Hoodies Up

Petition at UF

This post isn't about my opinion on the Trayvon Martin case. Or this one. Or why this incident in particular has garnered a great deal of attention. We always wonder why this one or not that one. On an unrelated note, it's like when people asked why are we only talking about Jonbenet or Maddie Clifton when there are others just like them, going unnoticed.

There are enough people debating those things: the racism and the why's.

What gets me though, is how so much hate still exists. Hate crime? Possible. Reactions of hate? Definitely. What happened is terrible. He was just a kid. What is also terrible is how much faith we've lost in humanity, immediately pulling the race card, and dividing ourself in a blatant way.

Reading that peaceful protests of the past were futile tears me to pieces, and I have to disagree. I'd say we've come a long way. We have a long way to go, apparently, but I like to think that we, as a human race have moved forward. My president is black. I voted for Barack Obama, but I still wasn't sure that it would happen in my lifetime. America surprised me. I thought to myself, "Maybe we're a bit further than I give us credit for."

I will never understand where hate comes from. I'll never understand how people could think that it could help anyone or anything.

My heart breaks every time I hear the "n" word, or the word "fag". When randoms on the street yell out, "ching chong ching", all I could think is, "Really?" I had no idea the world was still in 1st grade. It gets under my skin in a way that makes me shudder.

But you know, we can't control other people's actions, nor their opinions. We can't dictate what others believe. So instead of trying to "fix" other people, as cliche as it is, we should probably just begin with ourselves.

One day, far from now, when my kids hear about stories like this, I hope they are just as confused as to how people could carry so much hate.

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate:only love can do that." -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.