A Worthless Black Life
BY CLARENCE BARR, II
Right now I don’t feel like being politically correct in what I’m about to say. Not that I’ve ever been politically correct to begin with. But today I’m feeling even less concerned about being considered offensive. And after what happened Saturday night, I don’t think anyone can blame me.
The “Not Guilty” verdict following almost two days of deliberation by the jury in the second degree murder trial of George Zimmerman represented further proof that, as far as the law is concerned, the lives of individuals who look like me are only worth as much as the pieces of paper marksmen use for target practice. Maybe less.
Even though the trial ended as I expected, with Zimmerman walking because of a weak prosecution, the final result still left a sour taste in my mouth. That is mainly because I held out a sliver of hope that justice still had a chance to be served for the Trayvon Martin family when the charge of manslaughter was introduced as an alternative option to the second degree murder conviction.
I assumed that any reasonable jury wouldn’t have a problem finding Zimmerman guilty of at least being responsible for Trayvon’s death through irresponsible, reckless behavior. Especially considering the fact that Zimmerman was the one who initiated the contact by following Trayvon in the first place. Boy, was I wrong.
I mean, how is it that a man can go out of his way to confront another man, agitate a fight and then not be found culpable when he kills the person he was harassing? No, seriously, how does that happen?
The entire idea that Zimmerman is free this morning is incomprehensible. And it bothers me even more when I think about Michael Vick being forced to serve two years in federal prison for killing dogs while this guy doesn’t get as much as a slap on the wrist for shooting an unarmed, barely 17-year-old, Black child. It is a picture just too wrong to be ignored.
I heard a man on a news program yesterday spewing the usual rhetoric about the system being broken and pointing out obvious things like, “if Zimmerman were Black he would have been in jail since the night of the incident.” The entire time I’m listening to him talk I’m thinking to myself, ok, now go on and tell us that water is wet, fire is hot and ice is cold.
We all know that if Zimmerman was Black and Trayvon was white he would already be sitting in the Florida State Penitentiary trying to figure out a way off death row. And that’s the problem.
To us the system is broken because of these types of occurrences. But the ugly truth is that since the system seems to be designed to continuously destroy the lives of Black men while allowing whites to literally get away with murder, for them, it’s actually working to perfection. And right now there is nothing that we’re doing that will cause it to break.
Bullhorn speeches, picket signs, marches and colorful chants like “No justice, No peace” are as tired and as ineffective as they are old. Everyone knows we talk a good game and that we put up a good show. But they also know that, when it comes to action, a large majority of us won’t bust a grape in a food fight.
Sure we’ll pout for a minute, make a little noise. But give us some time and we’ll eventually calm down, return to our normal complacent lives and wait for someone else to get shot.
It is just what we do. And because of that no one will ever fear any repercussions for taking one of our lives. And we will always be considered fair game.
Anyone wanting to contact Clarence Barr can reach him at: Clarence Barr, II, 43110-018; P. O. Box 7007; Marianna, FL 32447-7007. Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bulletin Publishing Company.
