The Armed Citizen II

I ain't asking you to keep no secrets
My reputation already shot
I ain't asking you to commit treason
Just tell me if you like it or not
--Skin Deep, Melissa Etheridge

I'm watching the news …
Tupac Shakur was assassinated,
Biggie Smalls assassinated,
struck down by assassin's bullets …
no, they wasn't.
Martin Luther King was assassinated,
Malcolm X was assassinated,
John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
Them two niggas got shot!
--Chris Rock
___________________

We are not sure why Trayvon Martin's sad case has become a national hullabaloo -- it is one more senseless black death. It is NOT an assassination, as Trayvon's mother claims, and her son is no martyr.

This post will offer further observations on race in America. We'll tell you what we see, and to answer those who feel our view is myopic: Lisa is from Washington, D.C., Ranger, Cleveland. We may live in Hickville, U.S.A. now (otherwise known as Florida's capital city), but we can offer perspective; if not exactly 360 °, certainly more than 270 °.

When the local historically black college, Florida Agricultural & Mechanical (FAMU) has its homecoming, there are always black-on-black shootings. This fact has closed down the local Governor's Square Mall in the past. It is well known that it is wise to avoid getting channelized on the major streets the night of the game, not only to avoid the violence, but also the risk of accidents due to drivers under the influence -- the lane markers are ignored, and cars swan out across Tennessee Street.

Citizens have the right and responsibility to be smart and avoid threat environments. I personally would not travel to South Tallahassee during these weekends if The Pope were standing on the street corner handing out Life Savers.

Writer Jonathan Capehart has been leading the Trayvon charge for The Washington Post, and bemoans "the rules he was taught as a teenager: 'Don’t run in public,' 'Don’t run while carrying anything in your hands,' 'Don’t talk back to the police',” but those are not rules singled out for blacks. News flash: If you're a human being, don't talk back to the cops. Period.

We know Zimmerman was not a cop, but what might have happened had Martin openly approached him and said, "Good evening", or "Is something wrong?" or anything that might have shown him to be a Good Guy?

We know Chris Rock is a comedian, but in his skit, "How not to get your ass kicked by the police", he addresses the problem by taking it to the utmost: "You probably won’t get your ass kicked if you just use common sense; Be polite ..." His satire applies to anyone, and should we be surprised? There is a reason some neighborhoods are gated and have neighborhood watches. Hint: the people do not feel like they live in Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

Ranger frequently attends gun shows for mixed crowds of collectors, hunters and everything in between, and he has never seen a young black man view or purchase any weapon other than a hi-capacity 9 m/m pistol, an AK-47 or an assault-type shotgun. These are politely known in the gun world as "kill your neighbor" guns. In addition, he has never seen a National Rifle Association (NRA) membership drive or hunter or shooter safety course held in a predominantly black neighborhood.

Every white man he knows owns and carries a weapon in his car and for home protection. This observation is not restricted to the South. This applies to his buddies in Cleveland, all of whom served in Vietnam and some of whom returned to enter law enforcement. Many of us have been threatened or beaten at some point in our lives by a group of blacks. (Many of Lisa's male friends have had the same experience.) You realize we are not saying this is everyone's experience -- this is our experience.

Every day one sees young black men with pants down to their knees, buckled (if buckled) under their rumps, underwear exposed in broad daylight. Slabs with stereos blasting hateful rap lyrics tell me these folks don't exactly share the values of white bread America. Then there are the locals who advocate arming all blacks so that they can annihilate each other, such is their feeling of alienation and antagonism. For a culture in which getting shot earns one street cred, this idea is not far-fetched.

Again -- and obviously -- we are not talking about all African-Americans, by any means. However, the above-described is a large enough contingent to cause a rupture in our society. And for the rest of us to stand back and to deny this is hypocrisy of the finest grade -- a willing blindness which allows the sorry plight of all involved to continue, and do we dare to imagine that by bemoaning one death we are setting things aright?

What are the life choices for young black men? Be a Clarence Thomas, a LeBron James . . . what? That is what we need to resolve if we are to survive as a nation.

Meaningless though Martin's death is, there will soon be another in my neighborhood when the next drug deal goes bad, and it will never go beyond page three of the Gadsden County Times. On game day, the locals will continue to bet on whether "our nig**** will beat your nig****." And so it goes.

I will maintain my outrage for a war and a government that in my lifetime has killed Gooks, Hadjis and other dark people, invaded Grenada and Panama, and supports Egypt, Colombia and Turkey, where they repress their middle-shaded citizens.

Life can be a jungle out there, and this shooting death may be emblematic of our downfall not as blacks or white or Latinos, bit rather as a nation.