And I fear for his life
This is not a genealogy blog post today.
Not exactly.
It’s certainly a family blog post.
And it is one of a desperate fear.
A fear on behalf of a little boy The Legal Genealogist loves as deeply as it is possible to love a little boy.
A fear for his life.
Not because of the boy he is.
Bright.
Funny.
Curious.
Captivating.
But because of the way the world will see the man he will become.
His name is Martin.
He is my great nephew.
And the world will see him, simply, as black.
He will be at risk in ways that have nothing to do with being bright or funny or curious or captivating.
He will be at risk because of fears that have nothing to do with the contents of his character or the nature of his soul.
He will be at risk because he will be perceived as different.
He will be at risk because of the color of his skin.
As he grows from being a little boy into being a man, we will have to teach him things we do not have to teach his cousins.
Not because he is less than they are.
Not because he is worse behaved.
Not because he is more of a danger to anyone else.
But solely because of the color of his skin.
He is my great nephew.
His name is Martin.
And I want him to live.
SOURCE: Instagram, user pettywalk 713, The Infamous Dr. Chris Walker
So tell me… how do I begin to protect the life of this child I love so dearly? And how do I help protect all the lives of all the children we are losing not because of who they are, but because of the color of their skin?
Because his name is Martin.
And I want him to live.
Beautifully stated. And truly heartbreaking. Will we ever learn?
We have to learn. We have to. This little boy’s life is on the line.
And what about my grandchildren who are part Mexican, or Lebanese?
They too are Martin, they too are at risk, and they too need us to DO something.
Judy,
Four of my children have African/Arabic names, they are like my son and daughter in law, Muslim and black. Sometimes, when I am with the children as grandma, it is like the clock has turned back to when I married their granfather, and we were arrested, harangued, shot at and spit upon.
In today’s political polemic, I am happy there is no news blasting in the grans’ home. As they grow up, like their father, a veteren of Iraq, I wonder if there will be more fear for them here than abroad. And as they become teenagers, will be like it was for my sons, people looking at them in fear?. And now with an additional granchild in my other son’s home, growing tall and strong, with a dad who has a Muslim name, and black skin, how will the world be for him? And how can we, an interracial family filled wih love and faih continue to hold onto the Golden Rule?
thank you fro making a difference.
I wish I had answers for you…
I am grieving with you.
We! We comprises multiple races, yet “WE” sounds so uniting. The power of WE is nothing when divided and it is. I myself turn to a higher power and I ask HIM to bring us together as a people. There is HOPE. IT CAN HAPPEN.
From your keyboard to the minds and hearts of others, Stan. It has to happen. It’s our job to make it happen.
And now Philando Castile in St. Paul, stopped for a broken tail light and shot to death while following orders to show his license. Our public systems in this country are badly broken. We have to fix them through our actions.
Source is @pettywalk713
You’re right, Rob: corrected in the post, and thank you. (Picked up from Instagram and fingers and brain got confused!)
You, who have a prominent voice in this community, are taking the first step by raising your voice. Thank you, Judy. All of us can take the anguish we feel and use it to effect change. Especially those of us who are white. Visit Campaign Zero http://www.joincampaignzero.org/#vision to learn how to monitor your own police departments, to lobby your own state legislature for improved police use of force legislation. We have passed the point where feelings matter. Action matters.
>> We have passed the point where feelings matter. Action matters. << And especially action by those of us who are white.
Judy, So Sad and So True and so beautifully put by you.
Judy, about 25 years ago I was in a parking lot for a Mall in Gwinnett Co, Ga. As I neared the doors of a dept. store I overheard a young black woman explaining to her young son (about 5 years old), why the sales lady had treated him so badly. It was really a sad and enlightening moment. I had worked to integrate schools,came in on the tail of the Civil Rights movement, yet had never thought about this.
Now working in retail, I make a point of conversing with children of my customers, especially those children who are not accustomed to be recognized by a white woman – Blacks, Middle Eastern, Hispanic and every other racial and/or ethnic group.
While I agree with Susan about monitoring police actions it is also about US – the way we interact with others. This kind of police violence would not be tolerated if it wasn’t tolerated by the society WE have created – one of fear, division, and hate. At this moment in time, people feel completely comfortable expressing hate and fueling divisiveness. It is frightening and not a society I want to be a part of.
Thank you for you beautifully written post.
>>This kind of police violence would not be tolerated if it wasn’t tolerated by the society WE have created – one of fear, division, and hate.<< That, my friend, is a statement worth repeating.
I have a great nephew whose skin is darker than mine because his father is very dark. I am very concerned because he lives near Los Angeles.
Thank you for posting this.
We must all be concerned for all of these little ones. How dare we make them live in fear???
Very sobering and very sad.
I just read your post now, and it is very thought-provoking; and also sad, that those words needed to be said. But they do! Recent remarks about Michelle Obama are absolutely appalling. I live in Canada, and we have Black friends who have experienced racial discrimination. I have three grandchildren who are half Asian. I wish for a better world for all these children we care about! But wishing isn’t enough – we have to ensure we do not tolerate these attitudes.
Wishing certainly isn’t enough now, and the fight to make the world better for all these children is going to be a hard one…