I have now had a few days to process and collect my thoughts in regards to the George Zimmerman verdict and I am left with a strong feeling of vulnerability.  I feel as if the state of Florida has just made public a long protected secret, that it’s okay to kill black people.  I realize that this is nothing new for those amongst us that lived through the civil rights era but many of my generation have begun to drink the cool-aid and think that those days are behind us.  Not necessarily an end to the days in which blacks and other minorities would lose their lives at the hands of racist whites but that the murderers would be protected by the law. Granted, police continue to kill unarmed blacks but that is common knowledge in the black community, what’s scary is that the general public has just been given the green light to shoot first and get a good lawyer later.  And that leaves me feeling vulnerable.

As a man that is hard to admit but true, it is as if I’m in the movie “The Purge” or better yet “The Hunger Games” trying to make it through the night under the constant threat of death.  The sadness is not just for me but for our children who we as parents and as a community have a responsibility to protect.  How do you let a child out of your sight knowing the world he or she is going out into?

When I found out the news I was at the Mississippi Street Fair. I was having a great time when I got a call from my younger sister letting me know that “they let him go” while in tears.  That immediately flipped a switch in me; I went from enjoying myself in the predominately white crowd to feeling a variety of emotions.  The strongest among them anger as I watched all the smiling white faces having the time of their lives without a worry in the world.  Is that what they mean by “White Privilege?” not having to be concerned with such things?

I clearly have several questions and no answers.  I am certain that some readers of this piece will say that I am over-reacting and that the Zimmerman case was an isolated incident.  All I can say is that I pray that you are right.