Let me start by mentioning that a few weeks ago, a video went viral about a guy named Kony. A guy who'd been doing bad things for a while but for some reason it became hip and trendy to call for justice now. Some people "attacked" others for sharing and being outraged. While I always feel like people don't pay enough attention to home, I defended those supporting this cause, mainly because I felt like a lot of the folks complaining about them probably don't get involved in issues here in America or anywhere for that matter.
Then I start reading news articles about Trayvon Martin. He was a 17 year old walking home with some candy and a can of tea when a self-appointed neighborhood watch leader shot him, claiming self defense. The 911 call has been released, and although I have not yet been able to bring myself to listen to it, I'm told that one can hear the young boy pleading for his death before he was shot. (Click here to hear the tape/read the transcription.) The killer, George Zimmerman was never arrested.
My question is where is the outcry for Trayvon? The Change.org petition to have this man prosecuted has struggled to reach 300k signatures, and is still around 25,000 signatures away from the goal. Many people who changed their Facebook status messages, pictures and posted links about Kony have said nothing about Trayvon. Where is his viral video? Where are the protests and the blogs and the trending topic on twitter?
People keep claiming that racism is dead. Our president is a black man after all! Of course racism doesn't exist anymore! Being born and raised in southern Alabama, I see daily that these statements are false. I don't think racism will ever be gone. This young man's life was taken and no one seems to care. Our people are constantly being treated as second class citizens in this country and it needs to stop. Black parents should not be fearful of letting their children go outside because a trigger-happy neighbor with a gun and a prejudice against their skin tone may shoot them.
People, we need to wake up.
