Trayvon Martin: The willingness to believe the worst and show you care
TRAYVON Martin: Etan Thomas looks at the killing and the growing story and tells HuffPost readers:
When a national tragedy occurs such as the case of Trayvon Martin — the young black unarmed teen who was shot and killed by Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman — it effects everyone who has kids. This is a parents worst nightmare.
In the media, a parent’s worst nightmare is a moveable bad dream. The dread phrase “As a dad…” is used as emotional shorthand to show how much you care – never mind the fact the dads are routinely shown to be murders, rapists, peadophiles and tyrants.
Says Thomas:
A tragedy such as this doesn’t escape any parent.
What do Robert Zimmerman’s parents think of it? He’s the “white Hispanic” who shot and killed Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman, the local police say, acted in accordance with Florida’s rules of engagement says, namely the Stand Your Ground law. What dod his folks think, as parents do they care that their son is a pariah? You do not need to be parent to understand the feelings raised by the killing of Trayvon Martin. Parenthood places you on no emotional pedestal.
The rapper Nas writes:
I have a son now, he’ll be three. And I’m thinking about him. He has to grow up in this society where people in high places [in the court] don’t see it important that somebody should be prosecuted for murder, just because the victim is black.
But we do not know for certain that the victim was killed because he was committing the crime of Walking While Black. We just think that’s the case. And the odd thing is that rather than not caring about inequality and racism the rush to offer an opinion and a willingness to believe the worst makes all voices part of the modern condition: being afraid not to show that you care enough.
Image: Someone holds a sign with Martin Luther King Jr.’s picture on it at a rally in support of slain Florida teenager Trayvon Martin at the former Lorraine Motel, where King was assassinated, on Monday, March 26, 2012 in Memphis, Tenn. The old motel is now the site of the National Civil Rights Museum. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)
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Sanford, Fla. City Manager Norton Bonaparte, Jr., left, speaks to Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Fla., and Sanford, Fla. Mayor Jeff Triplett, and Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., before a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 20, 2012, to talk about the shooting of Trayvon Martin. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Posted: 29th, March 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
