Trayvon Martin: Armed and Dangerous
By By Rev. Charles E. Mock, Executive Secretary, Home Mission Board | March 30, 2012
Trayvon Martin was shot to death on February 26, 2012 as a result of an alleged struggle between him and Richard Zimmerman. Richard was a Neighborhood Watch volunteer operating more like an unofficial, self-appointed extension of the Sanford Police Department in Sanford, Florida. According to Richard’s testimony, he shot Trayvon out of fear for his life, enough fear to pull the trigger of his 9 millimeter gun, killing Trayvon by a shot to his chest.
At the time of the shooting Trayvon was considered armed and
dangerous, but not because he was carrying a can of ice tea in one
holster and a pack of skittles in the other. He was considered armed and
dangerous for the same reason many black teenagers across this nation
are considered armed and dangerous. They are black, teenagers, walking
while black in the wrong place where others suspiciously believe they
have no business, and because they wear a hoody in a way that only
heightens suspicion thanks to stereotyping or racial profiling.
It is sad commentary on our fear-centered nation that innocent black
teenagers and young black men are viewed and presumed armed and
dangerous. Such a view has not developed solely from the remnants of
racism. A major contribution to this view is black on black crime
committed by a number of persons that at the time of the crime were
dressed in hoodies that served as protection against identity detection.
While we expend so much energy and resources fighting to take back our
country, our inner city neighborhoods and communities are being
innocently shot to death by the scuffles of politics and public policy.
Inner city neighborhoods are becoming as armed and dangerous as Trayvon
Martin and it is not because of what they innocently carry, rather their
being stereotyped and profiled as suspicious places by virtue of their
location and exterior characteristics.
The suspicion of being armed and dangerous is serious enough for
appropriate responses as opposed to a “do nothing mentality” other than
hoping and praying that things will somehow change for the better over
time. Dr. Martin Luther King taught time is neither good nor bad. Time
is neutral. What we do with time determines whether it has been used for
good or for bad. So what’s part of the answer? How do we teach the
Trayvons of our world how to be less armed and dangerous?
It is time for more of our communities and neighborhoods to become
saturated with the presence of those who worship so faithfully on
Sunday. We are long past the naive belief that law-abiding Chiefs of
Police, police officers, government officials, community agencies or law
enforcement agencies can serve as adequate substitutes for our
religious participation in communal affairs.
At a minimum, we have to teach our children about the real world
they naively do not understand. This would include parents and
grandparents learning survival techniques and the Black Male Code. For
our black youth to make it from one place to another without getting
attacked by blacks or non-blacks; or, stopped by a small percentage of
police officers whose behavior calls into question the good work and
integrity of their professional colleagues, is no small feat. We applaud
police officers who take their jobs as promoters of safety, peace and
upholders of the law with utmost seriousness as they wear their badge
with pride and honor.
Second, we cannot afford to wait for states with Stand Your Ground
laws to repeal them in a way that will make our “Trayvons” and “Traceys”
feel safer in their walks.
Third, we cannot sit back and trust law enforcement agents to
learn lessons from this particular case and therefore make professional
and timely arrests of those who admittedly claim they killed in
self-defense.
Fourth, as communities of faith we must amend the traditional content of our Sunday Schools, bible study and vacation bible school curriculums. The content of our teaching, especially as related to pre-teens, teenagers and young adults, must reflect the realities of real life in both urban and suburban life.
Fifth, Communities of Faith must find intentional and creative ways to connect or reconnect with community non-profit agencies and organizations that can provide the support or supplement existing resources needed for teaching purposes.
Sixth, Communities of Faith must be intentional in reaching out
to their non-black or non-white brother and sisters in Christ and those
outside of Christ for sustained dialogue around neighbor-to-neighbor
theological understanding.
Let us become morally armed and dangerous as neighborhoods and
communities by a collective will to teach our youth how to “stand our
ground” against those who seek to take our ground in senseless acts of
violence.
Charles Mock is the executive secretary of the Home Mission Board of the
National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. He can be reached at
cjenmock@gmail.com, 814-504-5597.
Click here to read President Scruggs' Statement