On first glance this article may seem to be about sports since it is about former welterweight boxing champion Zab Judah. He is a very good fighter and is still in good shape to possibly be a champion again. However, what happened to him the other day and his response to it point strictly to cultural issues.

Judah was hanging on a street corner in New York City at about 5 a.m. in front of his yellow Lamborghini. Suddenly, a car pulls up with several thugs inside. One of the thugs points a gun at Judah demanding all valuables. Showing he still has good footwork, he takes off. The idiot criminals, totally baffled, get back into the car and drive off. Zab gets into his car and starts to follow the criminals. Driving erratically, the thugs crash into another moving vehicle. A couple of them stagger out and run into some nearby housing projects. Meantime, a Homeland Security officer happened to catch the whole thing. As he approaches the vehicles, Judah comes around and tells the officer he was a victim of an attempted robbery. The officer checks on the injured innocent victim in the one vehicle and then holds his gun on one of the suspects who was still injured in his car. A cabdriver also caught the whole thing and drove his car around the projects and recognized one of the thugs who was hoping to jump into the cab and leave. The cabby let him in and drove him right back to where police had gathered at the scene of the accident. The third was wanted.

Let's get this straight. Judah had a gun pointed at him and he took off. One innocent fellow was injured due to thugs crashing into him. An officer risked his life by making sure a criminal suspect did not get away. Finally, a cabby had the guts to actually pick up a criminal in the street and return him to the police. Obviously one would think Judah would be very thankful for all the work his fellow citizens put in. Think again. Judah refused to identify any of the suspects because he did not want to be labeled a "snitch." No joke. He said, "I'm not a snitch. I don't do that, that's not my forte." But he did do something. He gave a "shout out" to Brooklyn where he lives. Obviously a normal thinking person wants to puke. Imagine doing all of that work and getting basically slapped in the face for it. Judah was more worried about being labeled a "snitch" than getting scum off the streets. But he is a hip-hop kind of guy and fear of being labeled a snitch like some B mob movie is more important than morals and decency.

This is becoming nothing new for the guy. After a referee stopped one of his bouts he was losing, Judah proceeded to take a stool and toss it. He then opened his glove and slid it under the ref's throat to protest the stoppage. In another recent bout billed as a "Hip-Hop Summit," hip-hop things occurred: Judah's camp fought it out with the opposing fighter's camp in the ring and security and police had to be called in to restore order. He lost that fight, too. Best of all may be his recent arrest for skipping out on a family warrant. Basically, he humped a woman and she produced a child. Yes, he is married. He was arrested at a "charity" basketball game at Madison Square Garden and owes roughly $60,000 in support.

Now, the usual "tolerance" of such nonsense will occur. People are immune to it. Certainly, you will not hear a peep about it in boxing circles- a sport filled with ex-cons. Only when a minor incident occurs involving racial words will people wake up. This is certainly true in diverse cities. Once again, the "hip-hop way" is a disaster. Judah prides himself on it. So do many people. Up is down and down is up. Being called a snitch is "worse" than getting freaks off the streets. The acceptance of such a mentality is disastrous. Stay clear as much as possible.