I am not wearing a hoodie. I will not protest. I am not Trayvon Martin. But yes I do agree that George Zimmerman should go through the legal process just as anyone should. I will not fault him for profiling a young Black male as a thug, a hooligan, a nigga, or coon. I will fault him for acting on that profile to the point that a gun was fired and a life was lost.
Trayvon is not Emmet Till. I will not make this some kind of landmark event that shapes history. Trayvon is the victim of ignorance that eats at us all. We are hypocrites in our own rights. We act as if before this kid was gunned down that we, ourselves were not profiling young Black males in the same negative light. Not all of us, but a good bit, have made that same judgement that Zimmerman made. The difference is that we don't have a body count to go along with that lapse of judgement. I've heard how some of these old cats talk down on the young because of their choice of lifestyle. They have been calling pro athletes thugs for years, and none of us have put on a jersey to say that it's not true. I guess because no one has ever stalked Pacman Jones down to put a hot one in his chest.
What if the justice system had done it's job from the beginning and locked Zimmerman up. Would you all still be protesting? Would you still be marching with your hoodies? Or would this be another fucked up case of an innocent person slain at the hands of an idiot? We want to paint the picture that this is the result of a problem in the country when it is not. I'm sure I'm referred to as a nigga at least 20 times before lunch, depending on which shift I'm working that day, but the threat of violence against me is minimal. Yes, being Black in America does come with some sort of danger, but all in all my livelihood is not threatened.
We want to believe that we can go where ever we want and do whatever we want and not have to worry about danger. Entertain this thought, on your way through a small town, you notice that more than a few of the homes have confederate flags flying. Would you continue to conduct yourself as if you are in a safe environment? If you say yes, most likely you're white. There's nothing wrong with that, but for us of the darker shade that is not a place to go on a vacation. Knowing that these places do exist and have long before Trayvon was gunned down (that's if you are of the camp that believes race is the ultimate part of his killing), why were we not doing our best to change those views? I guess it wasn't high on the agenda.
The penal system is not always the answer in the case of ignorance. If nothing else, it will provide as a ground to breathe life into that ideology. There's nothing we can do for the tainted mind of Zimmerman. I understand the goal of this "Am I Suspicious?" movement (and the answer to that question: yes all you niggas look suspicious if not corny as hell). Can we take a different road though because it seems as if you are making the urban (I hate that word) culture out to be the victims when the fact is that whites profile blacks, blacks profile every fucking body, rich profile the poor, educated profile the uneducated, old profile young...yada yada yada. Look man, next time you catch yourself labeling someone one way or another, think about what you're really doing. YOU'RE putting that individual or group in a box, and yes you are the same as George Zimmerman without the body count.
So with that said.....
I am not Trayvon Martin! I will not wear my hoodie! I am George Zimmerman without a body count.
Judge me as you wish because I will damn sure be judging you. Believe that. No Geroldo.
