Friday, July 12, 2013

Justice for Trayvon

My prayers are with the family of Trayvon Martin. No one has the right to claim that they were "standing their ground" when they stalked a person in the middle of the night based on nothing other than a personal stereotype about black boys in hoodies; assault that person; and then kill them because they refuse to submit to a stranger who is NOT a POLICE OFFICER and who was trying to jump them in the dark. Who would do that???

Neighborhood Watch my ass! Neighborhood Watch people have no police power, and they do not have the right to detain or physically subdue anyone unless they actually witness them in the act of a crime. Walking down the street while talking on your cell phone is NOT a crime. George Zimmerman belongs in prison. Let him "stand his ground" in there.

Wednesday, July 03, 2013

My Say So: Objects in the Rear View Mirror Are Closer Than Th...

My Say So: Objects in the Rear View Mirror Are Closer Than Th...: Forty-nine years is not that long ago. My mom will turn 63 this month, which means that for the first 14 years of her life, she lived in a w...

Objects in the Rear View Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear

Forty-nine years is not that long ago. My mom will turn 63 this month, which means that for the first 14 years of her life, she lived in a world where she couldn't sit at a lunch counter or go to school with white children. She couldn't sleep in most hotels, go into amusement parks or borrow books from public libraries. Do you ever wonder why when you see pictures of fun places and things from pre-1964 America that you never see people of color unless they are in staff uniforms? Because they weren't allowed into these places. Things we take for granted now were foreign to Black people in this country at this time. 

Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education (1954) sent a message that the United States of America was no longer a place where "separate, but equal" was an acceptable social policy. But it wasn't until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 when it was officially illegal to ban people of color from "places of public accommodation." However, something people often forget is that the CRA also banned employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Women have, by far, been the largest beneficiaries of the CRA. 

So let us not forget that discrimination and prejudice touch ALL of us and when they are allowed to flourish, they destroy ALL of us. Just because they're not looking at you this time, doesn't mean it's OK. Those who fail to remember history are destined to repeat it.

http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/02/2245221/49-years-ago-today-america-banned-whites-only-lunch-counters/?mobile=nc