Tuesday, April 24, 2012

A Mob Beats a Man and Calls it Justice

On Saturday, a man in Mobile, Alabama approached some kids that were playing basketball in the street. After the kids left, a mob of adults attacked him with anything they could get their hands on. What a great lesson for their children! "Hey kids, watch what you're allowed to do if someone tries to tell you what to do!" What horrible parenting!

The man is now in critical condition at the hospital. Did I mention that this mob attacked him on his own front porch and that his sister witnessed the entire thing? He was on his own property, where he should be able to feel safe.

Oh, did I forget to inform you that he is white?

And did I mention that the entire crowd was black?

As if the entire scene isn't awful enough, as the crowd was leaving, one of them had the nerve to say, "Now that's justice for Trayvon."

What?

I'm sorry, violent black person, but attacking a white man because a hispanic man shot and killed an unarmed black teenager in a different state is NOT justice.

I'm going to go on a racial rant here, so just bear with me.

I am Irish and Native American. There is some generic European mixed in there too, but those are the main races that I am. Though I am considered "white," I do not at all feel that my race is superior. I do not feel that the English owe me anything because my ancestors were violently forced off the lands they lived on for years. I do not feel that anyone owes me anything because due to a famine in Ireland, my grandparents were forced to either stay put and starve or emigrate to America. No one owes me anything.

Slavery is something that is closer to us in history. What the Africans had to go through was awful. When I read or hear about stories of the abuse, negligence and degradation that occurred, I am often emotionally moved.

Here's the thing though:

In 1865, Slavery was abolished.
In 1870, all races were allowed to vote.
In 1920, all genders were allowed to vote.
In 1971, anyone eighteen and older was allowed to vote.

I am well aware that there were set backs. I know that towns and schools remained segregated for some time, even after slavery was abolished. It takes time getting used to something new. For a long time, Africans were seen as "less than" in some areas. You can't change a way of thinking over night. Those laws were a good start to change.

It is sad that that group of blacks found solidarity in beating a man on his own front porch. I'm sure Martin Luther King Jr. would be so proud.


Link to the story of the beating can be found here.

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