Tag Archive | “prejudice”

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The Pervasiveness of White Supremacy Doctrines

Posted on 23 June 2015 by mdepeine

We must admit to reality and not continue to stick our “heads in the sand” on the subject of “white supremacy” and the use of its most effective tool, racism. Here’s a tough question: Are blacks equal to whites? Are whites equal to blacks? How you feel about the answer should give you a lot of insight on whether you support or are against racism. Don’t base your answer on the propoganda (network news’ portrayal of blacks, excessive incarceration of blacks in America, inferior roles in movies, etc.) that you are fed daily from sources that want to perpetuate this idea of “white supremacy” and “black inferiority,” but base your answer on the fact that we were all created by one God. I make this a black and white issue because of America’s continued desire to ignore the traumatic impact of slavery on its history and its refusal to have any meaningful dialogue towards reparation. We need to put everything on the table and admit to the wrong and move toward dismantling everything that serves as an undercurrent that maintains this false ideology of “white supremacy.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-e-price/yes-youre-a-racist—-and-a-traitor_b_7640654.html

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American Racism, Unaddressed, Leads to Murder

Posted on 18 June 2015 by mdepeine

My prayers and thoughts go out to the families whose lives have been shattered by the murder of their loved ones.  I feel very sad and appalled about what has happened in Charleston, South Carolina.  A 21 year old white man decided that he was better than 9 other human beings.  He decided that he could take the lives of 9 other people because of his apparent hatred of their color and what they represented to him.  It is a shame what we see in America today.

So many people spend a lot of energy denying that racism and prejudice in America is alive and very strong.  What kind of upbringing leads a 21 year old to shoot and kill 9 people who are attending a church service, having a time of prayer?  The more we deny the racism and prejudice in America, the more murders will occur as a result of it.  America needs a gut check!  America needs a reeducation about race and race relations.  America needs to confront the truth about its past, its apathy about the present, and strive to redirect its future towards harmony.  America and all of its citizens must lift a hand to dismantle the hatred rooted in racism and prejudice, which is so readily supported by privilege and entitlement.

“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

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Black Teens Being Mistreated by the Police

Posted on 08 June 2015 by mdepeine

 Police treatment of teens

We have a problem in America.  When young black citizens can be treated like criminals just because of their color, we have a problem.  When black teens are randomly handcuffed because they are expressing their disapproval of the treatment they are receiving, then we have a problem in America.  When a young teen girl can be “manhandled” by a police officer in America because she protested the treatments she observed, we have a problem in America.

What I find very telling from the above video is the way the “officer” calmly talked to the white teens, while he vigilantly pursued the black ones.  The whites seemed to have been presumed innocent, as they confidently and securely looked on, while the blacks had guns pulled out on them.  Is it not clear to all America that there is a big race problem that is still not being acknowledged and addressed?

This race problem will require a HUGE dialogue and some serious introspection.  It will not be addressed by blind denial or quick bandaids.  This will only be addressed when we look at America’s history from the dawn of slavery to the Civil Rights Movement, to the present.  America has attempted to give blacks some rights, but America, as a whole, never accepted that blacks and whites are indeed EQUAL and must be given EQUAL treatment under the law.

Right now, it appears that the police, like the police of early America (post emancipation to the present), exists to protect whites from blacks, and not just protect all citizens of the US.  There have been some positive changes in some police departments, but the bigger change will need to involve the whole history of America before any real changes are made.

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A Movement of “Justice for All” is Happening Because of Trayvon Martin

Posted on 19 July 2013 by mdepeine

It is very hard to say in a few words what many have experienced as a result of the Zimmerman acquittal that occurred on July 13, 2013.  That day will hopefully go down in history as one of the days that changed America for the better.  Essentially, what the verdict said to “Black America” and other Americans who understood, is that it is now “open season” on black young men; black young men “have no rights.”

It seemed that with each passing year after the landmark Civil Rights legistlation of the 1960s there were attempts to get things to go back to “the way they were.”  There seems to be a movement in America that keeps trying to inch back to a time when you could kill a black man or any person of color and you just didn’t have to answer to anyone!  You had the all white jury.  You had the klansman as the judge and you had the laws that backed you up.  If any black person ever dared to take a case to court against a white person, the court procedings were a matter of “formality.”  The white defendant knew with certainty that he or she would not be “betrayed” by the system already put in place and he would not be betrayed by his “peers.”

There are people in America who are nostalgic about such an attrocity.  They long for the days when they could “take matters into their own hands.”  When they did in the past, they were held in high regard by the white majority.  These days, these same people are doing their best to “cloak” their motives in ways that are being communicated in somewhat “politically correct” language even though they have the same goals and motives on their hearts as the people of the past did.  So you will here things like “victim’s rights.”  You will here the emphasis on “the right to bear arms.”  You will hear about “the urban problem.”  You will hear about the “crime” and the “drug problem.” You will hear words like “thugs,”  “felons,”  and “welfare recipients.”  All those terms have have been carefully and strategically “placed” on the black  the community and other people of color.  They have become “code words” that say “We don’t like blacks but we have to deal with them  in a ‘smart’ way.”

As a black man who is a man of God, I know that God made us all.  He made us all so very interesting.  He has allowed us to have all kinds of skin, hair and eye color.   God loves diversity.  If He didn’t, He would have made all of us into one color (you pick one); eyes and hair the same color as well.  God would have made it so that we all have the same hair texture, the same length capacity and so on.  But, because we are so caught up in our pride of wanting to be better than the other, we would have found another way to discriminate.  He made us all human and we found a way to discriminate about color.  If we couldn’t discrimiate about color, we would probably discriminate about ear size and shape, or maybe tone of voice, feet length, height, torso height; you get the point.

This whole racism issue in America is “silly” but it is also hurtful and deadly at the same time.  Many American laws were crafted to oppress and control blacks and other people of color.  There was never a decision by the majority in the United States of America to voluntarily give equal rights to blacks or anyone similar.  Remember, blacks came from being treated as animals and property to demanding that they be treated as EQUAL!  To many whites of those days it was a preposterous demand.  “How dare they think that they could now be considered equal to us?”  That was the ringing and repeated question and the recurring protest, even in the present day.  Yes, many whites are still thinking, “How dare they ask to be equal, after all, we don’t lynch them anymore.  We don’t enslave them.  We even let them use the same facilities (for the most part) with us.  We have let our kids go to school with them.  In some cases, we have not killed them for mixing their blood with our blood (eventhough that has happened since the days of slavery when white men raped female slaves), something that certainly required death in the past.”  So I kind of get it.  Most white Americans never wanted the EQUALITY, they just went along with the laws that were put in place by “force.”  Then, they just had to live with it until they could find a way to undo those laws.

You see, America as a nation has never embraced the idea of EQUALITY.  It never said “You know, we were wrong for enslaving these people and treating them like animals and our property.  They are our equals and we need to do right by them.”  America has not said that and until America says that and learns to have a change of heart, there will always be Trayvon Martins, Amadou Diallos, Sean Bells, Jordan Davis, and many others who will get killed because their lives are “not equal” in the eyes of White America.  Until we do campaigns, laws and other activities that address racism, we will have Superior America versus Inferior America.  You will always have “two Americas.”

After the Trayvon Martin verdict, as a Christian, I know what God wants.  I know His standard.  I also know that this body that I have, that has the outer covering of color, the color brown; this body is really just a tent (2 Peter 1:12-14) that houses the Spirit of God.  We impose various characteristics to the “tent” that we have and others have.  We attribute “like” to some tents, “hate” to others and to some tents we say “stay away from those tents because…”  The fact is, however, we all are just spiritual beings living in a “tent.”  We have made the “tent” more important then what God intended it to be.  As a Christian, I know that when I die, like everybody else, I will put this tent away and God will give me an eternal body.

So, as a Christian, I also know I serve a God who is just.  I would not have known what justice is if it was not for what God has shown me in His word, the Bible.  I know He hates injustice (2 Chronicles 19:7) and oppression (Isaiah 58:6).  It bothers me that some who are “Chritians” can “miss” the injustice that occurred in the Trayvon Martin case.  The young man was profiled by an average citizen, not a law officer (still illegal to do so).  The citizen, George Zimmerman, pursued Trayvon and eventually shot him in the heart and killed him with that one shot.  All the “code words” that I mentioned above were applied to Trayvon to criminalize him because he, after all, belonged to the “inferior America.”  By the time the case was done, those who just looked at the so-called “facts” seemed to feel justified in acquitting George Zimmerman while dishonoring and devaluing the life of Trayvon Martin.

The American criminal justice system is set up to look at the “facts” for the most part.  There are a lot of biases that are inherint in the system.  Here are some:  Most judges are white, most jurors are white, most laws were written by whites,  most police officers are white and the list goes on.  The bias in this system is simple; a white judge, police officer, or juror is readily “connected” with a a white  defendant or plaintiff.   They can relate because they could say, “Wow, he could be my father, my brother or my son.”  When both the defendant and plaintiff are white, perhaps a greater emphasis is on the facts of the case, however other biases (economic status, nationality, etc.) can be at play. When faced with a black defendant or plaintiff, the connectivity (translated here as bias) is nonexistent.  The white judge, police officer, or juror can’t picture this black defendant or plaintiff (black youth, in the case of Trayvon) as a possible father, brother, or son.  That is too much to ask.  The only thing these people tend to do in the case of a black defendant or plaintiff is “apply the law of the land.”  Just the “facts” and only the “facts” are looked at.  The idea of a human life being taken, the hurting parent, wife, husband, the future, the pains, none of that comes into play because there is no connection and there is no relatability.  It is hard to understand motive and the implications of the crime in question when there is no connection or  empathy.  If a case is not made to “humanize” the black defendant or plaintiff,  then, the so-called “facts” and statutes will inevitably “do him in.”  I am almost certain that the mostly white jury that acquitted Zimmerman did not say to themselves:   “Wow, this could happen to my son if I don’t convict Zimmerman.”  They could not say such a thing because this does not happen to white young men.  The empathy was so far removed from this case but that’s “normal” in America.  This issue must be addressed if we are to have somewhat of a fair justice system.

Regardless of the “laws of the land,” we are all human beings.  It is unfair to have a sytem designed to empathize with whites while it serves to alienate and disenfranchise blacks and other people of color.  That is simply unjust by any real sense of the word.  Anyone who does not understand what I have said so far should approach (preferrably during the day in an open environment – they may thing you are behaving like Zimmerman?) any black person and ask them:  “What has it been like for you living in America as a black person?”  The older the person, the more they can tell you.  If you feel brave enough and you really want to understand, then ask them this question:  “What did the acquittal of George Zimmerman mean to you?”  Don’t try to tell them how to think or look at the facts, just use this to get a glimpse of the “world” that a black person lives in.

As a Christian, I don’t think it is enough to say to other Christians, “Hey the world is evil and that’s just how it is.”  That is a very true statement and I absolutely agree with it and believe it.  But, as the light of the world (Mathew 5:14-16) Christians have to try to empathize with those who are hurting like God empathizes.   Christians must validate people’s pain and see how they can relieve those pains.  There were many “Christians” in the time of slavery, lynchings and state-sponsored terrorism against blacks.  Some of those “Christians” made it worst for the oppressed when they should have stood up and said “This is wrong!”  God’s standards are not limited to a church gathering.  He wants the whole world to know His standards.  If I could say a few things to shed some “light” on how the world is treating innocent people then I see it as my duty to shed light.

We feel so great when a popular and well-liked celebrity takes on a good cause and speaks up on behalf of an oppressed group.  It means something to us.  If God parted the heavens and said, “This injustice has to stop and everyone must do their part to stop it!” We would be impressed.  He essentially did that when He sent Moses to free the Jews (Exodus 3:1-10) from the Egyptians.  If all of us look hard enough, we will all see that our American system, as it is, is very flawed, biased and deadly.  It is time for all of us to do our part to redo this system and remove the “perks” for some but serve as a death trap for others.  Americans have not decided to be EQUAL.  We must effectively tackle this issue and help as many  Americans as possible to see that EQUALITY is the reality…anything else is a myth.  God did create all men equal in His sight.  Our diversity is there to experience the various qualities of God, that is all.

Every man and woman with a conscience should do something to keep this discussion going and expect significant change.  Everyone who believes in EQUALITY must step up and lend a hand to create a movement in America that will not be stopped.  Pressure must be applied to this dysfunctional system that is full of bias.  Federal standards need to be put in place to protect all citizens in every State of the United States of America.  It should not be left up to individual states to decide the value of the life of American citizens or that of the aliens who live among us.  Let Trayvon’s tragic death serve as the catalyst that gets us, in America, to discuss and tackle this issue of race openly, from the White House to the alleyways of Bronx, NY.  Every corner of this country needs to be free for every American and denial or dismassal of this issue cannot be accepted anymore.

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Another Young Black Child Killed…For Being Black?

Posted on 02 December 2012 by mdepeine

Jordan Davis and his friends were listening to loud music in their car.  These are teenagers enjoying their music.  Sure, the music may not have been to everyone’s liking but they had the right to live.  That sounds absurd to me that I am writing about music and death of a teen at the same time!

Again, in Florida, a white man (Michael Dunn, 45 years old) took his gun and decided that he had every right to shoot at black youths.  He shot at their car eight (8) times and two (2) bullets hit Jordan Davis and killed him.  Jordan was 17 years old.  Why did this man think that  he had that right?  Why did he think it was his business to stop these kids and tell them what to do?  Why did he think that he had the right to pull out his gun and shoot at people who did nothing against him?  These kids were in their car…they never got out of the car, yet he had the nerve to say that he felt threatened because he supposedly saw a shotgun?  Then, call the police, don’t just start shooting at people because you feel like it.  Why shoot at these kids, God’s children, eight times and then run like a coward?  Now, he wants to hide behind Florida’s deadly “Stand Your Ground Law.”  Imagine if this were a black man who had done the shooting  of white youths while they listened to their music?  Would their be  a national outrage?  You could bet on it!

This is absolutely disgusting and inhumane.  It is outrageous and absolutely unfair!  Worst of all, the killer left the scene of the crime and drove off close to 200 miles away.  There are reports that he was under the influence of alcohol?

This is another example of how worthless the life of a black youth is in America.  This incident, the Trayvon Martin incident, and many others like it illustrate a deep and growing cancer in America towards the black youths.

Everyone should say “No more!  No more!  Enough is enough!  Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Indians and all people need to say “Enough is enough!  This is an American problem.  Too many sit quietly and ignore this issue as if it is so isolated and it is not!  Kids are being victimized and there is not an outrage…all people with half a conscience should be outraged and say “No more!”  Where is the compassion?  True compassion should never have a “color.”  If you are compassionate, you will have compassion for “your kind” and others as well.

Tribute Song: Shot Into History (Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell…) – YouTube

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Voter Suppression in Florida, Pennsylvania and other Crucial States (Election 2012)

Posted on 25 September 2012 by mdepeine

How is it that in the year 2012 we have elected officials all over the United States devising ways to keep people from voting?  There is a presidential election occurring on November 6, 2012 and Republican politicians are “bending over backwards” to suppress the vote.  They have claimed that there needs to be provisions put in place to prevent voter fraud (less than 1% cases documented).  This could not be further from the truth!  Millions of Americans, mostly blacks and hispanics, are in jeopardy of losing their right to vote because of these last minute changes made to suppress the vote.  Here are some of those restrictions:

1.  The requirement of a state issued photo Identification card at a cost (in Pennsylvania, alone, that affects approximately 800,000 voters).  This change should never be allowed during a Presidential election year!  It takes years to correctly implement such new changes, not a few weeks before an election.

2.  The reduction of early voting days (in Florida, they had 15 days of early voting in 2008, this year, it has been cut down to only 8 days) will create even bigger lines than what we saw in 2008.  Our elected officials should be looking for ways to expedite the process, not create extreme “bottleneck” and regression to “days of old” when only the “privileged” got the “right” to vote.

3.  Most government agencies could not produce the volume of ID cards necessary to allow all eligible voters to vote in time for the elections.  A situation was created that makes it physically impossible to make the new IDs that would be necessary to allow all voters who wished to, the opportunity to vote.  This is grossly unfair!

4.  In some cities, Florida will have a voting sheet that will be as long as 10 pages per voter (with several referendums to decide on)!  Imagine the extra long lines that will create and the discouragement and frustration it will cause to many seniors and people who cannot afford to miss hours of work (poll tax?) to wait to vote.

How could a party that seems to pride itself on protecting the US Constitution create such scenarios to disenfranchise so many Americans?  This smells of extreme hypocrisy and a gross lack of patriotism.

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Taboo: Speaking on Behalf of Blacks and other people of Color

Posted on 30 August 2012 by mdepeine

When something is considered “taboo” it is something that you dare not mention or bring up.  A common response to you mentioning something that is “taboo” would be “Don’t speak of it!”  When something is “taboo” everybody around “knows” that only a fool would bring up the “taboo subject” in a public setting.  You don’t blurt out such subjects when you are in a crowded room.  You don’t bring them up when you speak from the podium.  You don’t mention these “taboo subjects” at a cocktail party.  You only discuss them in the privacy of your home and in your bedroom with someone you trust.

In America, I realize that “race, racism, prejudice” are “taboo subjects.”  These subjects usually come up when a “victim” of racism or prejudice wants some expression or justice in relation to what they have experienced.  Then and only then do I see these things become almost “acceptable” to discuss openly.  For example, race was discussed openly when we saw what happened to Rodney King.  It was also discussed openly when we saw what happened to Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Chavis Parker and a host of other black men who were killed  by the police.  Other than these extremely publicized cases, it seems that the topic of race, racism and prejudice goes back on “the shelf” until needed again.

Another taboo subject in America is a person’s color.  There seems to be this collective consciousness that says that “We are all the same and we need not make distinction about color.”  Ideally, that is where we would like to get to as a country.  Realistically, however, that is not where we are.  There are too many examples that “scream” of inequality.  Too many blacks, yes, I used the word, live in poverty. Too many blacks are not getting a quality education (elementary, secondary and college).  Too many underperforming school districts are being “ravaged” by bureaucrats in the name of “school reform.”  Too many black men are in prison and have no possibility of parole.  Too many blacks are in and out of jail and don’t even have the “right to vote” any more.  Too many young black men are being brutally killed by police and other security forces in the name of “justified force.”

Yes, God has created all of us as human beings.  We breath the same air.  We drink the same water (H2O).  We bleed the same way.  Our bodies get the same sicknesses and have the same organs.  Genetically speaking, Science has linked all humans to one common mother they call “Eve.”  So, we are all the same, but when you look at the history (include slavery), we have not all been treated the same.

So, I want to shatter this “taboo” and freely discuss race, racism, prejudice and skin color (all shades) freely for the purposes of highlighting a problem that must be addressed so that lives can be improved.  The non-victims of race don’t care to discuss race.  For the victims who daily navigate this society with the understanding that the dominant (white) race barely “sees” them or cares to “hear” them, this is a true reality.  Sometimes it is more real than the air that they breath, if that were possible.

Somehow, in America, it is wrong to speak up and say that “This was done to him/her because he/she is black.”  Those of color KNOW more than anybody when they are discriminated against.  An “outsider” can never define that for them because the “outsider” does not know what it is to really experience that racism or prejudice as a minority.  Yes, a white person will experience racism and it is wrong, but even that “offense” is a lot different from the person in the minority experiencing that offense.  The person in “power” who experiences racism could say, “Well, that’s your problem if you don’t like me because of my color, I control things anyway, you will still need to come back to me.”  On the other hand, the person who is not in “power” does not have the luxury of saying what the dominant, white person can say.  The one in the minority can say “Wow, another reminder of what I have to overcome to get somewhere in this country, I hope that he/she doesn’t close too many doors for me.”  This is just a glimpse of the thoughts that people could have.  One person sets the conditions for racism, one person is forced to navigate through those conditions.

Those who are afraid to address racism in America will call anyone who points out these trends a “race monger.”  They may call anyone who wants to bring to light these issues a “racist.”  The reality is, they don’t want to open up this “can of worms.”  But those who are daily victims of it, live in the “can of worms” every day.  They just want the “can of worms” to be addressed constructively as a country, as a nation.  Lots of good was done in the 50s and 60s during the Civil Rights Movement, but still a lot more needs to be done today, in the twenty-first century.

I believe that all Americans, Christians and non Christians, should put in the effort to address this issue of race.  The funny thing is, our best churches and fellowships are afraid to tackle this issue thoroughly, even though it exists there as well.

Let’s shatter the “taboos” of race discussion.  Let’s discuss what really is there and not speak from a point of view of only what we wish was there.  You can’t confront and fix a problem that you won’t acknowledge is there.  The first step is “admitting that you have a problem.”  So, we don’t have to live by those “fake rules” that say:  Don’t mention black or white, don’t mention racism, don’t talk about slavery and its impact on race relations today, don’t talk about reparation, don’t speak up for blacks, don’t help the poor, don’t talk about trends against blacks, don’t talk about inequality, don’t talk about the contributions of slaves, and a host of other don’ts.  You fill in the rest.

We must bring race relations in the United States to the table and confront it.  It affects every facet of our society and our daily lives in an adverse way and we pretend that it doesn’t.  Barack Obama spoke about it four (4) years ago in 2008.  That was the last major attempt to address “race in America.”  Tons of books have been written about the subject and hundreds of millions of people are adversely affected by it in this country alone.  Yet, can we continue to stand by and ignore such a big PROBLEM?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mentally Ill 49 Year Old Black Man is shot 46 Times by Saginaw, MI Police

Posted on 30 August 2012 by mdepeine

Saginaw, Michigan (July 2012): Milton Hill (49 year old black man) was allegedly shot at 46 times by 6 police officers who were about 10 feet away. All of that took about 5 seconds. That’s an average of 9 bullets per second towards one man. Officers said that Milton had a knife and he refused to drop it. Milton’s parents said that he suffered from mental illness. Why didn’t they stop at one (1) bullet? Too many of these killings are occurring and nothing is being done to stop it or address it as a nation. See the video on CNN.com

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Young Black Male in Police Custody, Hands Handcuffed Behind His Back, “Found Dead” in Back of Police Car?

Posted on 22 August 2012 by mdepeine

Death Of Handcuffed Man In Police Car Ruled A Suicide : The Two-Way : NPR

How does such a thing happen in America and we are not all enraged?  How does the “Police” have the nerve to rule this a suicide?  Chavis Carter, 21 years old (Arkansas), was thoroughly searched and there was no gun found and yet he was killed by a single bullet to the temple.  Where did the gun come from?  Why was there a gap in the police dashboard monitor’s footage?  Why is there no footage of the so-called “suicide?”

I smell “cover-up!”

This is another Trayvon Martin, plain and simple!

Mario Depeine, Sr. | Shot Into History (Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell…) | CD Baby Music Store

 

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Did Trayvon Have the Right to Defend Himself? Bernard Goetz Did!

Posted on 17 August 2012 by mdepeine

Somehow Trayvon Martin did not have the right to defend himself as he felt threatened or was threatened by a complete stranger who followed him in the dark.  In New York, in1984, Bernard Goetz (37 years old), who was white, felt threatened and he opened fire and shot four young black males.  He was later acquitted of attempted murder but found guilty for possessing an illegal gun.   He served only 8 months in jail.  Suppose Trayvon carried an illegal gun, shot George Zimmerman, would he only have served 8 months like Bernard Goetz did?  Suppose he had killed George, instead, would he have been out on bail or would he have been on death row already?

Bernard Goetz just “thought” that four (4) black young men were going to mug him on the train and he “opened fire” and wounded all four.  Many hailed him as a hero, while others saw him as a racist.  The four black men, in this case, “pursued” Bernard Goetz to his subway seat. Bernard Goetz was asked for $5 by four young black men and he opened fire because he “felt threatened.”  He felt “threatened and he “opened fire!”  He concluded that he was being mugged, again.

Trayvon Martin was “pursued” by a white man (Spanish mom does not necessarily mean, “nonwhite” mom, there are plenty of Spanish people who’s race is “white”), he obviously felt threatened and possibly “fought” for his life before his life was unnecessarily taken by George Zimmerman.  George could have followed the direction given to him by the “real” police but he instead aggressively “pursued” an innocent (was not committing any crime which warranted apprehension or lethal force) “young black male.”

Surely, in America, we are not saying that only white men and women have the right to defend themselves  (“stand your ground”) when they “perceive” a threat or are aggressively “pursued” in the dark of night?  Suppose Trayvon had managed to wrestle the gun out of Zimmerman’s hand and shot / killed Zimmerman, would he have been found “guilty” of murder / manslaughter?  Would it have been an “open and shut” case?  Bernard Goetz carried an illegal gun to “protect” himself and used it, not against one person, but against four (4) people, and he was not found guilty of the shootings.  He carried a loaded, illegal gun.  That showed premeditation!  Yet, as a white man, he was not found guilty of the shooting.

Why is Trayvon Martin’s “right to life” an issue?  Perhaps he fought George? Perhaps he knew martial arts?  Does that take away his innocence in this situation?  If he fought George Zimmerman, he may have done what any white American has the right to do, defend himself based on a “perceived threat.”  If someone who is not a police officer pursues me and he has a gun, I can only assume that that person is out to harm me in some way.

Goetz was asked for $5 by four young black men and he “opened fire” because he felt threatened.  Why are so many shocked and concerned that Trayvon Martin may have “fought” Zimmerman for his life?  If he fought for his life it was because he, like Bernard Goetz, felt threatened.  Only, in Trayvon’s case, he was black, he was not armed and he was killed after he was “pursued” and threatened.

Whether Zimmerman should be convicted of second degree murder is for the court and jury to decide.  But it is clear that Zimmerman “pursued” an innocent young black man and caused the death of that young black man, Trayvon Martin.  Zimmerman disregarded the direction given to him by the police and he escalated the situation until it became violent and eventually, lethal.  Trayvon Martin did not bring this on himself, Zimmerman “brought it on” Trayvon Martin.  If George Zimmerman had listened to the police, we would not have even heard of a Travon Martin or a George Zimmerman.  It would not have been a story at all.  Trayvon would have gone home to his family and that would have been the end of the story!

The fact that there is a Trayvon Martin story is because this young black man was wearing a “hoody” in a certain neighborhood (his father’s neighborhood).   We have to explore this issue and address the “profiling” that occurs in America.  We have to address the racism that causes the death and incarceration of so many young black men in America.  We have to take a “real” look at this issue and not be quick to dismiss it as “nonsense” or “sensationalism.”  There is still a race problem in America and the sooner we address it the healthier we will be as a nation.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0412/17/lkl.01.html

 

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