Trayvon Martin Revisited

A couple of years ago I created a blog called Media Douchebags in response to the horrific media handling mishandling of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman story.  My thinking at the time was that I would devote the blog to similar cases of media distortions.  While there is certainly no shortage of such cases, circumstances compelled me to return to blogging about the dinar and I never did anything more with that blog.  You can read that one article here, however. 

In following the recent story of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. I was struck by the parallels with the Trayvon Martin case.  The first thing that got my attention was when I learned about the popular use of Swisher Sweets cigars for rolling joints.  It reminded me of the alternative use of Trayvon Martin's Skittles and Arizona Watermelon Fruit Juice Cocktail which are often mixed with cough syrup to create a codeine-based drink called "lean".  In other words both of these young men had just left a convenience store where they scored some of the necessary material for getting high, and may have already been under the influence.

But the similarities don't stop there.  They also include:

• Both were portrayed as boys when in fact they were both over six feet tall. 
• Both were constantly referred to as unarmed which suggested that they were gunned down in cold blood, ignoring the injuries that they apparently inflicted upon the shooters.
• Both had posed for photos making gang signs and displayed gangsta behavior.
• Both came from a broken home.
• Both were living in a temporary location in a suburb of a major city.
• Both were incorrectly reported as having been shot in the back.
• Both were unemployed.
• Both were portrayed as having great ambitions in life.

And beyond that, their fathers' are about the same age and bear a strong resemblance to one another.

Michael Brown Sr. & Tracy Martin

Taking all of this into consideration, these two cases a thousand miles and two years apart suggest to me that they represent something more than a culture of racism or police brutality.  I believe they represent a cultural climate in America that leads to bad judgment and a lifestyle condusive to such tragic ends.  These two young men were at a point in their lives where they should have been preparing for adulthood.  They should have had a strong male figure in their lives living an example for them of how to be a man.  They should have been watched a bit more closely.  Instead they fell through the cracks. 

I'm not saying that they don't bear any responsibility here, but good parenting might have made a difference.  Young people need guidance.  They're not experienced enough in life to understand how things work, and they need good adults to help them to make good decisions. 

I did a lot of stupid things as a teenager, and I'm hardly alone in that.  I know from experience that without the right influence most kids will make poor choices and suffer the consequences.  With good examples and proper guidance most kids will make better choices and fare better in life.

Tracy Martin recently said that fathers need to "go out and teach our children how to walk and how to talk ... just basic etiquette on how to deliver themselves in the public". You can't help but wonder if he's referring to his own son's suspicious behavior before he lost his life in Florida two years ago.

Something that many white people don't realize is that hip-hop and gangsta rap is as divisive in the black community as the Vietnam War was in the white community.  When Shaquille O'Neal asked his dad if he could listen to rap music his dad, a former seargent in the U.S. army, told him "okay, but you better not let me catch you listening to any of that gansta rap!"  Years later Shaq stated about his rapping:

``I talk about stuff I know. You'll never hear me talk about gangsta rap, 'cause I'm no gangsta,'' Shaq sez. ``And I really wouldn't be calling girls the `B' word on my album, 'cause I got a lot of beautiful women in my life and I don't wanna get them upset. So I just try and say things that'll make people go `oooh,' that'll make them think a bit.''

Shaq also credited his father with disciplining him when he needed it.  As a result he was able to stay out of trouble, focus on his goals, and have a great career. 

The famous neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson was the son of a single mother in Detroit.  His mother required him and his brother to read two books a week and write a book report for her.  She also limited their television viewing and playtime.  As a result they both finished their education and had successful careers as well.  (Dr. Carson's brother Curtis was a mechanical engineer.)  Stories like these are repeated every day with parents who play an active role in their children's lives and keep them on the straight and narrow.  Unfortunately many children stray from the straight and narrow, and in the cases of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown they end up on the broad road to destruction. 

I have already stated that George Zimmerman's poor judgment escalated the situation in the Trayvon Martin case.  It remains to be seen how Officer Wilson's judgment and actions might have contributed to the tragedy in Ferguson.  But instead of defaulting to the accusatory "he had no right to kill that boy" position, maybe we should be asking "how did these young men end up on the road to destruction?"  As comedian Bill Burr says, "even firemen dig through the debris to see how the fire started".