If I had to estimate, I would say I own around 8 hooded sweatshirts. In the past couple weeks my desire to wear those hoodies has gone down. Mostly because of the Spring weather. Partly because, unlike the rest of the world, I don't know the facts about the Trayvon Martin case. Not because I condone vigilantes running around shooting kids. It also has nothing to do with race. It's simply because I don't know the facts. And I don't jump to conclusions and make everything racial. So I'll sit back and let the system, as flawed as it may be at times, do what it does. However, it does raise some interesting questions.
What if the kid was white? Would this have been a national news event? I'm pretty sure it would have made the news in Florida and been chalked up to another senseless death. Because this was a young black teenager, the black community jumped on it like Apache. This story became national outrage overnight. And then every prominent black person in the country came forward to demand the arrest of George Zimmerman. The hoody movement followed. All as if any of it mattered. George Zimmerman is still not under arrest. All the protests, all the online petitions, for what? It's all for show. Anybody that knows me knows that I'm not racist in the least bit. I am, however, a realist. If this was a white kid named Travis Martin, we never would have heard about it. That brings me to another point.
Do you really think online petitions work? When this happened, I started seeing all kinds of online petitions. Mostly on Facebook. "Like this to get George Zimmerman arrested" And of course there were hundreds of "likes" on it as if the police were watching it and waiting for it to hit a certain number so they could go arrest him. That wasn't the only one. "Sign this online petition if you want George Zimmerman arrested." Oh well that changes it. You have to (digitally) sign this one. The police must be watching right? Ridiculous. They don't work. You can throw them in the same boat as chain-letters warning you to repost or you'll have bad luck. Or the other ones that tell you to repost if you believe in something and if you don't you're a bad person. It's all bullshit. Don't get me wrong, you should believe in stuff and you make it known to the world. That's what social media is for. Just don't try to make me feel guilty because I don't want a sad picture and story on my wall.
Let me conclude by saying that everyone needs to just relax and let the system do its job. Getting all worked up and changing your wardrobe won't do anything to speed up the process. Trust me. It was impressive to see how quickly the black community rallies together. It was less impressive to see how much impact they really had. I also hate how everything is turned into a racial battle. Why couldn't it just be a young kid got shot by an older man? An equally sad and tragic story. Anyway, that's all I have to say about that. My buddy Josh is in town so I'll be venturing into DC. For shits and giggles, I'll find a bum wearing a hoody and get a Hand-job for a Ham Sandwich. Shouldn't be too hard, it gets pretty chilly at night.
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