The Verdict Heard Round the World - Zimmerman is Free!

        Aleasa M. Word         All Rights Reserved

I must first begin by expressing my heartfelt sympathy to
the Martin family and to all the families of those who have lost their sons and  daughters to similar tragedies. 
 
If you don’t know the story of the tragic death of young  Trayvon Martin, in my opinion you must have been hiding under a rock. Of course   in light of the verdict of not guilty that the accused George Zimmerman received on Saturday, July 13, 2013 the crowds of protestors have surely turned all of the rocks over. 
 
So does this case really warrant all of the publicity it has received before, during and after the trial? As a mother of two young black males I say heck yes! As a mother of a total of 3 children regardless of color,
I still say heck yes. Since when does taking a child’s life mean nothing? Certainly Michael Vick did a bid in jail for taking a dog’s life.  Is a black child’s life worth less than a four legged animal?  Is any child’s life worth less? Killing ANY CHILD is disgraceful and in this case not only was this young boy killed but he was hunted down and it involves heavy racist undertones that eat at the core of what many Americans want to pretend isn’t there – RACISM! We are a country divided by color and money yet those who feel unaffected refuse to admit to it.
 
To many, the voting in of a black president seemed like we’d finally made it. We overcame the bar that was set too high for minorities to overcome. Some thought Obama won because he was black. Some thought he won because he was for young people. And some thought once he got in he’d be a savior to a race of people who feel oppressed and continuously cry out against racial disparities.  As I recently tweeted, getting a black president did not stop racism family, it merely exposed it. It exposed a long history of pain, beatings, social injustice and faulty belief systems. It exposed feelings in some people they didn’t even know they had and are still too ashamed to admit. 
  
So with this said,  then why is it a surprise that a black child was killed and a non-black got away with it? After all the media has reported this man is not really Caucasian, but in fact he is instead Peruvian.  Racism my friends can come in many forms. Whether this man was in fact of Latin descent living a life more relatable to many non-minorities or if he was in fact of European descent the fact is he made it abundantly clear that “those types of people”  (Trayvon Martin being black) was  certainly not welcome in George Zimmerman’s neighborhood. I still shake my head at the thought that this man against police dispatcher warnings continued to follow an unarmed teenager; made this young boy feel threatened and fear for the life that was eventually taken by Mr. Zimmerman and was subsequently supported  by Florida’s stand your ground law. 
 
The tragedy is that this child died. The tragedy is that another mother and another father lost their child in a senseless act. The tragedy is that Mr. Zimmerman has no idea the magnitude of pain he caused for a family that did nothing to him other than have a teenager that did what other teens do nor does he appear to have utmost remorse.  This boy wore a hoodie, he may have cursed and he may have partied or gave the finger to people in a picture as the defense wanted to let the world know. But who amongst us hasn’t been a teen and done similar things? Does that make us a threat? Of course not but to many in this country something as simple as the color of our skin automatically makes us vicious animals unworthy of living and enjoying the same rights as others.  
 
Racism is in no way shape or form dead whether it be against blacks, whites, latinos or other ethnicities. 
It does however seem to have a clearly unbalanced way of landing blacks in prison and dead without people paying.
 
We need to stop allowing such disgusting hate crimes to continue unpunished. We need to face the reality that each of us has demons we need to deal with about our own beliefs that will NEVER go away if we refuse to face them. We as blacks also need to stop trying to be politically correct to make others happy or seem as though we aren’t complainers in the CLEARLY MARKED face of unfair treatment simply because of the color of our skin. We need to create a culture where I don’t have to have “the  talk” with my sons – and I’m not talking sex. This is the talk about watching  yourself because of your skin tone and setting your bar higher just to be let in let alone accepted. 
 
I am a black woman and damn proud of it. I am a black mother and damn proud of it.  I refuse to dummy own my heritage while being expected to embrace Irish heritage on St. Patrick’s Day, take part in Greek Independence day and any other cultural  event for others while I’m made to feel bad because I celebrate mine. Me celebrating my cultural roots should be as matter of fact as others discussing their country or origin but it seems to make others uncomfortable.
  
We are a country of one people divided. And as we know, a house divided against itself cannot stand. We are falling down on the job and  our children are the casualties of our ambiguity while we sit in fear allowing
them to be killed physically and emotionally. STAND UP AMERICA and stop the ignorance is bliss campaign. FACE YOUR OWN REALITY if you ever want to change anything  - or maybe that’s the problem, you don’t.