Yesterday former talk-show host Geraldo Rivera gave an interview and said that Trayvon Martin wasn't wearing a hoodie, he wouldn't have gotten shot and killed. When I heard him make that ignorant statement, I became pissed and angry. Just because Trayvon was wearing a hoodie did't mean he was a thug or a gang member and just because he was wearing a hoodie, didn't give Zimmerman the right to take his life. There are many criminal who sport urban gear, but there are many people who like to sport urban gear, but they don't rob, kill, rape or do drugs. In fact there are many Blacks and Latinos who have been harassed by cops, and they were wearing suits, which makes Rivera's statement totally bias and ignorant when in reality, many Blacks and Latinos who ride in fancy cars and live in middle class neighborhoods are constantly harassed by cops who are quick to come to the conclusion that they're involved with drug trafficking or if they see Blacks and Latinos riding a fancy car in a middle class neighborhood, they automatically assume that they're there to partake in criminal activity, which is not the case. Many don't like the fact that there are Blacks and Latinos who aren't living in the projects or the ghetto, on welfare, section 8, social security and HASA, and all of those who are living and surviving on government programs are NOT lazy or addicted to drugs and alcohol either.
Blacks and Latinos have no right to be subjected to illegal searches,and it's up to the parents of rich Blacks and Latinos to school their kids on the realities of the world because many cops don't care what your address is, they're still an minority.
I have an example to prove the point of this blog. I used to enjoy watching The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and there was one episode that is one of my favorites; it was when Will and Carlton was the victims of racial profiling. Carlton and Will were car-sitting for Uncle Phil's White law partner while they were on a weekend trip. As they were driving, a police car, stopped them, Will who had knowledge of racial profiling, was trying to prepare Carlton who was wearing an Ivy-league sweater, button-up long sleeve dress shirt, khakis and penny loafers for what was going to occur, and while Will was serious, Carlton's tried to be nice to the cop despite Will's telling him what was going to occur, and though Will was right, Carlton didn't think it was serious. Especially when he told the cop that it wasn't his car. They were taken to jail and when Uncle Phil and Aunt Vivan, arrived at the police station to demand that their son and newphew be released, the cop tried to use his authority to scare them, but they got a surprise; Vivian was about to whip ass and when the cop told Phillip to calm his wife down, he stepped to the cop and told him no one talks to his wife that way!! Things got more heated when Phil's legal partner and informed the cops that the Black guys they arrested did NOT steal his car. They were watching it for him and the guys were also related to his legal partner. The cop felt stupid, but they felt more like asses when Phil confronted them.
"Was a lawyer present when you got that bogus confession from those boys? No because I'm their lawyer! Did you contact their parents? No because we're their parents! So open up that damn cell or I'll tie up you up in so much litigation that your grandchildren will need laywers!!!!"
After they were released, Carlton still didn't get the point of the situation. He kept saying that it was no big deal and that the cops were doing their job and the system works. Will did his best to tell him that it didn't matter that he was in a private school, in the glee club or living in Bel-Air, he would subjected to racism because of the color of his skin, but Carlton kept saying that the next time he hangs out he would bring a road map, and he even had the nerve to tell Will just because things like that happened from his childhood neighborhood didn't give him the right to be hostile and he would have stopped them. When Phil entered the living room, Carlton asked his father would he have stopped a group of Black guys. Phil's reply was 'I asked myself that question the first time I was stopped. Carlton still kept saying he would have stopped them.
I was so heated at his character that I wanted to go through the television screen and slap some reality into his uppity ass!!!!! He didn't get the point; he was a victim of racism and he didn't care that he was falsely arrested and spent most of his day in jail. He should have been thankful that Will was there, because if wasn't, things could have gotten ugly. He could have gotten attacked physically, and taken advantage of in so many ways. Carlton didn't think about that! Had I wrote that episode, I would have Phil and Vivian call Hillary, Ashley and Jeffrey for an family meeting to discuss what happened to Will and Carlton, and to let them know that things like that can happen, and I would have did a future episode with Carlton getting a real dose of reality and to come out of his Ball of Confusion.
That episode also was a great way to let rich Blacks and Latinos know that they're not immune to racism; many rich Blacks and Latinos, who become successful seems to forget that racism doesn't exist and that living in fancy neighborhood shields them from it while many Blacks and Latinos who grew up with silver spoons in their mouths tend to think that they're it doesn't concern them because of their money, fancy cars and their ability to speak proper grammar. Please!!! They are still Black and Latino and they need to face the fact that they could be targets as well as the Blacks and Latinos who live in the ghetto attending public school and working at clothing stores.
The point of this blog is to let Blacks and Latinos know that no matter where you live and no matter how you dress, they need to be have knowledge of life and that they could be targets and yes they shouldn't be judge by how they dress, but it does happen and not because of the clothes. It's the color of their skin.
SONGS INSPIRED FOR THIS BLOG
WHAT'S GOING ON
BY MARVIN GAYE
WRITTEN BY MARVIN GAYE, RENALDO OBIE BENSON AND AL CLEAVAND
PRODUCED BY MARVIN GAYE
SYSTEM
BY LABELLE
WRITTEN BY NONA HENDRYX, PATTI LABELLE AND SARA DASH
PRODUCED BY LENNY KRAVITZ
CAN YOU FEEL IT
BY THE JACKSONS
WRITTEN BY MICHAEL AND JACKIE JACKSON
PRODUCED BY THE JACKSONS
MESSAGE FROM A BLACK MAN
BY THE TEMPTATIONS
WRITTEN BY NORMAN WHITFIELD AND BARRETT STRONG
PRODUCED BY NORMAN WHITFIELD
BALL OF CONFUSION (THAT'S THE WORLD IS TODAY)
PERFORMED BY THE TEMPTATIONS
WRITTEN BY NORMAN WHITFIELD AND BARRETT STRONG
PRODUCED BY NORMAN WHITFIELD
No comments:
Post a Comment