I Am Puerto Rican, I Am Trayvon Martin
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- Category: Blogs
- Published: Sunday, 14 July 2013 17:47
I've been reading my newsfeed and have seen both the outraged and the people who are OK with the Zimmerman trial verdict. I've read how satan is out to divide and destroy and this is true. I've read people say... "Hey, we weren't there. We can't judge".
I will share something very personal... My children are bi-racial. And when they were born I consciously and ON PURPOSE chose NON ETHNIC names for them. Why?
So I could give them as much head start as possible when it came time for someone to make a decision for them based on their name... Like their resume coming across someone's desk and whether or not someone would call them for an interview if their name was Evan or Tyrone. McKenzie or Tameka.
I have ON PURPOSE coached my son NOT to display a Puerto Rican flag in his car. Not to wear certain clothes. And to stay in school and finish his degree. WHY???? So he positions himself for success and not call negative attention to himself because he can't hide the fact that he's PUERTO RICAN.
And as much as we all want to sit here and say... No way! We ALL have the same opportunities! You're crazy with that talk, Linda. TO that my friend... I say.... NO! This verdict for the Zimmerman case just took this country back 60 years! Back to a time where someone was murdered senselessly and NO ONE PAID FOR IT. Someone's SON IS DEAD here. Surely, SOMEONE IS RESPONSIBLE for that. GEORGE ZIMMERMAN KILLED HIM!
There are so many variables here... Like VOTING and putting people in political positions that WILL QUESTION JEB BUSH when he wanted to pass STAND YOUR GROUND. How does stand your ground affect society? Well... If someone thinks you look suspicious, they can follow you, attack you and kill you... While THEY STAND THEIR GROUND. And as much as everyone wants to believe this was not an issue of race... Unfortunately... It was not the other way around. It wasn't a black man who killed a 17 year old caucasian kid.
Seven years since it was passed, Florida's "stand your ground" law is being invoked with unexpected frequency, in ways no one imagined, to free killers and violent attackers whose self-defense claims seem questionable at best. Defendants claiming "stand your ground" are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent of those who killed a black person faced no penalty compared to 59 percent of those who killed a white. (Tampa Tribune, 2013)
I have lived as a Hispanic female ALL MY LIFE and have dealt with discrimination MY ENTIRE EXISTENCE. I AM AND MY CHILDREN WILL ALWAYS BE TRAYVON MARTIN.
Linda Hayles is owner of Courage Factor http://www.couragefactor.com