Skip to main content

Post Trayvon Martin Verdict: A Tale of Two Sons

In 2013, Still Two Worlds: One Black. One White.

Monday's White House press briefing started out with press secretary Jay Carney telling reporters how he spent his weekend.   After telling reporters he hoped their weekend was good, he offered an unsolicited take on his own.

"Since you asked", joked Carney who described his weekend as "great" and "unbelievable", "I had a great weekend".



"I took my son to see Paul McCartney Friday night", Carney said, calling the experience "fantastic".

"It’s just a fantastic experience because he’s amazing and his songs are amazing, but to be there with an 11-year-old who also knew all the words is pretty special."

Good for you Mr. Carney. Good for all fathers who still have their sons in their lives and can take them to baseball parks, basketball games, the movies, and Paul McCartney concerts.

The weekend for one father, and for one family, not as good.



As the world shook their heads over the weekend at a 'not guilty' verdict in the case of one George Zimmerman, the man who wantonly took the life of seventeen year old Trayvon Martin, it seemed odd listening to Carney celebrate his weekend with his son who will probably will never have to experience what young Trayvon Martin experienced.  

Carney's son will probably never be racially profiled by police officers, or wanna-be police officers, or over-zealous 'neighborhood watch men'  for just going to a nearby store for a snack and drink.   Carney's son will probably never have to experience racial injustices such as stop and frisk, driving while white; because in the world that Mr. Carney and his son live in, those things just simply don't exist, if you're white.

While some say the murder of Trayvon Martin was never racially motivated, many know in their hearts that it was indeed racially motivated - from the very beginning. 

"These thugs always get away", said Zimmerman to a 911 dispatcher who explicitly told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon.   Zimmerman did anyway.

So, here we have a nation torn apart, yet again (by race), and mothers and fathers of African American males coming to the conclusion that America has once again shown them that their lives aren't worth anything when a man can kill you in your own neighborhood for minding your own business.

When the president suggests that the way to "honor" Travyon Benjamin Martin is to "ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this", we'd like to suggest the following:  that our legal system (such that it is) put in place laws and enforcements that make it illegal to racially profile an individual on the basis of skin color; and make it illegal to stop and frisk people on the basis of skin color; and make it illegal to give people felony records and 20 years to life in prison on the basis of skin color for trying to defend oneself by firing warning shots to ward off a would-be attacker; and make it illegal for events like the Jena 6 to happen; and make it illegal for an African American high school student to receive a felony charge just because her science project went awry; and make it illegal for employers to harass African American workers by planting nooses at places of employment; and make it illegal for old men to shoot African American teens because he believes the teen's music was too loud.

Get the point?

At the end of the day, and in the final analysis, we all know that if Zimmerman had been African American and Martin had been white...


It's time America stopped having two different judicial systems in place: separate and unequal.

That is how we can honor every Trayvon Benjamin Martin, every Emmit Till, every Medgar Evers, and every Trayvon Martin, yet to come.


Related
Attorney General Eric Holder on Zimmerman Verdict: Justice Must Be Done
AG Holder and President Obama petitioned to file civil charges against Zimmerman
Black Men Go To Jail - just for killing dogs; white men go free for killing African Americans
Zimmerman's MySpace Page shows he's a gangsta/hoodlum



Article reposted from our Political blog.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

DC August Job Fair Alert: 1,000 open positions; scholarships and more!

O n Thursday, August 11 and Friday, August 12 , the Mayor's office will hold a virtual DC Government Summer Hiring Fair with more than 1,000 positions open across DC Government. If you are a DC resident, you can claim preference when applying for a job at DC Government. Registration is now open and will remain open until August 7.  DCHR is also hosting a seminar on Friday, August 5 to help participants prepare for the job fair.  You can register for the job fair and learn more about the prep session at   dc.gov/JoinOurTeam .   DC Scholarships Families can now apply for scholarships of up to $10,000 to cover the cost of after school, weekend, summer, and other out-of-school time programs and activities.  Applications are currently being accepted and will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Some examples of programs that are supported by the scholarship include, but are not limited to: academic enrichment, tutoring, mentoring, athletics, dance, coding, STEM, programs designed for stude

'We Outside Comedy Tour' Coming to DC

Save the date!  Some of the funniest comedians are heading our way this November, and you don't want to miss it. Get ready for Deon Cole , Bill Belamy,   Tony Rock , and others as the 'We Outside Comedy Tour' comes to our town. The tour kicks off in Kansas City and will 'meet us outside' November 22nd at DAR Constitution Hall. Check out www.weoutsidecomedytour.com for tour dates and times. It's another Je'Caryous production.     THE HEAVY HITTERS OF COMEDY TONY BAKER, BILL BELLAMY, MICHAEL BLACKSON, DEON COLE, RYAN DAVIS, COREY HOLCOMB, KELLY KELZ, KARLOUS MILLER, GARY OWEN AND TONY ROCK BRING THE HEAT AND COME TOGETHER TO KICK-OFF THE “WE OUTSIDE COMEDY TOUR”

The Black Fire Documentary: Records, Radio, Rhythms, and the Revolution

Available for campus showings, The Black Fire Documentary highlights the history of Washington, DC music and culture as told by some of the areas well-known artists from the 1970s influenced by Black Fire Records, an independent, Black-owned music label.  Take a look at the below trailer to see if you recognize DC's music legends. If your university, arts, , history, music and culture organization would be interested in showing The Black Fire Documentary, please contact plunkyb@gmail.com. The Black Fire Documentary Records, Radio, Rhythms, and the Revolution Announcement of Limited Engagement Screenings and Performances The Black Fire Documentary is a powerful short film which explores the history of Washington, DC music and culture by highlighting the recordings, art, messaging and people involved and influenced by Black Fire Records, the black-owned, independent label established in the mid-1970s in the Nation’s Capital. ​ Black Fire Records was founded by Jimmy Gray and J. Plun