A Letter to Rachel Jeantel - An Apology on Behalf of the Whole World

[FloridaJudy]

75. Seeing and hearing her

I was reminded of my grandniece. In many ways, they are exactly alike. My grand is also somewhat immature for her age, overweight, and has a learning disability. She loves hanging out with her buddies, texting constantly, and talking about the latest popular television shows. She's also been known to lie or stretch the truth, but never in a mean-spirited way. Face it, all of us humans lie to our friends and family when not on the witness stand. We do it to feel accepted and important.

The difference is that my niece is white and middle class, and has grandparents who are financially comfortable enough to pay for intensive tutoring. She speaks "proper" English, because that's all she heard when growing up. She also attended an excellent school, where teachers weren't overwhelmed, and somewhere along the line one of them noticed that this kid was really, really gifted at Fixing Shit. She seems to have an intuitive grasp of mechanical systems.

She just won an award in competitive auto repair, so her future looks pretty bright. She may not get a PhD in immunology, or write the great American novel, but she could easily outearn a college professor, especially now when most are paid like peons.

Rachel will never get the same opportunity to find her gift. It makes me want to hug her, and tell it's going to be all right.

But it won't be.