Let’s be clear. The killing of Trayvon Martin is an absolute shame and a human tragedy. It should never have happened. The family deserves our sympathy. If investigation shows the shooting was not justified, the killer should be punished according to the law. I am crystal clear on all of those statements.
As clear as I am on the above statements, I am puzzled by the national outcry over the incident. This killing has become a national cause célèbre among blacks. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton hop back on the media stage by shouting their tired message of racial outrage. Louis Farrakhan goes even further calling for revenge, “an eye for an eye,” etc. As usual, Obama plays for votes by proclaiming Tryvon the son he wished he had, without knowing the victim at all.
Spike Lee has been at the forefront of a broad celebrity reaction, tweeting messages such as "America The Beautiful, A Country Where A Black Teenager Can Be Shot And Killed Coming From A 7-Eleven Buying A Ice Tea And A Bag Of Skittles," and retweeting -- often with commentary -- messages from fans and other advocates for legal action against Zimmerman.
Apparently the Tryvon incident got so much attention because it was cast as a white on black shooting. Plus, it is touted as an example of common racial profiling. In other words, it reinforces the standard black message: “American society is essentially racist.” What puzzles me about that attitude is most of the people I know are unaware of any black prejudice until black reactions such as this one occur.
A half Hispanic man did the shooting, and he said it was in self defense. Yet, the media and the liberal public have judged him guilty of murder with racial prejudice before any investigation. Obama’s Justice Department is considering charges. This conclusion is apparently based solely on the killer’s cell phone call to the police before the killing occurred. Who needs more proof when your antennae are ever alert for an excuse to claim racial bias?
On the other hand, The San Francisco Chronicle reports,
“In 2011, there were 103 reported homicides in Oakland. Most of the victims were young black males who were killed with firearms in East and West Oakland. This is a continuation of a pattern in Oakland that has been the case for years and is closely tied to the economic and social realities of young people living in the city’s poorest areas. If there is anything that makes 2011 different than past years, it is that three of those homicide victims were children under the age of 6."
The Chron article goes on,
"Carlos Nava, a 3-year-old, was killed by a stray bullet in a drive-by shooting in East Oakland on August 9. Less than three months later, 23-month-old Hiram Lawrence was shot in the head by a stray bullet in West Oakland on November 28, and died two weeks after that when he was taken off life support. On December 30, 5-year-old Gabriel Martinez was shot and killed by another stray bullet in front of his family’s taco truck in East Oakland.”
These incidents in predominantly black neighborhoods prompted some reaction and mild protests in Oakland, but nowhere else. Spike Lee was silent about this black side of America. Is the message that black on black crime is understandable and acceptable? Are we to believe all problems in the black community result from white bias?
