I have been troubled for around a year or so now, that there seems to be this huge racial issue in America. From posts that I view on Facebook from people I knew in high school, that confuses, and sometimes alarms me. Is it that people view themselves as different so they take ordinary crappy days and crappy situations in life and make them about race; or do they have a valid point regarding feeling like they are treated or viewed differently because of their skin tone.
I certainly am not pretending to have an answer, but want to express my thoughts somewhere in this vast world (world wide web thing).
My confusion started with Trevon Martin. Zimmerman was not "white", and he was NOT a police officer. He should have been tried as a person who killed another person. Now I do not know the law, but there are different level charges, such as Manslaughter, 1st degree, 2nd degree, etc, so that each case can be determined to be a certain level of motive involved. Zimmerman case was obviously not 1st degree. The issue with that case is it became political and social. It should have been handled like a regular murder case. Perhaps he would have been convicted if it had been handled with political pressure on the prosecutor.
The latest case is an 18 yr. old in Missouri being killed by a police officer. The problem I have with the many many posts on social media and the news media, is I don't feel like we have the facts. Maybe I am naïve and I assume there was a reason that this instance got "out of hand". The military looking police that have shown up days after the fact has been a response to the looting and unruly protests. I doubt "peaceful" protests would have required any action from the police. The news media did show looting and rioting. Well how do you expect the police is going to keep the innocent (of any race) safe from this behavior. I understand that people get upset about the initial reaction to this situation. Thoughts like "why would they shoot an unarmed man?" There is a process that these instances get investigated. And I'm sorry but every mother thinks her kid is "such as good boy."
I doubt this had anything to do with his clothes or droopy draws or his color of skin.
I also have noticed a shift in society that the police is against us. You hear a siren and people say "they're comin' for ya." in jest, however even young children say "uh oh. There's a police." What happened to "hey there's a police" with smile and waves.
I noticed while watching the World Cup FIFA Soccer matches that race was NEVER mentioned. It was never used in any commentating. And all the teams have people of different skin tones; however all the Brits, were just Brits. No one said there's a black Brit. I was pleasantly surprised that other nations do not "see" race as we Americans do.
It's time America for a change. But it must happen in each home, with each family. I have always felt blessed that I grew up in a home without prejudice towards others. I was not "taught" prejudice. I was blessed to grow up in a community that was not one race. I had friends of all kinds - different races, lower and middle class. It didn't matter. You were friends with people because they were nice. You avoided people who were mean. It was that simple.
