Sunday, July 14, 2013

Worse Week For Young Boys

My heart is broken for Trayvon Martin's family and terrified about what Zimmerman and his ilk will do now that he/they truly know that they can still get away with this sort of thing, even when they are caught.

As a mother of daughters, I have known the fear and humiliation involved in having to educate my daughters to try to protect themselves as best as they can from our predatory rape culture, but I know that is nothing - nothing - compared to the fear experienced by the parents of African-American male children who must be taught a host of protective behaviors to survive on a daily basis in our racist society.  I ache for the mothers.  I am so sorry that so many children have been raised to injure theirs. 

There will never be enough goodness in us to exonerate all this.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I was very moved by the discussion on Melissa Harris-Perry's show on MSNBC this morning. Towards the end, the panelists who were present,all parents, all African American, spoke personally about being parents. Not only are they concerned for their (particularly male) children, but they also discuss, movingly, that *they* (particularly the fathers) do not feel safe. How to parent your vulnerable children when you yourself are under siege...

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46979745/#52473393

gojirama said...

It's so horrifying to me. I'm keenly aware that its so less likely to happen to my white sons.I can only imagine the pain.

Unknown said...

A friend wrote this powerful piece: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/uucollective/2013/07/stand-your-ground/

Lone Star Ma said...

And trolls are already making racist comments on your friend's story. So scary.