Think and Discuss: Double Standards

Now that enough time has been passed for me to clearly convey my thoughts and feelings on the issue I can give an honest opinion on the Trayvon Martin issue. Do I think Zimmerman is racist, probably so but then again so is the majority of America. Do I think Zimmerman killed Martin because he was black, no. Do I think Zimmerman should be arrested and convicted, yes. That’s all I have to say on the situation before I dive deeper into the uproar that this shooting has caused.
Why is it that Americans are so prejudice and racist against others that we ignore the wrong doing done by our brothers and sisters of the same race? Why is the highest level of hate for a white man to kill a black man but when blacks kill other blacks it is hardly recognized. There is no media coverage. There is no rallying and petitioning. There is no call for justice.
I thought that a crime was a crime no matter who is involved. Was I wrong to think so, because in recent times it only seems as if a crime is a crime, depending on the shock value of the details? Here is a piece by a friend Alan Martin:
“Recent events in Sanford, Florida in regards to the Trayvon Martin incident have had me in deep thought. Like most Black Americans, I was outraged. However, as time has passed, I've gone from seeing it as just a Black/White issue but as an issue deserving justice. Most of you know my position on gun control...and had George Zimmerman not decided to patrol the streets armed with a gun that he had the legal right to carry, this wouldn't have happened. 

This has also reinforced my overall view of the double standard that the Black Community has always lived under. We are the first to gather the troops when someone of another race brings harm to us...yet we sit silently by each and every time there is a Black on Black crime. How many murders committed by a Black person against another Black person go unsolved because of the wall of silence in the Black Community. No one ever see's anything or knows anything. Yet, we want those same police and the Justice System to give us justice when we feel attacked from someone from the so-called outside. When our children act out in school or does something wrong, we're quick to claim it wasn't him, or how dare to chastise my child. We teach our children not to respect authority when away from home...how many teachers tell me of their Black students who talk back or disrespect them because they know their parents will always side with them. 

We also have one of the highest birthrates of children born to unwed mothers.....especially among teens. We celebrate those births into the home...yet if your son or daughter brings home a spouse of a different race or of the same sex...we're less accepting. Instead of hearing Black parents asking "When is my child getting married?"......I hear "When is my child gonna give me grandchildren?"

We allow our children to walk out of the house looking like anything other than young ladies and gentlemen. We give them names that will harm them for life. I was in Target a few weeks ago, and the young lady checking me out was pregnant, she happened to be Black. I asked her when she was due and if she knew the sex of her baby. She told me the date and told me that she was expecting a boy that she was naming him Christopher. She said she wanted his name to look good on a resume and that she had no intention of doing as so many of her friends had done by the naming of their babies and branding them for life. I complimented her on her wise decision. I wish more young Black parents thought of that these days before naming their children. 

Look at the mug shots in the news...you can't pronounce half of their first names. It is way past time for us as a Community to come together...not just when we feel wronged by someone else...but to also to prevent us from continuing to destroy ourselves from within. We cannot simply keep blaming someone else for what's wrong in the Black Community. 

It's time to look in the mirror. We may not like what we see, as the truth always hurts.”
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The black community has a long way to go as justice should be fought for all, not just once it’s convenient. My only hope is that this Martin case doesn’t die down in the few months such as everything else has its way of doing within the Black community. “Buying skittles and hoodies” will only increase someone’s revenue not get rid of the problems. Let’s continue the fire that has been started by this tragedy and not wait for the next instance to decide to want to do something.