Yeah, we're going to be a little political. Sorry. But this is one I need to comment on.
Whatever his color, shape, or size, what happened to Trayvon Martin was a dastardly and reprehensible act. The pain his family must be going through is real and likely enough to last more than one lifetime.
Maybe he was killed for racial reasons by this guy. Maybe it was an unfortunate accident. Two ships passing in the dark night air on the high seas. A horrible collision of beings. We will never know until there is a trial by jury. Because, allegedly in America, you are innocent until proven guilty by a court of your peers. Or whatever they tell me every time I wind up stuck with jury duty.
Nevertheless, tons of folks in Florida are up in arms and suddenly we're back in 1862. Whites are enslaving Black people and we're all guilty of these horrible things.
True, I don't know what it feels like to be persecuted. To feel bigotry. To be walking down the street and have a stranger's eyes view me suspiciously as a potential mugger. Yet, at the same time, haven't we come so far as a nation already? Why is that whenever a Black kid is killed, we are right back to the days of Jim Crow and separate bathrooms? What am I missing in the history books of the past half decade?
Just as always happens with these incidents, the usual suspects show up for their hand-wringing and head-bobbing photo ops. Their business model is revived one more time. Let's face it, when we're all getting along famously as fellow citizens, zealots like Al Sharpton have no purpose.
And now we have another addition to the fray. Our own President of the United States. He felt a need to make a comment. Hey, it's his country. Freedom of speech prevails...usually. Please, sir, the microphone is yours.
He lamented what happened to Trayvon. The President said that if he had a son, he'd look like Trayvon. Hopefully without the big ears. And he invited us all as Americans to do some really deep "soul searching" about it all.
Huh???
The man never lets any one of these "teachable moments" get by. Or does he?
About a year ago, there was tons of violence and property damage perpetrated by Black teenagers all over the Northeast with that "flash mob" phenomenon?
Mr. President, your comment is...?
How about those young Black girls who beat the shit out of a homosexual in a McDonald's? A major hate crime which you can watch from a variety of different and ugly angles on You Tube.
Mr. President, your comment is...?
Hey, a few months back, the city of Orlando, Florida was under seige one night when a marauding group of mostly Black teenagers went nuts at a midnight sneaker sale, where I'm guessing a lot of dough was spent on the latest new style from Nike.
Mr. President, your comment is...?
Over and over and over, there are examples of similar silence from the President of this nation where equal doses of indignation are expected? Apparently, those "teachable moments" come in only one shade.
Sadly, there is racism still rampant in this nation. But it also works both sides of the street and the rainbow. And, as much as I hate to say this, the biggest perpetrator of this hatred might be living in a building ironically known as the White House.
Dinner last night: Pizza with sausage, fennel, and Kalamata olives.
1 comment:
Let's add that Obama is a lawyer and should not be commenting on a homicide that will be going to trial. Maybe comments by the President of the United States would prejudice the jury.
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