I have been waiting for the heat to come down after the
not-guilty verdict in the Zimmerman / Martin trial to see what the “cooler”
heads are saying; one football athlete tweeted that the jury that found
Zimmerman not guilty should all commit suicide…now you know what I mean by
cooler heads.
I have read many commentaries and I was struck by the fact
that most addressed “racial profiling” and the Florida “Stand Your Ground” law…neither
of which were factors in the case…so why bring them up?
I also read a lot about petitioning the Federal Justice Department
to bring federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman. Eric Holder did
address the issue but only to placate the crowds demanding some form of
justice; there is no legal basis to file any civil rights charges against Zimmerman
since no civil rights were broken.
President Obama spoke to the issue because as our first black
president he felt he had to and I agree. He talked about racial profiling (not
a factor in the case) and lamented the fact that black males are always looked
on with suspicion in our society although he said things were getting better
with each generation and I agree.
TIME Magazine carried an article by Michael Nutter, the
mayor of Philadelphia. He asked the question why African-American males are so
disproportionately both the victims and the perpetrators of violence, more
often than not against one another.
He said that in his city, 75% of homicide victims are black
men and 80% of those arrested for homicide are black men. This is an epidemic
but it is rarely part of any national conversation.
He said that 32 Americans are killed by gun violence every
day on average, a disproportionate number are black men but that apparently is
not breaking news; given the extraordinary and ridiculous media coverage of the
Zimmerman/Martin case, one wonders if our priorities are askew as Nutter states
or are we driven by media created frenzy that dictates our priorities.
The media is not the only culprit in creating frenzy among
us but also what I call, the professional black activists that feed on
perceived racial issues to personally thrive; I am talking about Jessie Jackson
and his ilk.
We are a republic which means we are a nation governed by
law and as far as the Zimmerman trial is concerned, it was adjudicated
correctly based on those laws and therefore the trial itself should be a moot
point.
As far as a larger, national discussion I would follow the
lead of President Obama and Mayor Nutter of Philadelphia and start addressing
the root causes of the incredible disparity between the black population in the
U.S. (12%) and the percentage of homicide victims who are black in the U.S.
(47%) and the percentage of black males that are incarcerated or have been
(37-50%).
I agree with Travon Martin’s parents when they asked not to
let Travon’s death be in vain; do something to change things for the better for
black men in this country.
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