Just some thoughts on the Trayvon Martin…
Where's the Justice?
A young man is dead, shot in the chest. It happened back in February, and finally the press is starting to give this tragedy the coverage it deserves. Now that it came to light his untimely death has created a whirlwind of anger and discontentment across the nation. From all the details I’ve seen thus far it looks like Zimmerman was over zealous in his unofficial policemen role, pursing and confronting Martin. There’s not much Martin could have done, he wasn’t in a back alley, abandoned building or some other place he had no business being, he was in his Dad’s neighborhood. He wasn’t armed or climbing out of someone’s window with a TV in hand; he did nothing wrong. If a strange person was following you then started to chase you, what would you do? How would you react? It’s not like Zimmeran was in a police uniform; for all Martin knew this could have been someone attempting to rob or harm him. And what of Zimmerman’s contiuning freedom? Well if I had been in his shoes I’d be under the jail, how has he not been arreasted? I guess the sobering part about this is that though for all our collective pain and outrage, the shock lies more in the idea Zimmerman was not arrested than that the shooting happened at all. The incident itself is not such a suprise, we all know the fact is we are already a supsect before there’s even been a crime just by default. I know I’ve been stopped for being black on a friday night, and I’ve seen the employee’s eyes following me as I shop. It’s an ugly byproduct of our culture and history, which is made crystal clear when one examins the facts. If you purse an unarmed person, confront them and shoot them, it’s painfully obvious that is not self defense. Black, white, brown whatever, it makes no differnce, or at least it shouldn’t. A frank discussion about race, bias, stereotypes, the roots of it all and what to do now is long overdue. Hopefully the rallies, blogs, media coverage, and displays of solidarity move this issue foward. And maybe, when my son grows up he won’t have to explain the ugly truth of such things to his son, or is that too much to ask? Only time will tell. For now I’ll keep pushing for justice and not let this young man’s death be in vain.