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Stand With Trayvon's Mother For Justice
I am not here to point fingers at skin color and/or make this a race issue. Why? Because I place the blame and responsibility on both parties. That's right I said both.
I blame the parents for not teaching their son the proper dress code.
As a Black woman I know from personal experience that if you live in a crime ridden neighborhood, the police will automatically profile you according to what you wear! If they see young Black, Hispanic, Puerto Rican male(s) are dressed in baggy, drop trouser jeans, and hoodies (they may be innocent as the pure and driven snow), but that type clothing is a signal to the cops that something may be afoot.
In other words, you look like you're gonna rob somebody. This is called probabale cause which means if the guy looks shady as if they are up to something, the cops have just cause to stop them.
Here in New York City there is a great controversy over the fact that NYPD does what it calls Stop and Frisk. To wit, if they see a bunch of young black or hispanic men, dressed as mentioned above, NYPD will, stop them, toss them against a car or a wall and frisk them for drugs, weapons or both. The Black and Hispanic community and civil rights groups are up in arms because this seemingly happens only to innocent Black and Hispanic young men. Also, that their civil liberties have been violated.
You wonder why cops only target Black and Hispanic men? Is it because they are all decked out in "Thug Wear"? Just because their rap artist idols dress like that, they do it too. Apparently our young people have no clue of the serious ramifications behind dressing like a thug, or donning gang colors just to look cool.
As parents, we seriously need to teach our sons, that is not the way to dress if you want the police to leave you alone. We also need to teach our children respect for the authorities. When the cops tell you to stop, you stop. When they ask you something, don't give them a bunch of lip, do what they tell you to do. If you must speak to them, be polite. Save the curse words for your "homies". And if possible, get names and badge numbers so you can file an official compliant later.
As for George Zimmerman. I blame the authorities for not stopping him in his tracks. First of all, according to various news sources, despite the fact that he was good at what he did, Mr. Zimmerman had a history of problems. The domestic violence issue alone should have gotten him bounced off the neighborhood watch. They should have also taken away his gun and revoked his firearms license.
Where was the official oversight? Just because the Mr. Zimmerman was a volunteer doesn't exclude the fact that he had to answer to someone somewhere. Especially when you are carrying a loaded firearm. . . . .
It is disturbing to see how issues like this are allowed to spiral out of control until there is a slow motion train crash. Now all of a sudden folks rush out to help. Now, when it's too darned late! Someone's son is dead and another man is going to be tried and convicted of murder.
This could have all been headed off at the pass, if only people were responsible in both camps. . . . . .
This of course is merely my humble opinion.
