The nation has been abuzz with opinion and heated debate since the Zimmerman verdict was delivered Saturday. But I had remained silent. It seemed pointless to voice to the same outrage that was being so eloquently voiced from every media source that felt justice had not been delivered. To state the obvious, I do not feel justice has been delivered. I will stated that I could not bring myself to watch the trial, probably already intuitively knowing this would be the outcome, so I can’t argue every little detail. All I can argue is common sense. Which I feel I’m pretty good with and common sense doesn’t generally change. It’s like right and wrong, it is what it is. Now let’s be clear. We still live in America. We’re only 50 or so some odd years from a forced Civil Rights era. So I never expected Zimmerman to be convicted of first degree murder, which gets into whether the murder is deliberate and/or premeditated, as defined by most states. But I did expect something. At least a voluntary manslaughter charge perhaps? After all, the fact that a life was taken is indisputable, and for there to be no repercussions whatsoever, sends a horrible message. The message I get is that ‘young black men are expendable.’

A horrible message to be dropped in the wrong hands. My fear and now my outcry has become the future Trayvon Martin’s who will be shot and killed in the name of self-defense and the shooters who will get off in the name justice. As the mother of a black son, what can I tell my son about this America that we live in when we are still saying it’s okay to criminalize our black males and shoot them dead in the streets? This is not an emotional response. In the past days, I’ve heard of at least two other young black males, shot and killed in the days since Martin’s shooting. Jordan Davis, a 17-year-old black male, was gunned down in Jacksonville, Fl on November 23, 2012  by Michael Dunn, a white 46-year-old male, after an argument in a convenience store parking lot in which Dunn asked Davis and his friends to turn down the volume of their rap music. Dunn open fired into the vehicle with Davis and friends 8-9 times, after claiming he saw a shotgun. Davis was killed immediately. No weapons were ever found on the teens.

A second case, involves the shooting of 13-year-old black Wisconsin male, Darius Simmons, by his 76-year-old white neighbor, John Henry Spooner. Spooner shot Simmons on the sidewalk in front of their homes after Spooner accused Simmons of stealing over $3,000 worth of guns from his home. Simmons’ mother was a witness to the shooting of her son.

I cannot dispute whether or not George Zimmerman is a card-carrying Ku Klux Klan racist or not. I don’t know him or his family. His brother has vouched for his stellar character, but what else would he do? I do know that Zimmerman racially profiled Martin and probably did have him characterized as a potential neighborhood threat. Had it have been a white kid walking that night, I don’t think Zimmerman would have followed him with suspicion. All I know is that a boy ended up dead because he was trying to stand his ground. To Martin, Zimmerman was the threat and had to be handled. Now, my question has always been, ‘how many fist fights have you gotten in where you truly felt you were going to be killed?’ I don’t understand how Zimmerman felt his life were in jeopardy during a fist fight if at no time Martin ever attempted to reach for any weapon? Should delivering a justifiable ass-whipping cost you your life? Should Martin have just kept being followed and hoped everything turned out for the best?

I’m disappointed that we have those who feel it’s not a matter of race. In America, it’s always a matter of race. This is a racially charged nation that has not healed it’s racist past, just put a band-aid on it and a black President. And I’m not sure if ‘healing’ in the traditionally sense is possible, for many reasons that can be discussed later, but at least some type of resolution that won’t leave me scared to send my son at night. Any suggestions?