Some times I wonder about humanity...
At the risk of jumping on the Martin murder verdict bandwagon, I haven't written anything about Zimmerman going free. Why? Because much of what I have to say entails profanity, cursing the stupidity of Florida and calling a racist a racist.
Not conducive to fixing the problem. Not at all! So I'll try to keep the profanity at a minimum as I meander my way through this horrible shit pile of a verdict.
I will admit, I'm angry! I'm pissed the fuck off that six women in Florida sided with an obvious abusive man who murdered a kid, and said, "oh, you know it's cool that he picked a fight, and then got scared, and shot that kid. It was a sad thing..."
I'm angry that this boy won't live to grow old. I'm angry that a lot of kids won't live to grow old because of stupid, racist white people with guns. People who shoot first, or seek out reasons to harm; who measure their manliness in the calibre of their weapons. Their ability to claim "self-defence" is just bonus because they get off on murder, and terrorising kids who just happen to have more melatonin in their skin.
I fucking hate white people some times.
But... you're white, says my audience. How can you hate white people?
Because we suck! That's it really, some times white people are assholes. Some times we're horrible, and some times that in born privilege attached to our skin-- especially if you're male-- makes us evil, nasty people. Especially when we don't know, or care about that privilege.
Before you accuse me, I don't suffer from a case of white guilt. Maybe I should, but I realise that I haven't done anything wrong, and that I try very hard to not only dispose of the privilege accorded my skin, education and class, I try to do everything I can to bring up others, to level that playing field, so that we're all equal. I don't see equality as a zero-sum game, but as an amazing thing that helps everyone.
I do have my own prejudices. I was talking about this with my oldest son the other day, in fact. I had to explain that for many people seeing an African-American man walking down the street, at night, scares them. But for me I get nervous around white guys that I don't know. Why? Because I've only been assaulted by white men; AA men, Hispanic and Puerto Rican men, they've helped me out of sticky situations, they've been there when I needed someone to help me out. White guys do that, yeah, but white guys also raped me, assaulted me, molested me, called me names and once tried to mug me.So I look for African-American men and avoid the white guys at night, in the dark. Same with bikers... the bigger and mean they are, the more comfortable I feel.
Yes, I know this is stereotypical. Yes, I know it's prejudicial. I also know it doesn't make me any better than a racist, and I'm working very hard to deal with and excise these feelings. Having them doesn't make me racist, accepting them as OK and ignoring them does.
I know that everyone is prejudicial against someone, against some group. We form them because of up-bringing, or our experiences, or our friends, or whatever. That shit really does rub off on us. And that's something we have to accept-- that we all carry racist baggage. That doesn't mean it's OK to ignore our steamer trunks of stereotypes-- that means we have to be consistent about rooting out the causes of those feelings and beliefs, and get rid of that shit.
Unfortunately it seems that Florida, amongst other states, is happy rolling around in its racism. The six jurors decided, for whatever reason, that shooting a kid armed with iced tea and skittles was self-defence.
I disagree.
It was murder.
Why?
Simple: picking a fight, disregarding the police dispatcher's instructions to stay put-- leaving his truck, George Zimmerman decided to take the law into his own hands. When Trayvon Martin fought back, when he tried to escape, to defend himself, Zimmerman shot him... suddenly claiming he was afraid.
I've got a 16 year old son. He's 6'4 and weighs about 150 pounds. Yeah, he's skinny as a rail. I could take him down, no problem, and I'm almost a foot shorter then he is. Zimmerman out-weighed Martin, was taller, and took MMA classes. He was treating his gun as a penis extension, and decided the best boner-inducing extension he needed was to kill someone.
I believe George Zimmerman is a racist murderer, and deserves to be in prison for the rest of his natural life.
I believe that Florida's Stand Your Ground laws are only there to allow white people to murder minorities.
Don't believe me? Google it. You'll be as sick as I am about it. And I Hope you get as pissed off. I'm working to repeal SYG laws here in Arizona, and urging the DoJ to prosecute Zimmerman under hate crime legislation. I also hope that Trayvon's estate sues the fuck out of Zimmerman in civil court.
White people caused these problems, and we are responsible for creating a country where black kids aren't valued. we should be ashamed, and do everything we can to fix this.
We made the mess, and we can't expect anyone else to clear it up. It's up to us to make this right. Every day, every way we can.
Not conducive to fixing the problem. Not at all! So I'll try to keep the profanity at a minimum as I meander my way through this horrible shit pile of a verdict.
I will admit, I'm angry! I'm pissed the fuck off that six women in Florida sided with an obvious abusive man who murdered a kid, and said, "oh, you know it's cool that he picked a fight, and then got scared, and shot that kid. It was a sad thing..."
I'm angry that this boy won't live to grow old. I'm angry that a lot of kids won't live to grow old because of stupid, racist white people with guns. People who shoot first, or seek out reasons to harm; who measure their manliness in the calibre of their weapons. Their ability to claim "self-defence" is just bonus because they get off on murder, and terrorising kids who just happen to have more melatonin in their skin.
I fucking hate white people some times.
But... you're white, says my audience. How can you hate white people?
Because we suck! That's it really, some times white people are assholes. Some times we're horrible, and some times that in born privilege attached to our skin-- especially if you're male-- makes us evil, nasty people. Especially when we don't know, or care about that privilege.
Before you accuse me, I don't suffer from a case of white guilt. Maybe I should, but I realise that I haven't done anything wrong, and that I try very hard to not only dispose of the privilege accorded my skin, education and class, I try to do everything I can to bring up others, to level that playing field, so that we're all equal. I don't see equality as a zero-sum game, but as an amazing thing that helps everyone.
I do have my own prejudices. I was talking about this with my oldest son the other day, in fact. I had to explain that for many people seeing an African-American man walking down the street, at night, scares them. But for me I get nervous around white guys that I don't know. Why? Because I've only been assaulted by white men; AA men, Hispanic and Puerto Rican men, they've helped me out of sticky situations, they've been there when I needed someone to help me out. White guys do that, yeah, but white guys also raped me, assaulted me, molested me, called me names and once tried to mug me.So I look for African-American men and avoid the white guys at night, in the dark. Same with bikers... the bigger and mean they are, the more comfortable I feel.
Yes, I know this is stereotypical. Yes, I know it's prejudicial. I also know it doesn't make me any better than a racist, and I'm working very hard to deal with and excise these feelings. Having them doesn't make me racist, accepting them as OK and ignoring them does.
I know that everyone is prejudicial against someone, against some group. We form them because of up-bringing, or our experiences, or our friends, or whatever. That shit really does rub off on us. And that's something we have to accept-- that we all carry racist baggage. That doesn't mean it's OK to ignore our steamer trunks of stereotypes-- that means we have to be consistent about rooting out the causes of those feelings and beliefs, and get rid of that shit.
Unfortunately it seems that Florida, amongst other states, is happy rolling around in its racism. The six jurors decided, for whatever reason, that shooting a kid armed with iced tea and skittles was self-defence.
I disagree.
It was murder.
Why?
Simple: picking a fight, disregarding the police dispatcher's instructions to stay put-- leaving his truck, George Zimmerman decided to take the law into his own hands. When Trayvon Martin fought back, when he tried to escape, to defend himself, Zimmerman shot him... suddenly claiming he was afraid.
I've got a 16 year old son. He's 6'4 and weighs about 150 pounds. Yeah, he's skinny as a rail. I could take him down, no problem, and I'm almost a foot shorter then he is. Zimmerman out-weighed Martin, was taller, and took MMA classes. He was treating his gun as a penis extension, and decided the best boner-inducing extension he needed was to kill someone.
I believe George Zimmerman is a racist murderer, and deserves to be in prison for the rest of his natural life.
I believe that Florida's Stand Your Ground laws are only there to allow white people to murder minorities.
Don't believe me? Google it. You'll be as sick as I am about it. And I Hope you get as pissed off. I'm working to repeal SYG laws here in Arizona, and urging the DoJ to prosecute Zimmerman under hate crime legislation. I also hope that Trayvon's estate sues the fuck out of Zimmerman in civil court.
White people caused these problems, and we are responsible for creating a country where black kids aren't valued. we should be ashamed, and do everything we can to fix this.
We made the mess, and we can't expect anyone else to clear it up. It's up to us to make this right. Every day, every way we can.
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