Imagine that you are a parent of a 17 year old boy. He is actually a normal kid with normal issues and you love him dearly. He goes for a walk to the local supermarket to get a bottle of ice tea and a pack of skittles. Several hours later, the police shows up at your front door and said that your son was killed. You later found out that your beautiful son was murdered under the premise that a neighborhood watchman thought he looked suspicious. The neighborhood watchman was told by authorities to not to follow your son. He went against legal authority and followed your son with a gun. Your son only had a bottle of ice tea and a bag of skittles on his long thin body. Somehow, an altercation occurred and your son is dead. Would you stop to say, lets wait until the evidence is clear? Even parents of kids who are engaged in high criminal activities wouldn’t say, “lets wait until we have further evidence.”
When President Obama said “You know, if I had a son, he would look like Trayvon.” He felt what a lot of parents who love their kids felt. There is also additional burden on parents of black boys. It is a known fact that black men are disproportionately targeted by all authority figures in this country. A recent report in The New York Times found that “black students, especially boys, face much harsher discipline in public schools than
other students. Those inequalities extends into adulthood and graduates into disproportionate rates of stop-and-frisks for blacks and Hispanics. I lived in NYC. Harsher sentences is unfortunately a way of life in cities such as New York City.
It is more disturbing when the victim is made a victim several times over. Assassination of character and the familiar statements whenever events like these occurs “ blacks kill each other all the time, why don’t they complain about that.” I must state the facts here; all races commit more crimes within their own groups. Indeed, there is a disproportionate percentage of black on black crime. Sadly this is due to lack of education and intelligence on those committing these crimes due to post traumatic racial syndrome. Self hatred. Dr. Joy DeGruy Leary eloquently states the facts in her book; Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. This is another topic. Indeed, we need to figure this out as a nation. We need to get rid of Stand Your Ground Laws. But when you have cases of human beings targeted because of their skin color, it is wrong. There should be no excuse or ‘cop out’ by turning the attention to the victim’s race for all their maladies.
Research on racial perception proves that even the most diverse group of friends doesn’t make one immune to race-based prejudice. You should read “The Problem with the ‘Some of My Best Friends Are Black’ Defense.” By Noliwe M. Rooks.
We are sending a wrong message to kids of all races that one race is more superior or one race is inferior. This is destructive to the psychological and spiritual well being of these future adults. We end up with future victims and perpetrators. More Trayvon Martins and uneducated slanted views from minds such as George Zimmerman and others. This is tragic and despicable as a nation and as a world.
Justice must be served! We are waiting in vain. Visit Color Of Change to tell the universe that you care about all of the human race.
Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in Trayvon Martin shooting. Special prosecutor Angela Corey made a excellent decision to let Trayvon’s parents and the rest of the world know that we care.
Love and light.
Craig SOUNDA Brown is a Electronica Artist/Sound Designer; from off the planet rhetoric to a warrior for justice, peace, love and light. I invite you to join me on Facebook Reverbnation and follow me on Twitter.
…asking the reader to *emotionally* identify with Martin’s parents is the last thing this case needs…quite frankly, regardless of what happened that night there have been far too many people who have been manipulating people’s emotions around this case
It is the only way it seems to allow people to at least attempt a realistic view of what it might feels like as a parent and as a human being, regardless of not being there while this unfortunate incident took place.
i can see what you’re saying…i just associate emotion with people running around ranting and raving in the pursuit of a political agenda
True…Unfortunately with situations like these there are always parties with their own agendas. As for people like me we seem like bleeding hearts. But I still hope for a better tomorrow including the riddance of guns in the hands of psychologically untrained and unqualified people.