I usually do a WordLESS Wednesday…but I find myself with too much to say today. The scenario that ultimately
I don’t get it.
Let me get this straight; A young man walking along minding his own business (casing the neighborhood, according to his MURDERER), sweet-treat in hand, girlfriend on phone, followed, chased even, probably a little freaked out by what was happening…he did something to deserve a bullet to the chest? Hmmmm.
I find it interesting that a complete stranger who was staring at this child, chasing this child, following this child in a harassing manner, and ultimately shot and killed this child has retained his freedom with an argument of self-defense because he STOOD HIS GROUND. Yet, the very thought that this same child may have defended himself against the creeper that was definitely threatening him is a justification of his death?
This makes no sense to me. None.
How can you claim self-defense when you were the one doing the chasing? How can it be unacceptable for a kid to defend himself against a perceived threat (with fists) while Zimmerman’s actions (with a gun) are dismissed as acceptable self-defense? How can the past actions of an adolescent boy be loaded into a smear campaign’s arsenal, while the past criminal record (also swept under the rug, probably thanks to his family’s ties to law enforcement) of a grown-a$$ man seem to fall into the shadow of the spotlight being put onto what Trayvon did to deserve death?
Still confused. Let me tell you a little story.
My son is seventeen and he is a junior in high school, just like Trayvon. He is one of just a handful of brown faces in a sea of white ones at his high school. He has no criminal record, no history of drug use, trouble making, or even disrespecting his teachers or fellow students. He lost his cell phone at school one day, just couldn’t remember where he laid it down. A security guard at his school found the phone and, in an out-and-out lie that his actions were to discover the owner of the phone, he violated my child’s fourth amendment rights by conducting an illegal search through all of my son’s private text messages. Now, when I find a cell phone, I simply look through the contacts list to find a Mom or a Dad…but that’s just me. I don’t go into each text message individually, reading them all, in an attempt to locate the owner.
My son, who left his backpack and sneakers in the trunk of his friend’s car, sent a text to that friend that read “I left my stuff in your trunk.” (that’s right, the security guard read sent messages as well). My son was subsequently questioned and threatened by the school’s Athletic Director and the school’s Deputy (not the original security guard but an actual officer of the law), in an attempt to gain information relating to drugs at the school (which, of course, he didn’t have for them). Yes, that’s right. My son’s right’s were violated and we, as the parents of a minor child, were never informed by the school of this happening, during or after. In case you’re wondering, my son had a picture of himself as the phone’s screen-saver so, yes, they knew the phone belonged to a black kid before they started their search of it without consent.
I’m saying all that to say this: I DON’T CARE IF TRAYVON’S SCHOOL CLAIMS HE’S EVER BEEN IN A LITTLE TROUBLE THERE! I DON’T BLAME HIM IF HE PUNCHED THE FACE OF THE STRANGER WHO WAS EERILY FOLLOWING HIM! A YOUNG MAN IS DEAD. LIFE. GONE. AND NO ONE CAN MAKE ME BELIEVE THAT GEORGE ZIMMERMAN DID NOT COMMIT MURDER THE NIGHT HE STOLE TRAYVON’S ENTIRE FUTURE!
So go on ahead, talk about an empty bag of weed, make ignorant statements about how living like a thug means dying like one, say something stupid about how the hoodie killed Trayvon, speculate about Zimmerman’s injuries in an attempt to aid in his lie that his mid-200 pound body needed deadly force to be protected from the mid-100 pound frame of the kid he was chasing. Just as in hundreds of thousands of rape cases, go on ahead and find a reason that the victim deserved to be violated.
Trayvon Martin should still be here. His heart should still beat, his lungs should still draw breath. He should still be visible to the eyes of his mother, not just to the memories she now has to cling to. He should still be able laugh, love, play football, watch basketball with his dad, eat skittles, and drink tea. He should still hear the voice of his girlfriend through that cell phone. People should still be chanting his name, but it shouldn’t be under the heartbreak of tragedy – rather the victories of HIS LIFE.
Trayvon Martin should still be here…and it is not his fault that he’s not!
