Black and White Makes Green

Foul Mouth Mama posted this today...JUST for my blog I think...

I don't like to get political--I swear--but I also cannot keep my mouth shut. EVER. I need to weigh in on this whole Trayvon mess. I have purposefully NOT been listening to the "news" (you KNOW how I feel about THAT) and NOT been clicking on links because as horrifying as it sounded, I knew I didn't have the energy to research ANYTHING on my own. That said, I am so glad that I did not click or get involved with postings on it. I am P-R-E-T-T-Y sure that I would have said WAAAAAYYYY too much that I would have then had to take back.

It wouldn't be so complicated if we could all just get along. And by ALL, I mean ALL. I don't care if you are red, green, purple, brown, or blue. I take that back--I DO care if you are green--sorry--it's just that I have three small children and I myself struggle with autoimmune issues. You understand. I also DO NOT CARE if you are a three hundred and fifty pound male who likes to wear women's panties while he goes swing dancing (haha--SWING dancing...hahah--okay, I'll stop) with his boyfriend Bubba. As far as I am concerned, THAT is none of my business and the only reason I am MAKING it my business is because I am either A. hiding something that REALLY scares me or 2. jealous of your women's panties or jealous of the fact that YOUR partner takes you SWING dancing.  Either way, hating the "unknown" is not an option for me. I taught English for years (as is NOT AT ALL evident based on THIS blog!), so my JOB was to make people see that there are THREE sides to every story (I know we covered this HERE, but there ARE some newbies who weren't around for that)--your side, my side, and the truth. There is ALWAYS something more to a story--you just have to be willing to look for and find it.

Back to Trayvon. I saw pictures of a sweet and innocent young boy plastered across my computer screen for days. I was actually AFRAID to click on it because what happened to him was obviously so disgusting and I felt that my psyche would not be able to handle it. I KNEW I was outraged and I KNEW that what happened to him was despicable, I just didn't know exactly WHAT it was that outraged me because I was certain that if I read about it I would never let my children out of the house again.

THEN my husband came home last night and asked me if I had heard anything about it. I told him what I just told you and he filled me in on a little more information. Like, for example, the fact that Trayvon was not actually a "young" boy as much as he was a seventeen-year-old who had previously punched a bus driver (NOT a fact that I confirmed), and who was staying with dad's girlfriend because he was suspended (or expelled) from school and who may not be the only "victim" in this case. My point is NOT that he was doing anything wrong--it is that I don't know WHAT he was doing--and regardless of what he was doing, he did not deserve to die. That said, why is it that he has been portrayed as an innocent young child in every picture I have seen and why has this become a race battle? I feel...used...because those images were MEANT to sway my opinion. If true justice is what we want, then would it matter if Trayvon was a child or a man or black, red, green (yes, I covered that earlier) or purple? Killing an unarmed PERSON is wrong--right? But now we have to play games, which makes me wonder what else is being misconstrued.

Don't get me wrong--Zimmerman (the child-slayer) DEFINITELY had issues--he went after someone even after the 911 operator told him not to do it. The thing is--I was under the impression that he was some sort of vigilante racist who shot harmless young children simply based on their skin color. Now it is coming to light that a witness saw Zimmerman on the ground after an altercation with Trayvon--with blood on his nose and the back of his head, which indicates to me that the innocent young boy (who stood inches above the self-proclaimed neighborhood watch man, Zimmerman) could definitely hold his own--not that he should have HAD to if he was simply walking through a neighborhood not looking for trouble. The thing that bugs me more than ANY of this case is the fact that the thirteen-year-old witness is now in danger because the "media" published his name--because THAT is a good idea--everyone is already being so very REASONABLE about this case. Everyone is waiting for FACTS before they attack--I'm SURE there is NOTHING to worry about--AT ALL.

I still have limited knowledge about this entire case--which is why I don't profess to have the answers. What I DO know is that people are always so motivated by politics and stereotypes that I do not know WHAT is true anymore. If we could all just be...normal (relative, I know) about things then we wouldn't have to WORRY about these gray areas. If people weren't so quick to hate and judge this never would have happened. Maybe if the media wouldn't operate under a convict first, get answers later mentality,we wouldn't be so quick to make assumptions and perhaps we would even be willing to give people the benefit of the doubt (Yes I like it here in Nikatopia. The butterflies are made of chocolate.)

It is a travesty that a seventeen-year-old was killed, that is irrefutable, but is the person responsible for this untimely death really the malicious racist he is made out to be? I don't know--and right now, you don't either. Hopefully the evidence (typically an inconvenient annoyance to the most successful "journalists") will lead to the truth for the actual jurors in the case--and hopefully those involved (like the young witness who was publicly outed by the media) and their families will find peace when the truth comes to fruition--even IF the truth fails to make a lot of money for the media.