Time Warp Tuesday: Teenage Boys-"Ours and Theirs"

I know it's Wednesday, but what the hell. In addition to the normal craziness of life, my boss "left her job" Monday and that was the tail end of some serious drama. In addition, the news has had me preoccupied and not in a good way--more in a seriously ranty way.

Be sure to visit Karen and Gary for some more traditional Time Warp posts.

 

My boys as teenagers/young men (17 and 20)

Since I know that none of you live under a rock, I won't give any background for this post beyond "Trayvon Martin."

I have tweeted and posted many things in the last few days*, but I think this tweet hits the nail on the head with where my rage is coming from.

Not Just Any Jenn ‏@jugglingjenn16 Jul

@LouisatheLast White teens have "scrapes" with authorities; kids of color get suspended, expelled, arrested-all for the same infractions.

It is time for all of America to wake up to this injustice--to own and acknowledge it. It is real. It is pervasive. It is wrong. 

My boys--those almost comically "All-American" looking (we need to broaden the definition of All-American for sure) guys in that photo had scrapes. They were not/are not perfect. They've both been pulled over by the police and never once did the thought cross their minds they might be shot. I didn't have to buy them bright-orange wallets so that they are easily identifiable as something other than a gun when someone in authority wants to see their licenses.

They've walked down streets in their own neighborhood and other people's neighborhoods wearing hoodies and were never once considered "suspicious." Sadly, my oldest son's friend from down the street--the friend who has lived here since second grade--cannot say the same. I have answered inqutires from neighbors on at least five ocassions asking what I thought of the sketchy-looking black teenager loitering about. I am not kidding. One person even told me she'd heard a rumor he was a Katrina refugee. Since second grade, people-that is 16 years.

My brother-in-law feels a fair verdict was rendered and in a discussion on FB, he said that neither his son or my sons would have gotten into a physical altercation with George Zimmerman. I can't speak for his son, but I will tell you that while I doubt either of my boys would have instigated a physical confrontation, if they were pushed to defend themselves (maybe by, I don't know, being scared half out of their wits by some stalker dude whose intentions were unknown), either one of them would have beaten the living crap out of the other guy. Being MMA fans themselves, ground and pound would certainly have been a possibility. And that would have been their right--they would have been acting, as I believe Trayvon was, in self-defense. (Unless self-defense only applies if you use a firearm; I'm baffled).

The other thing I know for sure is that if Zimmerman were black and Trayvon was white and the same verdict was rendered, there would have been rioting in the streets. White people are just not used to injustices being perpetrated upon them the way black people are, that's the only explanation I have for the relative peacefullness of the demonstrations.

I sure hope this is not over; my only consolation (and a very cold one for sure for TM's family) will be if Trayvon's name is mentioned in history books alongside the likes of Emmett Till, the victims of the 16th street Baptist Church bombing and other innocents whose lives were lost along the path toward civil rights.

We can no longer let the racist voices of those clinging for dear life to white privilege be the most vocal in our society. Now is the time for all of us to act--if you're not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

 

*You can friend me on FB if you want access to all sorts of links and discussion. I put up some relevant and powerful information, if I do say so myself. And I do.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Jocelyn]

OH, sadly, yes. This has been a tough week of being reawakened to how deep and pervasive this crapass nonsense is.

Did you read the Questlove article I posted on FB earlier today? (Questlove is the drummer for The Roots) It's a very effective essay about how this verdict affected him as a black man. It drove home, for once and all, as he puts it: "I ain't shit."

[Karen (formerly kcinnova)]

My sister-friend in VA is the mother of 4 handsome young men. (We bonded over this commonality and more.) Two of those young men were pulled over one night for "speeding" in our small town. It is a sad reality that they were suspicious in the eyes of the local police because they were driving a nice SUV (the parents have good jobs, live in a nice house, and have nice cars) and they are black. They were coming home from college and it was after midnight. The policeman was inexcusably rude and insisted that the father come to collect his sons. This is a man who travels all over the world for a major institution. He was, I'm sure, incredibly polite but I know he was livid. When my friend told me this at church the next day, I was so angry. I'm still angry about it. And because of this experience on behalf of my friend whom I love, I will never take for granted the white privilege... a privilege I wish did not exist.
TM could have been one of her sons.

PS: I do love that pic of your boys.

[Cassi]

You are so right.

[Green Girl in Wisconsin]

It's heartbreaking. No justice for the Martin family. Even a manslaughter charge should have been appropriated because what kind of system allows this?

[lanes]

Questlove's essay (like this whole situation) had me in tears. I think the part where he describes becoming, maybe, 75% robot to be able to get through the day is what did me in.

[magpie]

You? Bingo. Well said.

[Susan Walker]

I wish you lived closer. I am surrounded--SURROUNDED--by extremely conservative, closed-minded folks (being a base/military town) who think nothing like you & I.

I actually had a discussion with a close friend a few weeks ago and told her that there's more to the Paula Deen story than meets the eye. When I told her about the discrimination at work (Bubba's restaurant), and how Paula wanted servants dressed as 'slaves,' she actually said, "GOOD ON HER." I gasped. We had a short debate after that and then agreed to disagree. It literally changed how I felt about her. Talk about a rude awakening.

Anyway--thank you for being you. We need more folks like you in this world, Jenn.

[shrink on the couch]

Its the most insane justice bending nightmare. Where walking on pavement is considered armed and dangerous and an adult with a handgun approaches a teen is self-defense? !

My son has worn a hoodie walking our neighborhood at night with no thought of being seen as sketchy let alone criminal.

[Aunt Snow]

Sigh. My first thought, back when the shooting happened, was that Trayvon could easily have been one of my son's friends from high school.

I am not going to revisit the story now that a verdict has been handed down, but as I understand it, no evidence was provided that Travyon instigated a confrontation - Mr. Zimmerman claimed he had during his pre-trial TV appearances, and his lawyers certainly inferred it, but no evidence was presented to corroborate this assertion - you or another commenter can tell me whether I am right on this.

[Brightside-Susan]

I am so with you on this. My husband thinks that we can't know unless we sat on the jury - I don't agree. Theatrics, excuses and mistakes were made in the trial and still do not support the verdict. The prosecutor was wrong to say it wasn't about race. It was about race and a violent vigilante taking advantage of the gun laws.

[Busy Bee Suz]

This has been hard for me to watch as well. Knowing this young man was doing nothing wrong....it's just ludicrous. Heartbreaking.
on a lighter note; love that photo of your 'young men'!

[Shirleen]

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