1813- THE BLACK KID [Trayvon Martin]
About a year ago I was out of town- a city called Rockport- a really beautiful city about 40 miles from my home.
To be honest- it was a rough day- I was on foot, walking. It was about 9:00 p.m. - and I had no cell phone.
To put it simply- I was stuck.
Now- I have been there before [there= situations like this] but it’s been a while- and I’m an old guy now!
Nevertheless I was walking- and thinking of some way to get a ride.
The first store I stopped at- I asked ‘do you mind if I use your phone’- they looked at me like I was Jack the Ripper- they gave me some excuse and sent me packing.
Then there were a couple of ‘kids’ there- looked like the classic gang kids- the whole 9 yards. They were Hispanic- and I asked them ‘hey- can I use your cell phone’?
He let me- I made a call- no one answered.
Then I walked about another block- thinking I would start walking down the highway and just hitch a ride.
I found another store.
At this store I got some change and used the pay phone and called a taxi service- I did have my wallet and took cash from the ATM.
As I was sitting outside waiting for the cab- I noticed a Black kid with a buddy- he was getting gas- it was late- I looked pretty ‘rough’ and I noticed he kept checking me out- he was telling his friend something and he started my way.
I was sitting out of the way- by the air pumps.
I thought ‘damn- I’m tired- It’s been a tough day- I’m too tired to run- let’s see what this kid wants’.
You know- I figured if worse comes to worse- I’ll do the Florida ‘stand your ground law’ yeah- that sounds good [though I wasn’t familiar with their law yet].
Oh-one problem- I don’t have a gun.
So the kid walks right up to me- kinda in my face- I tried to give him the Jersey stare ‘yeah- what’s up man’ [you can’t looked scared or the stare won’t work].
He simply walks right up- takes his hand out of his pocket- and gives me about 2 bucks in change.
Yeah- he thought I was one of the local homeless guys- he wanted to help me out!
Man- I knew I looked rough- but didn’t realize it was that bad!
I kinda laughed and told him I didn’t need it- he left it anyway.
This last week we have been having a conversation about race- the president made a comment about Trayvon Martin- and one of the Repub candidates criticized him for it.
I heard the president- read his statement- there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he said.
I have a feeling that we might find out a few things that we are not aware of right now.
It seems like Trayvon might have fought with Zimmerman [the guy who shot him].
And maybe we will hear a few things about Trayvon- maybe some problems at school or something.
But no matter what his history is- if he did have some problems- or even if he punched Zimmerman in the face and broke his nose.
Yet- the way Zimmerman pursued the kid- even after the 911 dispatcher told him not to- then he got out of his vehicle and confronted the kid- then he wound up killing him.
Look- the whole thing was wrong.
We don’t need self appointed ‘neighborhood watch’ guys acting like cops- and making 50 911 calls in the last year [which he did].
I worked for the Fire Dept. for 25 years- and I loved our volunteer firefighters- some of the guys were really helpful.
But you had a few that never could get hired as full time guys- and these guys acted like they were the ‘real deal’.
I mean they wore the fire dept Tee shirts around town- had the lights on their trucks [the paid guys never did stuff like this].
They wanted to be firefighters- paid- and if they couldn’t score high enough on the test and get on the dept. - then they did the next best thing- they acted like they were on the job!
I see this in Zimmerman- and while we don’t have all the details- he was not justified in killing this kid- no matter what else we find out- this was an unjustified killing.
And I agree with the president- every person- Black- White- Hispanic- should be concerned about this shooting- and we want to get to the bottom of this.
For a 17 year old kid [Black- White- whatever] to get shot in cold blood- and to be lying on the slab for 2 days before the parents know what happened.
And for the shooter to be home- still playing ‘cop’- and keeping his gun- this stuff needs to stop- and we as a country need to condemn stuff like this.
Yeah- did I feel nervous when the Black kid walked up to me at the gas station that night?
Sure.
He saw some White guy- a guy he thought was homeless- and he wanted to help.
When we see a Black kid- a hood or not- let’s not think ‘this kid is up to no good’ [the words of Zimmerman on the 911 call].
If we/you think something looks suspicious- yeah- go ahead and call 911.
But for heaven’s sake- if your packing heat- don’t get out of your car and play cop.
There's a reason some of the volunteers never got hired- and there’s a reason Zimmerman was not a cop.
If you aint ‘the real deal’ then call the pro’s- and stay in the damn car.
www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com
Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John
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