The Strange Fruit of the Trayvon Martin Case [View all]

[K Gardner]

Last edited Sun Apr 1, 2012, 12:29 PM - Edit history (2)

It seems with the sad story of Trayvon Martin, we have turned yet another corner in our country and headed toward the past. The hatred is palpable, the discontent sits bubbling on the surface, ready to spill over. All the fears are embodied in this one case - and in the dead body of this one young man. Has it always been like this? Did things ever change for the better? Coming up on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., are we that country still?

I don't know if, as I suspect, this rise in white-on-black crime is related to the sheer hatred of the right wing toward our sitting President. I can't prove that, I have no numbers or data. But I know from a personal perspective, it wasn't long after the 2008 election I began hearing co-workers talk about conspiracies to put people in camps, armed militias, stocking up on guns and bullets, and preparing for "the coming war" headed by this 'dangerous' President we had elected, who would destroy our country if not stopped. It looks to me, as if the 'war' they were predicting is coming to fruition.

I feel fear, terror, shame and sorrow in my heart for this road we are traveling down, yet again.

A poster at Daily Kos feels this war began long ago and includes chilling video and horrific statistics:

The Shooting War for America's Soul Began Long Ago - Daily Kos

All we're doing now is counting the bodies.This week there was another one. Another black teenager, unarmed, innocent, shot to death by mistake/malice/ignorance/deception. Whatever the reason, another boy is dead. And the dark wheel of death spins on.<snip>

It takes courage to take the risk that your worst fears about someone, might be true, but you're not going to act on them because they just might also be wrong. It takes courage to err on the side of probable innocence rather than guilt. It takes courage to take a chance that person in front of you might be one of the majority of the "good ones", not one of the minority of the "bad".

And this country is a long, long way from making that courageous leap. We're a long way from breaking the yoke of fear, paranoia, hatred and recrimination.

Not all Cops are Bad, Evil, Corrupt, Bigoted or Racist.
Not all Black or Brown people are potential criminals.
But a whole lot of us are afraid.

Maybe someday we'll start to realize that and act on it. Courage is the only way to put a dam on the river of blood flowing down our streets.

We are truly at a tipping point. Just based on the despicable comments I've seen from people I grew up with, people I've worked with, people I know, it seems we're back in 1955. One wonders if we really ever left it. Only the mechanism of killing has changed. The smearing of Trayvon Martin has risen to a fevered pitch and shows no signs of letting up. The people doing the smearing hold fast to their beliefs that an unarmed child, much like our president, is one of "the others".

Guns are the new ropes. And gun laws, passed in states from coast-to-coast, are the new hanging trees. This time the strange fruit lies on the ground.

Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck
for the rain to gather
for the wind to suck
for the sun to rot
for the tree to drop
Here is a strange and bitter crop - Strange Fruit, Lewis Allen