"Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago" President Barack Obama
Today’s speech was President Obama’s usual genuine, stellar
performance. He is definitely an
excellent orator. He gave the conversation on race in America the much needed
context it needed to aid in a fruitful discussion about how the law was applied
in the George Zimmerman trial.
For me, I am afraid.
I have an African-American son.
The fear that I could lose him as a teenager because he decides to walk
to the store to get his sister some candy is debilitating. Getting people to understand that this isn’t
an isolated situation but rather a fear that African-Americans live with every
day because the profiling and murder of our boys happens every day is so hard
to communicate. I’ve given up on trying
to make anyone understand. If you don’t get it, you just don’t get it.
I have chosen to just live my reality and let those people
have whatever negative opinion they choose to have about whether or not I am one
of those so called “race baiters” or “opportunists”… and all the other
characterizations people have chosen to make because those of us who live this
reality dare have an open discussion about race in America. I applaud President
Obama for standing up and being the leader we elected him to be. I thank him for trying to reach all of
America and trying to get everyone to have a better understanding of what this outcry is
about. I think for him to do this was
amazing. Admittedly, I’ve lost the patience it would take to articulate this
issue as well as he did today.
Thank you Mr. President!
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