I'm grateful that President Obama has finally taken the moral lead on addressing the racial dynamics at work behind Trayvon Martin's case. I was very disappointed when the president didn't take an immediate lead on this issue. I feel that the people of the United States, especially African Americans were waiting for some type of acknowledgement that what occurred in Trayvon's case mirrors the tragic deaths of many young African American teenagers and men throughout US history. It is time that this issue was addressed and it is time that it be permanently stopped. As a nation we must take the moral high ground on this issue.
African-American parents in this country should not have to fear for the lives of their sons every time they walk out the door. No parent in this country should have to do that. There are reasonable fears that we can address with our children regarding their safety and there are unreasonable fears. No child in this nation should fear for their safety because of the color of their skin. Many people are comfortable chalking up the Trayvon Martin case to simply self-defense. But what it truly is, is an example of the underlying racism toward young African American teenagers and men that is still slithering through the racist underbelly of this country.
Trayvon Martin was a teenage kid on his way home. His murderer, an adult, supposedly trained in policing technique, and the one with the responsibility in the situation, not the kid, to make sure that the situation was kept under control. Trayvon was a scared teenager and he responded as such. His murderer saw Trayvon as a big bad black guy. He couldn't see the tall lanky African American teenager who was scared and who just wanted to be left alone so he could get home. Trayvon was shot in the chest, he had no gun, he had young fists that in the end weren't able to save him. Fists are no defense against a drawn gun.
I'm a woman, I'm White, I'm a mother, and a grandmother and if some creepy white guy was following me around in a dark neighborhood at night I would try to kick his butt too! And if I were shot as a result, I guarantee you that my murderer would be sitting in jail right now for a very long time. The thought that all charges would have been dismissed would not even be imaginable.
I remember being a teenager. I didn't trust most adults, I would sometimes get into fights, I sometimes skipped school and I did things that I shouldn't have. I became a wife, a parent, a grandparent, a university graduate, a business owner, a community volunteer, a productive and responsible citizen. In other words I grew up. I had the chance to grow up. Trayvon will never have that chance. Trayvon will never have that chance because he was a young African American kid, out after dark, in a gated neighborhood, in a southern state, in America, which automatically made him a criminal suspect.