Racism in America

Frankly, I'm getting sick of this Zimmerman nonsense. The trial was weeks ago and the verdict was reached by a jury of the man's peers. Just because you didn't like the verdict doesn't mean that the whole thing was some racist act that was forgiven by a jury of klan members.

I'm really REALLY getting sick of people screaming racism every time something doesn't go their way. It seems that the easy thing to do is always yell RACISM whenever a touchy subject comes up to avoid having a real honest to goodness discussion or talking about an unpleasant situation. Saying the R word is the easy way to get the opposition to shut up and to discredit anyone who doesn't think like you. It's a cowards way out, especially in a situation where you know it doesn't apply.

Like the Zimmerman case.

First of all, the "boy" was wearing a hoodie. I don't know about you, but I can't look at someone AT NIGHT while wearing A HOODIE and tell what race they are. If Zimmerman could, that means he has some kind of super powers and that my friends is impressive, not racist.

I hear people say things like oh, that racist was profiling Travon. You're damn right he was - if you lived in a neighborhood where houses were being broken into and you saw what you assumed was a grown man hopping a fence at night while wearing a hoodie, you'd probably peg them as a potential burglar. Do you know why? Because nice people that are trying to follow the law don't jump fences at night while wearing hoodies.

But it was raining!

Anyone who's ever worn a cotton hoodie in the rain knows they don't actually protect you from the rain. The function of the hood is purely fashion. Your face still gets wet and the damn thing soaks through faster than you can say monsoon season. The only point of wearing the actual hood on a hoodie is to either attempt to conceal your identity or fit in with whatever fashion trend you think is popular at the time. If it's raining and you wish to prevent the rain from getting on you, you carry an umbrella, use a book, a newspaper or pretty much anything else you have handy.

Also, it's hard to jump fences in the rain. Just sayin'. If it was raining so dang hard that Travon needed a hoodie for whatever measly protection it would provide, it would have been easier, safer and dryer to walk around the fence.

But back to my point - people need to stop crying racism every time something happens and the two people involved happen to be of different races. It's not always a racist situation. Sometimes it really is what it seems to be with no ulterior racist motivations. Amazing right?

So here's what I think we should do to squelch all the race-baiting going on right now. Stop talking about it. Amazing, right? Instead of labeling "them" and "us" or talking about the "black community" or about "white privilege", lets knock out any type of race-related advantage or disqualifier (yes, this includes affirmative action) and lets stop using terms that divide rather than unite the country. We are not part of the black community or the white community - we're part of the American community. One nation. Undivided. With liberty and justice FOR ALL.