Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Just my Opinion

I watched a video of a news woman, Maya Wiley, talk about the martin/zimmerman case today. As I watched, I thought, this is so true! She talks about how subliminally we make judgements about people. We can't help it. So, basically we make judgements because of our very own personal lives. I never used to think of myself as  prejudice. My parents didn't bring me up to be prejudice. I lived about 10 minutes away from Gary, Indiana when I was a kid. I didn't visit. At the time it had the worst crime rate in America. So, I never met a brown skinned person until I was about ten. I say brown skinned because I am an artist and that is what I see. I do not use it negatively. It's just simpler then saying African American. And, frankly, I wouldn't want to be called a French Canadian all the time just because that is part of my heritage. I am from America and so where my parents. I am not always politically correct. It's not because I am trying to hurt someones feelings. It's because poltically correct to you may not seem politically correct to me. Anyway, back to what I was saying. I didn't used to think of myself as prejudice. But, sadly, I do now. Am I prejudice because I have turned into a hateful person? No, I am being molded at all times. I am reacting to the way I myself am being treated. It is because of the way of the world. I see people come to America from other countries and get to go to school for free! I see my country changing signs and directions, posting them in different languages. The people who speak those languages can get free classes to learn English. Where are my free classes. And, what about the older generation? Who is helping them learn the new "ways of the world." Nobody is.
My husband and I started saving for our kids college bills when they were babies. When the first child started college we couldn't get FASFA help on tuition because we had too much money in savings accounts. The COLLEGE savings accounts. So, we pooled the money and used it for our first child's first year of college. The next year we couldn't get FASFA because my husband had worked too much overtime and it made us look like we had too much money. The reason he worked overtime is because the economy was looking so bad he worked all the overtime he could get. Just in case. Meanwhile, students from other countries are going to college free of charge. Did anyone check to see how much money their parents had saved up? I paid for my college myself. I would skip a semester so I could work and save to pay for the next year. My kids have part time jobs while attending school. But, when they get out their bills will still be astronomical! And, the molding continues. 
It is a vicious circle. Now, back to the martin /zimmerman case. Do I think justice was served? Let's see. Here are the facts. I man shot a man. I do not consider trayvon martin a child. Oh, he is someones child. But not a little kid.  And, I doubt that he considered himself a child. He wasn't in a school of any kind. He wasn't living at home with a parent. I don't know if he had a job or what his plans where for the future.  Then there is zimmerman. He was the self appointed head guy of the neighborhood watch. I wonder if the watch group discussed what would happen in the worse case scenario. I doubt it. I wonder if maybe someone should have said,"what if someone jumps you and starts beating you?" or "What if you are told to walk away from the situation. What should you do?"   I don't know what all was going on in this neighborhood, crime wise. But, should you have a gun with you? I think if you have a gun with you that means you are ready to defend and protect by killing someone. Not, that you will. Just that it is a possibility.  I don't think a neighborhood watch guy should put himself in a position where he could get beaten up or possibly killed. That is not his job. Hence, the name "watch." He should have stopped when he reported the activity he thought was unacceptable. But, he made a stupid judgement call. And, now, the other hand, was trayvon innocent? In my eyes. No. You can't just beat someone without consequences. Unfortunate, his consequence was way overboard. Being dead because you might be a suspicious up to no good character is way overboard. So, what do we learn from this? Seems to me we as a whole we are learning nothing. We are pointing fingers and we are arguing and being hateful. Do I think justice was served? Well, trayvon is dead. So, for him, the answer is no. Now, when i first heard of all this, I was afraid for zimmerman. I thought the verdict would go the other way. I did not in any way think he was innocent. But, I was afraid they would give him the death penalty and make him an example. That didn't happen. That was shocking to me. Then I thought, hey, this guy shouldn't just walk away. He killed someone! Then, I realized, he is not just walking away. He is walking away with a GIANT target on his back! His life will never be the same. And, it shouldn't be. It should cross his mind ever day that he killed someone. That should never be taken lightly.
Now, as far as the rioting, fighting and name calling. Please, don't make me turn on tv or facebook, for the next week or two, only to see someone give their opinion on the matter. Is this a racial mess? Yes, because everyone is making it a racial mess. Pardon my attention deficit for a minute. I remember the news lady saying something about a brown man and a wallet and people shouldn't jump to the conclusion that it was stolen. True. And, in the same sense. Thugs should not look at me like I am a white lady and I have money in my wallet. And, George Cloney should not look at a young vibrant woman and think she would be a better mate, then a women his own age with wrinkles and more experience, because she is young and beautiful! Opinions are opinions. If we want them to change, maybe, we should change the actions that lead to those opinions. And, we cannot change by rioting and blaming and whining.

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