Trayvon Martin Case

[12thMan]

I may be off, but some of you seem to have a problem with the fact that black leaders stood up and beat the drums of justice for Trayvon and his family.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I may be off, but some of you seem to have a problem with the fact that black leaders stood up and beat the drums of justice for Trayvon and his family.

Some of you aka me? I just feel like they get involved in it because it suits their cause. Do they have more intimate knowledge of the case than we do? No. I feel they should withhold judgement on the situation until all the facts are known. Instead they jump in as soon as the story goes national and get everybody riled up over it. As far as I'm concerned, they should just be lumped in with the national media that has their own agenda behind the story.

[#56fanatic]

Originally Posted by 12thMan

I may be off, but some of you seem to have a problem with the fact that black leaders stood up and beat the drums of justice for Trayvon and his family.

That isn't the issue at all. They seem to stand up ONLY when those crimes are committed by white or in this case hispanic races. If this guy is guilty, great, throw his sorry ass in jail. But they have basically publically tried him all ready. Remember when the last time they stood up regarding a crime. It was against a bunch of white kids from Duke, basically condeming them before facts came out. Calling them rich silver spoon fed white boys. And that came back wrong.

What I am trying to say, as pointed out in a previous statement of mine, 85% of black men that are killed are killed by other black men. I dont recall seeing their faces all over the news asking for the justice of those individuals.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by #56fanatic

That isn't the issue at all. They seem to stand up ONLY when those crimes are committed by white or in this case hispanic races. If this guy is guilty, great, throw his sorry ass in jail. But they have basically publically tried him all ready. Remember when the last time they stood up regarding a crime. It was against a bunch of white kids from Duke, basically condeming them before facts came out. Calling them rich silver spoon fed white boys. And that came back wrong.

What I am trying to say, as pointed out in a previous statement of mine, 85% of black men that are killed are killed by other black men. I dont recall seeing their faces all over the news asking for the justice of those individuals.

56Fan, you seem to be conflating civil rights and the rule of law with the plight of the black community at large. I'm neither a Sharpton supporter or apologist, but his role if you will, in the black community is - he speaks to civil rights issues. Admittedly while there is a civil rights component at play, black on black crime in and of itself is not a civil rights issue. It is, however, a gravely important one that needs to be addressed for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, there's an economic imperative as well as the achievement gap that needs to be bridged. There's an inextricable link between urban poverty, black on black crime, and education. It's one thing to march and "demand" that black men stop killing black men, it's another to start a conversation about the achievement gap in the black community or job programs to ensure employment post-prison. In other words initiatives and policies that directly impact urban poverty, particularly education, which tends to curb violent behavior, drug abuse, early drop out rates, and teen pregnancy. So you see, the murder of Trayvon Martin and black on black crime, are two distinctly different conversations that must be approached and unpacked differently in order to understand them and remedy the problem.

Now if you arguing that Al Sharpton, as a prominent leader in the black community, should broaden his scope and speak to some of the ills that have plagued the black community for decades, well he's actually doing that. It may come as a surprise to some that Al Sharpton and Newt Gingrich have teamed up with the President and the Secretary of Education on education issues.

Arne Duncan, Al Sharpton, and Newt Gingrich Join Forces - On Education (usnews.com)

Al Sharpton and Gingrich have appeared on Meet The Press and other venues across the country to champion initiatives that address education in minority communities. This is where it starts. You can't make some angry teen who is feeling disenfranchised put down his gun, but you can build up the schools around him so that the next kid named Trayvon won't resort to violence and drugs, but sees education as his ticket out of the hood.

Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton team up to rally for education on tour - NY Daily News

Newt Gingrich Al Sharpton Education Tour - YouTube