13yr old Xavier Speaks to How He Feels About Violence Against Black Males
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A couple of years ago my mother wanted to enrich my knowledge of black culture. I learned about matters pertaining to many things. Though one topic in particular arose continuously. It was the civil rights movement. I heard about the people being thrown in jail and hosed down. How they couldn’t even go to the same stores or drink out of the same water fountains as white people. Then I saw how people fought for freedom and took us out of those particular situations. So that segregation in the government was officially over.
I enjoyed learning all of this but over the years I realized that some of this is not true. That, the more I looked at the news, the more I was able to notice we are still in segregation. I see this every time a black man is killed. Random white men kill us. Police officers kill us. We even kill ourselves, but I ask who taught us how to do this? It seems that nearly every time this happens they get away with it. George Zimmerman, Darren Wilson…just two examples where charges should have been filed. Yes, Michael Brown did something wrong, but does that give someone the right to abuse his power and use excessive force against an unarmed man? I’m mad, I’m frustrated and as a black male I’m scared! Will I make it to 18??? I don’t commit crimes but I still don’t know if I will if this continues.
My mom talks to me. She tries to calm me. She tries to make me understand that not everyone is this way. But when they air shows like Black in America on CNN and you hear police say things like they “hunt” people (meaning black people) it just hurts! Inside I feel that in both cases above, there was a significant domination over the black youths. In the newer case there were 9 white jurors on the grand jury that were supposed to decide on an indictment. How was that fair? In what way is this going to ever create a fair verdict when you don’t include diversity in the people who make decisions? Come on America, do you really think that in some sick way this is logical?
One thing I learned at this camp was a song that taught me to believe that perseverance is key. And I’m going to keep on pushing. I’m going to keep on standing. I’m going to keep on doing what is right. And as the folk song for freedom says I “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around”
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let no injunction turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let no injunction turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let no hatred turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let no hatred turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let racism turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let racism turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let injustice turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let injustice turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let no jail cell turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let no jail cell turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around
Turn me around, turn me around
Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me around
I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’, keep on a-talkin’
Marchin’ up to freedom land.
Photo: Debra Sweet/Flickr
Though we often think we know what kids are thinking it is great to hear it from them personally sometimes. There is no inciting of hate but instead this young man spoke from the heart. To instantly feel a 13yr old kid is intending to start trouble speaks to the mind of the person believing such and how much bias is already against a young male who you do not even know. Smh
“Yes, Michael Brown did something wrong, but does that give someone the right to abuse his power and use excessive force against an unarmed man?”
The grand jury, after seeing all the evidence and hearing all the testimony, disagreed that Officer Wilson used “excessive force”… That statement is either ignorant or deliberately misleading for the purpose of inciting hate.
Even though it’s swimming upstream, I was also hoping that the Ferguson case would generate some discussion about how our society mistreats black men, not just for being black, but also for being male. These issues are clearly about racism, absolutely no question. This is about black people in American society. Meanwhile, this is also about being *male*, about being a black man in particular. this is not just about disproportionate violence against black people, but also against men. This is not just about getting away will killing a black person, but also getting away with killing a young man.… Read more »
So what you’re saying is that whites on a jury are unable to make a fair decision regarding a minority, then you would also be saying that blacks on a jury are unable to make fair decisions on whites. I should also note that the blacks on this jury came to the same conclusion.
“…there were 9 white jurors on the grand jury that were supposed to decide on an indictment. How was that fair? In what way is this going to ever create a fair verdict when you don’t include diversity in the people who make decisions?”
The demographic makeup of the St Louis County grand jury was approximately the same as the demographics of St Louis County, which is almost three quarters white and almost one quarter black. From what has been released, there is no reason to believe that the grand jury demographics did not fairly represent the St Louis County.
I didn’t catch that description of the grand jury on the news, and I’m curious about the source of that information. The identity of grand jury members is supposed to be confidential, so wouldn’t making their racial identity public be breaking that confidentiality?
Besides, of course, the obvious question of who decides what grand jury member counts as what race. Who keeps track, and who decides, what their race is?
They confirmed the grand jury demographics here: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ferguson-case-racial-and-gender-makeup-of-grand-jury-revealed/