but openly admitted that they do see a difference.  So it made me think what else do they think they know that they really don’t have a clue.  No of course I advised the young men to try to live a better life but that is a different topic.

Jay Millionaire