Trayvon Martin: Why should I be OBJECTIVE when Black males are SUBJECTED TO BRUTALITY

I read a question on hubpages that started this hub. It said: Can blacks be objective about George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin?" Here is what most people do not understand about the black response to Trayvon Martin, it is not just about Trayvon. Why should I be objective when time-after-time black males are subjected to brutality. Trayvon Martin did not die in a vacuum. He's just another in a long list of African American males who have met their demise with no one held accountable and that includes black-on-black crime which I will handle as another issue. This is an issue of a system that has and always will exclude black males.

Look at the kid in Pasadena who was shot by police just the other day. A random person made a call about being robbed at gun point. Where was the due process for Kendrec McDade when the officer found him running? He didn't even yell freeze at the kid. He assumed he was "going for his waistband" and shot him. Now a promising young athlete is dead and the FBI is investigating. The 911 caller has been arrested and they wanted to charge him with manslaughter. How about charging the officer?

I wrote about this 22 years ago. In that case Charles Stuart drove his pregnant wife to a hospital for a check up in a rundown neighborhood. He made a 'wrong' turn and got lost. He called 911 on a cell phone and said that he had been shot and his wife was dead. He said a random black male had just appeared on the street and started shooting.

There was a national outcry over the case and the Boston Police Department was determined to find the killer. They basically went door-to-door taking young black males off the street and harassing them and their only probable cause was Stuart's statement and the fact that these men were black. They eventually arrested William Bennett and paraded him in front of the news cameras as the culprit.

However, there was a minor problem. Stuart had called his brother to the scene that night and given him a bag with a gun and his wife's jewelry. The brother felt guilty and told the police. Charles Stuart shot his wife and unborn child and then shot himself to hide his culpability. Stuart eventually committed the cowardly act of suicide.

Or, how about the case of the Central Park jogger. A group of young men--black and Hispanic--were out in the park doing what teens will do when they are together. They got into some mischief and during their time in the park, a young lady, Trisha Meili was brutally attacked and raped. These kids were taken to the police station where they were subjected to hours of coercive testimony and some of them confessed to the crime. They were convicted and sent to prison.

Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Kharey Wise all spent 12 years in prison for a conviction that hinged only on their confessions. There was no DNA or anything else that tied them to this crime. The problem was that the New York City Police knew that there was serial rapists on the loose in the area at the time. They arrested him months later. He later confessed to the Central Park rape and officials ignored him. His DNA was left at the scene and the boys were released in 2002.

Yet, the collective voice of America condemned them and put them in prison for a crime they did not commit.

Let's not start talking about the cases in Chicago and California of abject police brutality, planting evidence, and even killing suspects. The case in Chicago caused the Illinois governor at the time to call for a moratorium on the death penalty and countless men were released from death row and the general population for crimes they did not commit. In California, men where shot and killed. Police officers were taking bribes and selling drugs. It closed the entire Rampart Division of the LAPD.

Stories like this have continued through out American history and what is amazing is it is still happening today. Trayvon Martin was 17-year-old BOY who the evidence shows was terrified of Zimmerman. He tried to run away and avoid a confrontation with him. Zimmeman's actions caused Trayvon's death. He should have been arrested at the scene. However, because of laws that we have in place, he was not. Now, people are claiming Zimmerman was defending himself. What about Trayvon Martin's rights to defend himself from being stalked.

I will become more objective when you subject yourself to questions about race and honestly answer them. I will become more objective when we stop subjecting young black men to a different system of justice than all others. I will become more objective when I can walk down the street and not be subjected to someone automatically suspecting me of a crime or the police pulling me over just because.

My question to you is this: If Trayvon Martin had shot George Zimmerman, would he now be arrested? ARREST GEORGE ZIMMERMAN and let a jury decide.