Trayvon, I'm sorry....

As things begin to wrap up with the State vs. George Zimmerman, my heart is aching.  I've taken a strong interest in the outcome of this case because I wanted to see just how fancy they'd be trying to wiggle and defend what he's done and all of the lies he's told. I was interested in seeing just how far we've progressed as a society.  Most importantly, my interest is extremely high in the outcome because  I have a son.

My son is Black.

My son is tall.  

My son is slender. 

My son is athletic.

My son is in good health.

My son has smoked weed. 

My son knows how to defend himself.

My son walks to the store sometimes when it's dark out.

My son wears hoodies and drinks Arizona Teas.

My son is NOT a suspicious person and neither was Trayvon.  

The cold and hard realization of racism, profiling, stereotyping and entitlement can not be ignored in this case.  We can all dance or slide over these underlying currants but the facts of the matter, they exist.  Nobody wants this to be a "racial" issue but it is.  Why was he ever a "suspicious person"? What made him so suspicious??? 

Because George Zimmerman didn't know him? He didn't know George Zimmerman but he didn't pursue him either.Was he suspicious because he wore a hoodie? 
I didn't know it was a particularly odd thing to cover your head when its raining.  So what made him suspicious? So suspicious and menacing that George Zimmerman became so hellbent on  "catching him" and that all of his supposed "fear" was thrown aside?  What made Trayvon suspicious?  Because he was Black.

If you're not a person of African descent, it's very hard for you to understand exactly what IT IS to be Black in America.  Being a woman of African descent, even I can't fully understand what it is to be a BLACK male in America, but I understand and can relate as I've experienced profiling personally in my life. That's not to say that non-blacks can't empathize with the experience but they will never fully understand what life is like to be measured by stereotypes for no reason other than skin color. They will never understand that WE are guilty until proven innocent, when the law clearly gives us the right to be innocent unless proven otherwise. Even in death and unable to tell his side, Trayvon is on trial and apparently, they've proven him guilty of being the one that caused his own death.

We've all speculated as to what would have happened had Trayvon been white and George had been black.  What if they were both white?  What if they were both black? What if Trayvon had the gun and killed George?  I confidently believe that if the races were switched, George would have been arrested on the night of the shooting and this case would be over and George would be on his way to prison.  If it had of been Trayvon who shot George out of self defense, he would have been on his way to prison.  It just is...what it is.  Hate me if you want, but it IS the truth from where I stand.  How sad it is a world we live in that a kid can't walk to the store without being profiled and suspected as being up to no good.  How sad it is a world we live in that a kid can't fight with all his might and will, to defend himself when he was being followed by a grown man, with a gun, that he didn't know....who was lurking....and following him.  How sad that he wasn't given the right and continues to be denied the same rights that George Zimmerman was given. Why is it that Trayvon's self defense isn't being considered in the arguments at all??  Oh, I'm sorry! My mistake it is being considered only not in the light and truth.  That ass kicking George received was him defending himself.... and they've turned it around to be Black aggression and fear for George.

The sad, sad part about this all..... *pause*........NONE of this had to happen.  It all happened because George Zimmerman MADE it happen.  

Trayvon, I'm sorry this world we live in have quantified and reduced the value of your life and the lives of so many young men, like you....like my son.  I'm sorry this world will allow people to develop games and set up Facebook pages to make sadistic, cruel and sick jokes about you.  I'm sorry the process of the law have allowed them to vilify you. I'm so sorry.  I'm sorry you will never be able to tell your side of what happened.  You will never be able to speak of what it felt like to be hunted and having to defend yourself.  You will never be able to do that and I am SO so very sorry.  I'm sorry that "beyond reasonable doubt" only applies to George Zimmerman life, yet he didn't EVER give you THAT simple courtesy the night he took your life. How ironic.  I can only pray that your family will heal from this tragedy whatever the outcome may be.  Your life mattered to SO many people.

I believe you.

Rest In Peace.....