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Sunday, July 14, 2013

A Broken, Divided Country - Let's Fix It


     Here we are the day after six jurors, five of them mothers themselves, have found George Zimmerman "not guilty". Many young people still can't believe the decision that they made. Their baby-boomer grandparents, though saddened, have seen similar events unfold time and time again. It shows that something is terribly broken in this country when the judicial law contradicts common sense. If a grown man can stalk a young teen in his car, then follow him in the dark and fight him, then shoot him and be guilty of doing nothing wrong, then it goes against common sense.


     Many young people have been fooled into believing that racism is a thing of the past. The killing of Trayvon Benjamin Martin has showed both them and the entire world that injustice in America is alive and thriving. So many people, black and white alike, are left asking themselves, "Has anything really changed?" Black men and boys are no longer lynched for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now they are chained to the back of trucks in Georgia and dragged down the road or shot in the street on their their way home from the store with nothing but  a soft drink and a bag of Skittles in their hands. And no one pays for these crimes in the same way no one paid for the thousands of lynchings decades ago.


     The death of Trayvon Martin would never have become a national issue had it not been for the tenacity of his parents in their quest for justice. George Zimmerman's name would never have become a household word. He has split this country right down the middle. There is no color line when it comes to how the public feels about this issue. It is more so the good old boys/gun enthusiasts versus everyone else. And the numbers are about 50/50. This brings us back to the fact that the founders of this country, the first settlers in the Americas were in many instances criminals in their former homelands. The mindset they brought with them still exists today - might makes right. This is what I believe was in Zimmerman's mind the night he killed Trayvon Martin. If he didn't have a gun, which we all know a neighborhood watchman is not supposed to carry, do you really think he would have gotten out of his truck? Or was his gun the "great equalizer"? So now a young man is dead, and there is no one who will be held accountable for his death.


     Last night, and in the many days and nights to come, parents everywhere around the country will be having heart-wrenching conversations with their children. How do you tell them that there are people who can shoot them down in the street and walk away as free as a lark? How do you tell them that there are dangerous men who will kill them because they don't fit the neighborhood profile? Worst of all, how do you tell them that you can't protect them?


     There is some good to come out of this though. Young people, of all races and cultural backgrounds, are mobilizing and marching for justice. For the first time in a couple of decades, young folks are taking to the streets and marching for justice the same way they did in the sixties and seventies. Yuppies, buppies, metrosexuals, and techno-geeks are joining together today throughout the country to make sure that the Martin family gets justice. And that's a good thing. Some people have urged a nation-wide boycott of Florida. It's not Florida that is at fault. The fault lies in the hands of legislators whose pockets are fat with PAC money from the NRA and other special interest groups who don't care whether my child or yours dies in the street as long as they become more wealthy. Finally, we get it. Young people get it too. 


     Let's hope that their enthusiasm remains in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. This is not going to be a short fight lasting a round or two. As long as political greed motivates those we entrust to pass sensible laws, we will have to remain vigilant and keep marching and protesting. Instead of boycotting, we need to notify our lawmakers that it is our children who really matter. The law must work in the interest of us all, not a privileged few.So write, tweet, text and call your lawmakers and let them know you care. If they don't respond, then you must respond with your ballot and your vote.


     Soon the trial of Michael David Dunn will take place Jacksonville, Florida. Dunn is accused of shooting another black teen, Jordan Russell Davis, also like Trayvon, age 17. Again, we have what you would think is a clear case murder masquerading under the stand your ground law. Jordan was shot over a dispute of loud music playing in a friend's car. Let's be vigilant and keep the pressure on so that we can get a fair and just conclusion to this travesty. It will take all of us everywhere to  make sure this happens. The real fight is only beginning.



     

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