More on Trayvon Martin

In my last post I discussed the Trayvon Martin case quite passionately. Well, it looks like I'm not the only one with strong feelings about what took place when this innocent young man was killed. Trayvon's name is showing up all over the media, which is not surprising in itself, but people have had some very different responses, some of which seemed strange to me.

Various athletes such as the Miami Heat players have been rallying for the arrest of murderer George Zimmerman, wearing hoodies like the one Martin wore and writing messages on their sneakers to promote awareness. Protestors all over the U.S. are making a stand. Even President Obama has expressed his empathy for Trayvon's mourning parents, claiming that if he had a son, he would look an awful lot like Trayvon. As a parent, even the leader of our country can appreciate just how utterly sick it is that a teenage boy is dead through no fault of his own. If only everyone would take the time to understand this simple concept.

It is wonderful to see this cause getting the publicity it deserves. However, some people have no respect for the dead and are just being flat-out nasty. Newt Gingrich is criticizing Obama for bringing Martin's looks into the equation, saying that Obama would not care about this boy if he weren't black. Okay, Newt, we get it, you don't like Obama. Now, can we please quit it with the Democrat vs. Republican war for ten seconds and think about the fact that a kid is dead? Politicians these days only seem to care about insulting each other and often forget about the bigger picture.

Stories about Martin not being the perfect student are going around. Apparently he has been suspended for missing and being tardy to class and creating graffiti and has gotten into trouble for suspicion of marijuana possession. How true this information is is questionable, but even if Trayvon was a bit of a troublemaker, does that really change anything? The fact of the matter is that he wasn't doing anything wrong on the day he was shot, and even if he was looking for pot or a wall to spray paint, he obviously wasn't the type of person to cause someone else physical harm, and minor crimes like these are nothing to shoot a kid over. Besides, how would you like it if one of your loved ones was killed and the media was obsessing over every little thing he did wrong in his life? Well, that's what Trayvon's parents are dealing with right now, and if you're besmirching the image of their deceased son, you should feel pretty bad about yourself.

 Picture courtesy of AP Photo/Martin family.

Check out the following sites:

http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/hill-120326/lebron-james-other-athletes-protest-trayvon-martin-shooting-show-change-agent-power-sports
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/26/justice/florida-teen-shooting-events/index.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/23/obama-trayvon-martin_n_1375083.html
http://news.yahoo.com/gingrich-calls-obamas-trayvon-martin-remarks-disgraceful-001455842--abc-news.html
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/26/10872124-trayvon-martin-was-suspended-three-times-from-school