My Son's Harsh Reality

The events in Twin Lakes, FL on February 26 forced me to confront a tragic reality for my son.  The reality; despite all of the triumphs and progress America has made with regards to race relations, there are still many miles to go and many roads to build.

My son is an intelligent, handsome dimpled-smile 8 year old boy who dreams of a career involving engineering.  He is an honor student and exceptionally compassionate.  He enjoys hugs, and hanging out with is family and friends.  His best friends are quite similar to him.  My son is a Christian, he confessed Christ of his own volition when he was 7 years old and he earnestly and fervently seeks to please God in every aspect of his life.  He is adored by his grandmothers and idolizes his father, grandfathers and great granddads.  Oh, and he adores his Uncle Pat (my younger brother).   For all intents and purposes my son is on a course that would provide him with opportunities immeasurable...it would it should but he has a substantial hurdle.  In fact it is a hurdle not of his creating and it is insurmountable.  You see my son has to bear the burden of being a black male.  I know that we are in 2012 but the case of Trayvon Martin, a young man who was 9 years old when my son was born forces me to confront the reality that my son "fits the description" there I said it. 

My heart skips when I look into my son's big beautiful brown eyes as he says to me "Mama, I'm sorry I forgot."  This was his response when I turned to him and admonished him to take his hands out of his pockets while we were in the grocery story.  So I had to remind my son of "the rules."  Just what are "the rules", it is the unwritten code of conduct for black persons that has been handed down via oral tradition from slavery, through Jim Crow and into the Twenty-First Century.  The rules remind us that our conduct is under scrutiny even in the most sublime of situations.  So with great sorrow I explained to my son that he cannot afford the luxury of forgetting the rules.  I had to explain to him that he must remember at all times that his life depends on the strict adherence to those rules.  Rules quite similar to those Jonathan Capehart speaks of in his piece Under Suspicion: The killing of Trayvon Martin.  Rules that I must expand and teach him to apply similarly to the ones listed by Toure` in his piece How to Talk to Young Black Boys About Trayvon Martin.

I recently wrote about what Trayvon Martin means for parents. How it is our responsibility to continue to lay for them the foundation of responsible productive citizenship in the face of the possibility that, even when all has been done right, martyrdom may be imminent. I can only say that I pray that one day the reality for my son changes.  Until then I will do all that I can to ensure that he reaches the full boundless possibility of his potential without fear but with all diligence and vigilance.  A child should never have to look at himself in the mirror and worry if he is going to live or die today simply because something he cannot control, his gender and ethnicity, cause him to be viewed as "suspicious."  Don't get me wrong, I understand that statistics speak however statistics should not become the plumb line by which we gauge the sanctity of human life or motive. 


JUSTICE 4 TRAYVON MARTIN = JUSTICE FOR ALL!

Beyond Sunday

Beyond Sunday  I enjoyed this article and I think it gives necessary insight into the central act of Christ.