Trayvon Martin: What should black parents advise their kids? What are the lessons for all parents?
As federal investigators are sorting out what exactly happened to Trayvon Martin, the young African-American boy shot and killed while walking through a neighborhood, I am wondering what parents are telling their kids? I am wondering what conclusions they are drawing about the participants and what advise they are offering to their teens and kids?
I have read several interesting perspectives on the story that I wanted to share with you and get your reaction. Our own Gracie Bond Staples talked with African-American parents about the rearing African-American boys in particular.
From the AJC’s story:
“…According to a 2010 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study, homicide was the leading cause of death for black males age 12-19.”
“In the weeks since young Trayvon Martin was gunned down in a gated community in Sanford, Fla., those truths have weighed heavily on black parents.”
“(Marlyn) Tillman, a community activist and empty nester, lives in a middle-class, predominately white Snellville neighborhood.”
“Ruben Brown, 48, lives with his wife and 14-year-old son in Atlanta and, while not the suburbs, it is hardly the ‘hood. But like Tillman, he knows their middle-class status in no way equals safety when it comes to his son.”
“Although worries about the safety of adolescents are not the province of just black families or parents of boys, Tillman, Brown and other parents say raising black boys is perhaps the most stressful aspects of parenting because they know they’re dealing with a society that is fearful and hostile toward them, simply because of the color of their skin.”
“At 14, Brown said his son is at that critical age when he’s always worried about his safety because of profiling.”
“ ‘I don’t want to scare him or have him paint people with a broad brush, but, historically, we black males have been stigmatized as the purveyors of crime and wherever we are, we’re suspect,” Brown said.”
“Black parents who don’t make that fact clear, he and others said, do it at their and their male children’s own peril.”
“ ‘Any African-American parent not having that conversation is being irresponsible,’ Brown said. ‘I see this whole thing as an opportunity for us to speak frankly, openly and honestly about race relations.’ ”
“Morehouse College associate professor Bryant Marks agreed, saying parents need to be vigilant in raising their boys, make them aware of how they are perceived in this country and give them the skills they need to survive.”
“ ‘Have the conversation about the police, tell them what to do when they are on foot or in a car,’ he said. ‘That conversation needs to happen. It acknowledges the bias out there, but let them know that they can succeed in spite of all of that.’ “
“Regardless of a family’s class or education, the challenge of bringing young black males safely to adulthood must be tremendous, said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center.”
“ ‘On the one hand, should they tell children to run when they are faced with suspicious and possibly dangerous circumstances such as a car following them, or should they stand still for fear that their running will be interpreted as some sort of evidence of guilt,” he said. “It’s a horrible, horrible Catch 22 for any parent or child on the street.’ ”
Which leads me to the ABC News report about how Martin was on the phone with his girlfriend when he thought he was being followed. She told him to run. But he told her he would not run. I wondered if that was from something his parents had told him about the Civil Rights era? I wondered if it was a pride thing or was he told never to run so he didn’t look guilty?
“He said this man was watching him, so he put his hoodie on. He said he lost the man,” Martin’s friend said. “I asked Trayvon to run, and he said he was going to walk fast. I told him to run, but he said he was not going to run.”
Eventually, he would run, said the girl, thinking that he’d managed to escape. But suddenly the strange man was back, cornering Martin.
“Trayvon said, ‘What are you following me for,’ and the man said, ‘What are you doing here.’ Next thing I hear is somebody pushing, and somebody pushed Trayvon because the head set just fell. I called him again, and he didn’t answer the phone.”
The final story I found particularly compelling is from The Washington Post. It talks about how the Trayvon Martin case reminds people of the 1960s when civil rights workers would vanish in Southern towns. Here is an excerpt:
“It feels like the not-so-long-ago ’60s, back when getting federal authorities to move quickly was often difficult. But this is a different era, however tragically similar the outcome.”
“The Trayvon Martin story has multiple layers: a black victim, a Hispanic man who did the shooting in Sanford, Fla. In Washington, the head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Thomas E. Perez, is Hispanic. The attorney general of the United States, Eric H. Holder Jr., is a black man. The man who occupies the Oval Office, Barack Obama, is an African American. “
“And yet, even that arc of progress — while admired — hasn’t softened emotions and feelings.”
“ ‘It reminds you of Emmett Till,” said Bernadette Pruitt, an associate professor of history at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Tex., who has written about Southern racial history and can’t stop thinking of Trayvon Martin and his family. ‘This so-called post-racialism is a figment of our imagination. Race, unfortunately, is still the barometer by which everyone is measured.’ ”
So I am wondering if parents are feeling this echo from the past and explaining it in that framework? I am also wondering if they are using it as a teachable moment about history?
If you are an African-American parents what are you telling your boys (or girls)? What lessons should all parents be sharing with their kids from this?
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
203 comments Add your comment
usually lurking
March 23rd, 2012
9:03 am
@JoeDon, I think perhaps emommy meant incitable. Nothing insightful about your comments, IMHO.
Robert Graul
March 23rd, 2012
9:03 am
A child is a child, whatever color and as parents we need to stop failing our children. While they are raped, beaten, abused and murdered. I don’t know if Zimmerman is guilty, all I can say is the world is now minus a smart child who liked skittles. I know to the world, this is not a big deal. However, to his parents it is. This should be a wake up call to ALL parents, whatever color! It is up to us to stop the violence EVERYWHERE! I am a white male, and I am colorblind. Stop building this up as a race issue! It’s a child and everyone of us should take responsibility. We owe our children a safe environment to grow up in. One with hope! Both political parties are garbage, so please don’t make this political.
Robert Graul
S.H.A.R.P (Skinheads against Racial Prejudice)
EOC (equal opportunity commenter)
March 23rd, 2012
9:05 am
It is a tragedy regardless of race. Life is too precious to be taken so cavalierly. If you’re white and feel like crimes against white people aren’t taken seriously then you SHOULD go out and march and protest. That being said, don’t further disrespect this young man and all black people because of the misdeeds of a few.
You don’t want all minorities to start getting on how white people have decimated entire races of people…the Indians in America, aboriginies in Australia, black people in America, Jews in Germany…we can go on and on. The point is blame does not solve the problem. Only genuine communication can do that. RIP Trayvon Martin. I hope you get the justice that you deserve.
Todd M.
March 23rd, 2012
9:05 am
Emom…I’m sorry to crush your fantasy of a perfect world where people don’t make judgments based on appearance but I must. Ya see, we (as humans) have an innate characteristic for survival. We make judgments about people, things, places, based on information we receive, whether it’s from experience, media, and or social interaction. And yes, young black men are judged as criminal threats because…bottom line, they are more likely to commit a crime. Now that doesn’t mean that all young black men will commit a crime. It just means they are more likely too, statistically. Hence, our survival instinct exaggerates the threat for survival. Question…are all pit bulls likely to attack? Probably not, but you will still avoid them. Judgment…hmmm? How about this. I am a 45 year old white male. Are you more likely to allow me or a 45 year old female to babysit your 13 year-old daughter? And of course, I already know your answer. Ya see, we all make judgments. They are not fair, right, or always accurate. But until young black men stop committing a high frequency of the crime, they will be targeted. And by the way…I hope the shooter in this case gets the punishment he deserves if he is proven guilty.
RJ
March 23rd, 2012
9:07 am
“The only way to change (and is will take many, many more years) this is for hard working, high valued intelligent black people to make changes in their own communities. The blacks need to stop perpetuating the race issue and teach their children what whites have been teaching their children for years. Skin color does not make a difference. It is the way you act, dress and carry yourself.”
@homeschooler, until you’ve walked a day in my shoes, you can’t truly understand what it is like to be me. How very presumptous of you to think that the black community does not teach their children the difference between right and wrong. That we don’t educate our children and instill them with values. I come from a family that instilled great values. My parents have been married 41 years. Neither I nor my brothers have ever been in trouble with the law. As a matter of fact, none of my 21 cousins have either. All of my aunts and uncles are still married. I have friends who come from families similar to mine. But you don’t see movies about our every day lives. Instead, all you see or read about is the kid from the projects. The one with the mom on crack. The ones whose father was only a sperm donor. You don’t read about kids like mine and my neighbors. You don’t even read about the all black school in my neighborhood that has ALWAYS made AYP. No, people like you believe what you see. You think the few represent the many. I am here to tell you that you have no idea what you’re talking about. My life is as normal as yours. Your ignorance regarding living Black in America is evident by your presumptuous statements.
Black people have always taught their sons what the world is like being a black male. This is only new to white people. My son already knows how to respond when he’s stopped by a white police officer. There is a reality in this country for Black males that white people don’t want to acknowledge. It’s almost as if they want to believe that only Black people commit crimes. We know what the truth is. We teach our sons the truth. From the comments on this blog, we are doing the right thing. Racism, bigotry, prejudice is alive and well in this country. Being a black person in America, we deal with it every day. It is our reality. But some will choose to believe what they want. That’s fine. We know the truth and teach it to our children. The conversations were had well before Trayvon Martin’s death. They will continue…
DB
March 23rd, 2012
9:08 am
TWG, I’ve written two comments, and both of them have been swallowed — I’m not writing any more, there was NOTHING offensive in either post. I am astonished at some of the nasty, ugly posts that get through the filters while mine gets caught. WTH!
...
March 23rd, 2012
9:08 am
Enter your comments here
Chris
March 23rd, 2012
9:08 am
It’s another bandwagon aimed at earning some money for the kids’ family. The crime isn’t so much justified, but it could have been prevented by either party. In a neighborhood that is averaging 1.2 burglaries per month by known young black men, maybe you shouldn’t mouth off to the neighborhood watch when being questioned. There is ignorance on both sides here. The kid should not have been shot, but this is getting silly.
Read some of the other headlines on the ajc. Every week students (of various ethnicities) are robbed, burglarized or raped over by GA Tech by young black men. Where is the outrage? Where are the marches? Read more headlines and see that somewhere, every day, someone shoots someone in a black on black crime, somewhere in Atlanta. Where is the outrage? Where is the march?
Someone will get sued over this and get a lot of money and waste a lot of tax dollars in court over this. That’s what outrages me. Unfortunately, that’s sort of the way it works in a lot of black communities. Children are paychecks, one way or the other.
Chris
March 23rd, 2012
9:10 am
Who’s outraged over the looters and robbers at the malls when new Air Jordans are released? Where’s the march?
emommy
March 23rd, 2012
9:14 am
@Jacket22: As an FYI, my husband and I are both professionals with post graduate degrees and are tax paying, hard working citizens. Your comment shows your ignorance.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
9:22 am
No, usually lurking, you’re wrong. She meant “insightful”.
ssidawg
March 23rd, 2012
9:24 am
A man KILLED a boy for no apparent reason. Why has he not been arrested? Regardless of the other issues surrounding this case- A MAN KILLED AN UNARMED BOY!!!!
M1chelle
March 23rd, 2012
9:31 am
Why is there more discussion about why the kid was wearing a hoodie or why he put the hood up or what time of night it was… When did a hoodie become threatening? This is America. None of those things are against the law. Why did the guy pursue when told by the 911 officer NOT to do that. How could the guy with the gun who was pursuing someone with no weapon not be considered the aggressor? How can the aggressor plead self-defense? Why did the police not fully investigate the case? THey reported that the Zimmerman didn’t have a record when in fact he did. When so many facts have been released why has this man still not been arrested today? I would be outraged and cry for the parents of this young man no matter what the color of his skin may be.
I am the mother of two young black boys who BOTH brought home report cards with all As in a school where there are few minorities. Both are very popular and well liked honorn students. However, I have to tell them that even though we both see their white friends in basketball shorts, tshirts, and hoodies DAILY that when my kids wear that, people perceive them differently. They see them as thugs. I have to tell them that they must respect authority figures that will prejudge them and believe they are criminals before they open their mouths, even though they are intelligent and well spoken. Newsflash, black people aren’t the only ones who commit crimes, but they are arreested more and prosecuted more harsher. If criminals were pursued equally, the numbers may not be so one-sided, but because they are my sons are now perceived as thugs.
Just reading these comments lets me know that if I don’t teach them that some narrow minded people will assume the worst of them because of what others have done, I am doing them a injustince and not preparing them for the real world. It hurts me to have to introduce these type of race discussion to them when they have friends of all colors.
Prejudice is rampant everywhere by ALL races. When is the last time you looked at a Hispanic and wondered about their citizenship? a black woman with kids and assumed she was single and on food stamps? a white person and assumed they were racist?
The Black Hand
March 23rd, 2012
9:36 am
What really angers me by these comments is there is a prejudice that only blacks commit crimes. We are not the ones that shoot up schools over stupid little teenie bobber problems or kill our parents for not letting us go to the mall!
Being born and raised in Georgia I can honestly say blacks have always and will always be stereotyped.
Example, when black boys have big rims on cars that are sitting up high in the air we get labeled as a “N” but, when you see a white boy with a dirty pick-up truck lifted 30ft. in the air its cool!!!???
What hypocrites you are!!!!
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
9:36 am
M1chelle, don’t forget the prejudice being promulgated by Obama between the “rich” and “poor”.
Van Jones
March 23rd, 2012
9:38 am
M1chelle, my post was about he hoodie and it is because I would like to know. That is all the discussion I am aware of.
By the way, 911 operators are not officers and they did not tell Zimmerman NOT to follow. He said “we don’t need you to do that”.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
9:39 am
For The Black Hand, there is no “prejudice that only blacks commit crimes.” Fact is they commit the highest percentage of crimes, followed by Hispanics. By the way, take a look at the percentages of “black on black” crime. You’d probably be shocked, but then, maybe not.
Chris
March 23rd, 2012
9:42 am
Black hand just made an analogy using rims. That’s funny.
Look at the Prison Statistics......
March 23rd, 2012
9:47 am
Look at the % of racial statistics and see who makes up the largest percentage of criminals currently in prison. No wonder you feel stigmatized because your race are the biggest group of criminals! Until you clean up your own pig pen – you will continue to be viewed as a breeding ground for criminals.
homeschooler
March 23rd, 2012
9:48 am
@ RJ. I’m sorry if I offended you. It was not my intention. You and your family are exactly the kind of folks that I believe should be standing up and making a difference to the black children who are not lucky enough to be born into a family such as yours. I’m not a upper middle class white girl who just sees black people on the news and when I drive to downtown Atlanta. I live in South Cobb County. I work in what would be considered the ghetto, I interact daily with black people on all levels from the people in the projects to those in 300,000 dollar houses. I also work with black case managers who are trying every day to make a difference. I try to look at things very subjectively. Of course there are a lot of black people out there who teach their children values and there are many white people who don’t, Maybe I didn’t make my point clear but all I was trying to say is the I DON’T know what makes the black community stay “down” but obviously it is not the white people who can fix it. It is you and people like you. I don’t know what socioeconomic class you are in or what part of town that you live in but where I live there is still a very very big problem with drugs, single moms, teen pregnancy, theft and killings among the black community. What do you suggest as being a way to fix it? I don’t agree that you don’t see good black families portrayed on TV. I grew up with the Cosby show and Fresh Prince etc.. My peers and I were surrounded (growing up in Marietta) with a constant dialogue of equality and acceptance. I don’t think I have a racist bone in my body. Does that mean I don’t cringe when I see a guy with dreads and pants down to his knees walking past my house? He doesn’t have to be black, but usually he is. Yes, I immediately think, ugh what is happening to my neighborhood. Maybe you can enlighten me or maybe you can make a difference but obviously there is a problem that is not getting better with the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson making things worse. Things are not going to get better until the self esteem and self worth in the black community is raised and whites can not do that. Only you can.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
9:49 am
Chris, good one! And a poor analogy by The Black Hand on yet another front: “…white boy with a dirty pick-up truck lifted 30ft in the air…” = hard working young man on the way to his job.
raymond
March 23rd, 2012
9:52 am
The problem here is not race as much as some are trying to make that the issue. The problem here is the stupid no retreat laws that are being passed in various states these days. It is gonna breed violence. The situation the police are in is they have applied the Florida law the way it is supposed to be applied and if they don’t apply it the way it is supposed to be and arrest Zimmerman, then Zimmerman can sue the department. On the other hand all the political pressure has gotten to the point where the police department looks bad for not making an arrest. You listen to CNN and all they want to talk about is the kid was unarmed but unless I don’t know some things inside the investigation ( which is probably true) the police did what they had to. The police and the prosecutors are going to present the case to the Grand Jury and with all the political pressure you can bet there will be an indictment regardless of what the evidence shows. This is gonna end up bad in that if they don’t indict him the folks that are raising cane will be even more mad, if they do and he beats it at trial they will be pissed again, and the worst thing that can happen is he gets convicted and the evidence showed he did what the law allowed him to do. And of course if the evidence shows he killed the kid unprovoked, the justice system should deal with him as harshly as possible. Never understood why someone would want to be in law enforcement because this is another case where they can’t win, and people are gonna lose their jobs even if they did it right.
Truthhurts
March 23rd, 2012
9:54 am
I have lots of friends of all races. I know African American men and women who will do much more in life than I ever will. I have the utmost respect for them. But the truth is the truth. Young black men commit crimes in numbers disproportional to the rest of society. There are reasons for this, but no excuse. The African American community needs to take control. Stop young black men from killing each other over gangs and drugs. Stop blaming white America and the police. Stop making excuses. It will get you nowhere. I feel for the young mans family if he was truly innocent. But it’s no worse than a young white or hispanic person killed by a black man for what he has in his pockets. But that happens so often it’s not even news worthy. Senseless killing IS “hate”, no matter the “excuse”.
The Black Hand
March 23rd, 2012
9:56 am
@Chris I made the analogy using rims because I think all of us can relate having seen that while driving around town.
FYI I drive a Porsche Panamera 4S so I think both of them look stupid!
emommy
March 23rd, 2012
9:56 am
Theresa asked for some lessons to be learned from this very sad story, so here’s my take:
1) Life is precious, no matter WHOSE life it is. We need to teach our children to not just value their own lives, but the lives of others.
2) As a mom, it’s a sad illustration to our kids to remain mindful and observant of their surroundings AT ALL TIMES. And when possible, spend less time on their cell phones and more focusing on gettinge where they need to be (whether walking or driving).
3) Unfortunately, this situation also illustrates how much work our country still needs to do in terms of dealing with the continued issues with race and ethnicity and simply diversity (i.e. racial, religious, etc.). We need to be in intelligent dialougue about the issue , which is what I think Theresa’s intent was with selecting this issue as the day’s topic.
MsE
March 23rd, 2012
9:59 am
As a black woman, my parents never had to give me “the talk.” But they gave me another kind of talk that parents of all races (especially Southern parents) have with their children.
“You don’t need to wear that because people might think you are….(fill in the blank with whatever)”
I know of other black parents who will refuse to buy their boys baggy pants, etc because they don’t want their child pulled over AND they don’t want their child to be associated with criminal elements.
But unfortunately, I have to agree with some of the posters. We, as black people, need to clean up our backyard and talk more amongst ourselves on why we’re screwing up. I think some Black families are trying. Some are staying in their marriages longer, working and trying to raise their kids with good values. Unfortunately, there is not enough of us doing so. Therefore, our kids, especially boys, get stereotyped. Or, in Trayvon’s case, killed.
Trayvon pulled up his hoodies for 2 reasons: Zimmerman was following him and it had started to rain. He was out at night because he was visiting his dad from Miami and like most teenagers, wanted to get out of the house. Because he was visiting, not living in the neighborhood, Trayvon didn’t know about the break-ins or the neighborhood watch. He probably hit the dude because dude ran up to him, Trayvon didn’t know him, and the dude was following him for a while. Finally, it took two days for Trayvon’s dad to know what happened because the police never answeredTrayvon’s ringing phone and took his body as a John Doe.
Chris
March 23rd, 2012
10:00 am
Not that it pertains to this discussion, but, Black Hand, the Panamera is the second worst mistake Porsche ever made. Talk about looking stupid! And before you go there, yes, my car can beat up your car.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
10:01 am
Dang, Chris, you beat me to the punch!
Jay Black
March 23rd, 2012
10:03 am
There’s not a black man on earth that can shoot an unarmed white teen and claim self defense without being arrested and standing trial to prove it.
The Black Hand
March 23rd, 2012
10:12 am
@ Chris and JoeDon…..Not to go off subject but I’m happy with my car, German engineering at its finest!
We can agree to disagree….
Texas Tea
March 23rd, 2012
10:17 am
I think the parents need to teach their kids that injustices in life come in all ways, and that race is not always the motivation. The neighborhood watch guy isn’t even white, so this whole race bullcrap is pathetic and just shows the amount of racism tirades white people. I’m so glad all of these black people are leaving their jobs to rally for this unjustified story, but I also believe most of these protectors sit on their butts all day long sucking off of the hard work of the rest of society. This is wrong in so many ways, but just gives the blacks another reason to hoot and hollar like they are good at, and takes the focus off what they are known for. Everyone needs to be upset a kid was killed here, but not attempt a race war seeing as the shooter wasn’t even 100% white.
Free Shrugs
March 23rd, 2012
10:21 am
can we please take the race issue off the table-it seems to me that the focus on race in this event is cheapening what happened to this innocent scared, unarmed teenager. the reason I’m outraged about this has less to do with race and more to do with the sanctity of a young man’s LIFE and the facts of what occurred that night. everything about the circumstances that night made Zimmerman sound like a trigger-happy paranoid armed 28 year old w/a long history of excessive crime reporting. he’s the one to blame-the boy did nothing wrong. parent or not, if we have people around like that who are willing to go against 911 dispatcher demands and neighborhood watch policies, I don’t want to be walking around at night when it’s raining while wearing a hoodie in FL! and I’m a 23 year old blond white female! knowing eccentric, paranoid people like Zimmerman are out there, ARMED, and live in states where they have the “stand your ground” laws is enough to make anyone scared, no matter your race.
RJ
March 23rd, 2012
10:22 am
MsE, please speak for yourself. Don’t include me in your “we as Black people” statement. My backyard is quite clean. That is the dang problem. People like you that want to go to the other side and get on the “black people need to” bandwagon. Perhaps you need to clean up YOUR backyard. Or maybe you’re not really black. This is a blog.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
10:23 am
For The Black Hand…check! Actually, Panamera sounds more like a fine cigar than a car. As for me, I have a 1970 Dodge Coronet Super Bee…a fine example of Detroit engineering back in the good old American muscle car days. Environmentalists love it…that big Edelbrock 4-barrel carburetor sucks gas at 13 miles to the gallon and the exhaust system doesn’t include a catalytic converter. Beauty!!
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
10:29 am
I wonder if RJ’s “backyard is quite clean” because he doesn’t have a pit bull?
wat
March 23rd, 2012
10:31 am
LOL @ bragging about having a Panamera; ugliest car ever. And weren’t they all recalled?
“Oh yeah, exceptions will be made for black snake loving white women but not the fat ugly ones”
Hate to break this to you mandingo, but the fat ugly ones are the only ones that want you.
Chris
March 23rd, 2012
10:32 am
Start marching!
ajc.com/news/atlanta/person-of-interest-held-1395480.html?bigName=John+Spink&bigPhotog=John+Spink&bigCap=Atlanta+police+take+a+man+into+custody+at+the+Chevron+at+Euclid+Avenue+and+Moreland+Avenue+across+the+street+from+Zesto.&bigDeclCap=&bigCred=jspink%40ajc.com&bigUrl=http%3a%2f%2fwww.ajc.com%2fmultimedia%2fdynamic%2f01343%2f032412_zesto_2_1343475c.jpg&superSizeImage=y
Augusta
March 23rd, 2012
10:37 am
@Ernie 8:18 – VERY WELL SAID!!!!! I have to agree 100%
And I wish the “N” word was totally taken OUT of society. I hate that word, I hate when I hear blacks calling each other the “N” word. It is purely disgusting. It is the one word in the “english” language I would like to see abolished. Unfortunately it’s not going to happen……but let a white person use that word, and bam you’re a racist.
Mike645
March 23rd, 2012
10:39 am
I travel all over the east coast. Regardless of what city I may be in, when the local news comes on…what story is in every broadcast? Local black on black crime. Black men killing black men, black youth killing black youth…every day, every city. Everyone commenting in this post can turn on the evening news…no matter where you may live.. and you will see the same thing. God bless Bobby Tillman’s family. Where’s the outrage? Where’s the marches? Where’s the buses of people being brought in to protest? Where’s Sharpton? Where’s Jackson? Hypocrites.
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
10:42 am
A question for the “person of interest” arrested in Atlanta in the shooting of a police officer last night: “How are those dredlocks working out for you now?”
Brown Eyed Girl!
March 23rd, 2012
10:42 am
The comments on this blog really make me sad! A young man is dead! His parent’s had to bury their child! The person that did it told the police it was self defense! The police basically said okay you can go now! They took his body to the morgue and it stayed there for three days! His cellphone was in his possession and the police never went through it to find out who he was for THREE DAYS! 911 tapes reveal a person begging for his life! What is wrong with you people! If you have children, just for a minute imagine calling their cellphone and they don’t answer! Imagine now that your child has been missing for three days! Imagine finding out your baby has been dead for three days and no one told you! Before you start in on my use of the word baby, know this! My two sons (8 and 5) can be married with their own children and they will always be my babies!!! Imagine the person that took your child’s life is probably at home playing on his XBox or whatever he wants to do!
This child was killed on Feb 26th. We just started hearing about it because the local authorities didn’t do their job. These parents wanted answer, just as I would or any other parent would. It has taken all of this for the process to even take place. If that young man was followed by Zimmerman, which we know is true because he said it himself, he didn’t know what Zimmerman’s intentions were. Boys are being abduction, raped and killed just as much as girls these days. Zimmerman, a 28 yr old 200 plus pound man is up against a 6 ft 3 in 140 teenager. The teenager is not winning the fight here! Zimmerman said that he had bruises and blood and grass on his clothing, but no one know that because no pictures were taken. They sent him home, gun in tow! No investigative procedures were followed here! Throw race out of the window and just imagine this being your child!!!! How does this feel now??
WDE
March 23rd, 2012
10:43 am
This is a terrible thing period…Al Sharpton will only make it worst I have a question I have not been able answer, how is that Sharpton wasn’t around when the mob attacks on whites took place last year at the Iowa and Wisconsin state fairs at both events mobs of black teens were running around yelling its Beat Whitey night…isn’t that a hate crime? If this guy shot this young man in cold blood he deserves to die for it, anyway you slice it he deserves some form of punishment, he was wandering around with a handgun playing police officer on the street. If he or his family were being attacked that’s another story and yes he has the right to defend himself with a gun even if his attacker is unarmed…but he was roaming around his neighborhood. He called the cops when he had a concern and that is where he should have left it he should not have gone beyond that unless he witnessed a crime..last I looked been young and black walking on a public street is not a crime…
racecard
March 23rd, 2012
10:48 am
this has to be made about race. If it wasn’t, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would actually have to get a real job. they want racism to exist. Racism was born under hatred and kept alive by the “leaders” of the minorities. Without it, they become irrelevant.
blackbird13
March 23rd, 2012
10:49 am
The people who are saying that this can’t be a race thing because the shooter was half-Hispanic are really missing the point. The point is the inept handling of this case by a piss-poor excuse for a police department, one with a history of racial profiling, that may have engaged in a coverup of evidence.
I’m always amazed by the number of so-called conservatives who rail against the government but get weak-in-the knees when it comes to the lowest strata of government, the enforcers.
Cracker Jack
March 23rd, 2012
10:52 am
What about the all out assault on anything White (non-hispanic) that has been going on for the past decade or so? Proper dress is acting “white”. Respect for authority and law enforcement is acting “white”. Doing good in school is acting “white”.
Whites (non-hispanic) are fast becoming the minority in this country. There is a quest through our horrific immigration policies to force (non-hispanic) Whites into extinction in this country. Middle and upper class white families are having fewer kids and one of the reasons is their outright fear of what the future holds. The sad thing is the reversal of fortune and power won’t happen. The US has a bleak future.
Everyone is refering to Trayvon, the scared child innocently walking down the street eating his Skittles. Trayvon was a TEENAGER (practically an adult) with hormones and adreneline running through his body, that was also hyped up on loads of sugar and who know’s what else! The photo used to portray Trayvon the dead child in the media also adds to the rhetoric.
The liberal media machine in this country is fueling the fire. Rarely is it mentioned that the shooter is LATINO, and when it is brought up, the confusing label of white-Hispanic is used. Why? Because White is bad, and Hispanics require compassion for all their suffering.
White (non-hispanic) parents are the ones that should be concerned about what is going on in this country. The rest of you now majority – minorites need to clean up your own communties before pulling the discrimination and race card ad naseum. Demographics in the US are not in your favor to cry wolf anymore.
The Black Hand
March 23rd, 2012
10:58 am
@Wat “Hate to break this to you mandingo, but the fat ugly ones are the only ones that want you.”
If you want to tell yourself that in order to feel better then so be it. You can catch me at the Hawks games with 1 every now and then and I can guarantee she is NOT fat, ugly, or the white trash type!
“LOL @ bragging about having a Panamera; ugliest car ever. And weren’t they all recalled?”
Speak on what you know, I have a 2011 4S model, only the 2010 base model Panamera was recalled due to malfunctioning seat belts and nothing else! And who says I was bragging, if the car is ugly to you that is your opinion but I happen to LOVE my car. I’m the only one paying the notes on it so your opinion doesn’t matter to me at all!!!
Cracker Jack
March 23rd, 2012
11:05 am
Where is all the outrage for black 15 year old Dawtntrae Wilson killed in Gwinnett a few months ago. He was threatening his therapist and his own family with a machete, and they were forced to lock themselves in a closet to call 911. Law enforcement was called to the home where they were charged at by this “innocent child” still slinging the machete. The police shot and killed him in defense.
Why is Trayvon’s life more important than Dawntrae? Where was the outrage locally? Why did thosands of black Atlantans feel the need to bus trip-it to FL in defense of Trayvon?
The biased media in this country is playing the race card. Our own metro newspaper is the worst offender locally.
Augusta
March 23rd, 2012
11:05 am
Anyone who spends that kind of money on a car, has no sense at all. It’s a freaking car…..4 tires, steering wheel, transmission, windows, air, seats, stereo……same things my car has, and I haven’t had a car payment in over 10 years……and my insurance is less than $100/month.
You can keep your expensive Porsche. Sorry about your penis……
JoeDon
March 23rd, 2012
11:05 am
“Can’t we all just get along?” Trivia question of the day…Who said it?
Brown Eyed Girl!
March 23rd, 2012
11:05 am
Cracker Jack, Trayvon turned 17 two weeks before he was killed! The picture that has been displayed of him was what he looks like now. He was a very young looking boy. I can relate to that because no one has ever been able to tell how old I am. Most folk are usually 10 plus years off. By the way, the boy wasn’t “hyped up” on anything because they actually did both a blood and background check on him, but did non of this for Zimmerman!! The point is, a boy is dead and nothing was being done. Like I said, imagine if it was your child! No matter what your thought is about Al Sharpton, he has brought attention to this where no one else were listening to these parents that just wanted justice for their son!