By Darryl James
I am Trayvon Martin.
My son is Trayvon Martin.
As such, I am placing venomous, racist dogs on notice that if any Trayvon I love is given the treatment that the piece of crap George Zimmerman gave to Trayvon Martin, there will be an all-out war and no family members of his will find safe quarters anywhere on this planet.
I wish this were the message that every Black Father was ready and willing to give to vicious racist dogs across the land. Such a message, fully loaded with the very real harbinger of violence and death as retribution, would deter the murder of more Trayvon Martins.
But we march.
And we pray.
And we wear hoodies.
Yet we are still.
And as if it weren’t bad enough that too many of us are either still or silent or both, some of us are so cowardly and ignorant that we have taken precious time and energy to point the fingers of blame at…guess who? Black Men?!!
Yes, cowardly ignoramuses are musing from the comfort of their safe homes about how Black men may somehow be at fault for wearing or allowing the youth to wear clothing that makes them “look suspicious.”
There is nothing testicular about “men” like that.
The moment we began to consider that Black men were somehow at fault for the racist view of Black men in America, and accordingly, the violence meted out by rabid white garbage, was the moment when we began our slide down the slippery slope to chaos and the abandonment of both self-respect and self-preservation. Knee-grows tried this noose on the community’s neck before and it does not fit.
While I hold a great disdain for the behavior of ignorant Blacks who wear their pants around their knees with their behinds showing, I understand American racism too deeply to pretend that somehow, such poor social behavior is now the cause of racism. That would mean that somehow, the tail is now wagging the dog.
I would not argue whether poor public behavior contributes to the poor public image of Blacks, but no sane Black person with self-awareness, knowledge of American history and an understanding of American racism would dare blame the death of Trayvon Martin on his choice of clothing.
Frankly, this kind of empty rhetoric has no place in the efforts to bring about justice for Trayvon Martin’s family.
And, if a white kid was wearing similar gear, we all know that there would be no danger of anyone “mistaking” the white kid as a danger to society.
It was one thing for the irrelevant and moronic Geraldo Rivera to make the statement because he’s been vying for nomination to honorary white man status, but for so-called Black people to make the same statement is ignorant and dangerous.
The other, perhaps more destructive and equally false argument that these cowardly morons are pursuing is that Black men, by being violent with each other, are somehow causing or at least inviting violence from racist animals.
In addition to the fact that this is just sick and twisted thinking, the fact remains that white men in America are the most violent in the nation.
And the fact remains that George Zimmerman must be prosecuted and frankly, should be put to death.
But if it weren’t for the national outcry, there wouldn’t even be a prosecution.
So many pieces of this legal puzzle have been botched that one would imagine that Barney Fife from Mayberry was leading the police department in Florida.
The hot potato of lies has been spun around Zimmerman claiming that he was acting in self-defense, and attempting to invoke Florida’s “Stand your ground” law.
But even Jeb Bush who signed that law while Governor of Florida has made it clear that the law does not apply in this case.
And we have only to listen to one of the witnesses who heard much of the incident outside of her window to understand that Trayvon Martin was attempting to flee and George Zimmerman was the assailant. It appears that Martin was invoking the “Stand Your Ground Law” when he handed Zimmerman a beatdown after being cornered by the vile racist. And it appears that Zimmerman then illegally raised the level of the incident to deadly force by shooting the unarmed teen to his death.
To be clear, the “Stand Your Ground Law” in Florida, much like similar laws in other states, provides for citizens to use deadly force in self-defense when there is reasonable belief in a threat, with no obligation to retreat.
The problem for Zimmerman is that it was clear that he was in pursuit of Martin, not in retreat. The 911 operator advised him to not leave his car, which he did. Martin’s girlfriend advised him to run from Zimmerman, which he did. And the witness who listened to the incident outside of her window clearly heard Martin begging for his life. Zimmerman was not threatened and was choosing not to retreat—he was threatening and refusing to retreat.
There was no self-defense.
There was only stalking and murder, steeped in racial profiling and racial hate.
And if not for the spreading of outrage and action across the nation, Zimmerman, much like other vile racists, would have gone free. Ostensibly, his family’s connection to the legal system was used to try to keep him out of the system, even though he has an extensive record of violence, including violence against the police.
My concern is that while Zimmerman may be brought to justice, other Trayvon Martins may be murdered without much fanfare.
It’s been happening for a long time.
And it’s happening still.
In Chicago, recently, 22 year old Rekia Boyd was killed by an off-duty cop who claimed he mistook her friend’s cellphone for a handgun. Her friend was shot in the hand and Boyd was shot in the head and killed.
And there has been no justice.
So, I’m saying “I am Trayvon Martin” out of respect and solidarity, but really, how many Trayvons are killed each year? And how many of them go unnoticed? Is there a national outcry and wearing of hoodies for every one?
Of course, the answer is no, which is why I’m suggesting that something different must occur.
That difference can be the consistent use of technology to show solidarity and send clear messages to lawmakers and offenders alike, such as the Change.org petition and the solidarity of Brothers Behind Trayvon, a national coalition of members of Alpha Phi Alpha, Fraternity, Inc., which contains a national coalition of practicing attorneys offering pro bono assistance to the legal team representing Trayvon Martin’s family.
We must press for the laws to be enforced so that racist murderers are prosecuted swiftly, which would serve as a deterrent.
We must fill petitions with names and present them to lawmakers, pressing them to enforce the laws with equal justice.
Otherwise, there are different avenues that can be taken as measures of last resort.
For example, if I were Trayvon’s father, I would liquidate everything valuable and toss the rest away and go underground on a vigilante mission, first erasing Zimmerman and then reading the papers to go after every violent racist I read about until my life under the radar was over.
I would also erase the self-hating House Niggers who are pretending that somehow Trayvon or Black men are at fault, because of hip hop clothing or because of violence by Blacks against other Blacks or for any other reason of putrid thinking.
I don’t know how legitimate the New Black Panther Party is, but they have issued a reward for Zimmerman—allegedly dead or alive. That idea is floating around as an option to justice denied.
Outside of the law, these are measures that would decrease the incident of murder of African Americans at the hands of filthy racists.
Fear of retaliation is a great equalizer.
Am I advocating violence?
I am advocating the decrease in violence and murder of Black people, particularly hate crimes, by any means necessary, which may include invoking the old standard law from Biblical times—The “Eye For An Eye” Law.
There is no reason and no room for any more Trayvons to be victimized.
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the powerful new anthology “Notes From The Edge.” James’ stage play, “Love In A Day,” opened in Los Angeles in 2011 and will be running throughout 2012. View previous installments of this column at http://www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
Black Men In America 