I have a picture of Nathan just like this one. He is 22 now, and my other son Martin is 25. They got through their teen years with only a handful of situations made more tense because they are young black men. But the anguish on the faces of Trayvon Martin's parents chills me. What happened to their son was one of my worst fears.
Any parent cringes when they hear about the death of a teenager. We never forget that our kids are all so, so vulnerable. They are newbies to freedom - they relish it and want to get out and around every minute they can. But if you have a new driver in the family, you dread news of a crash. If you have a special needs child, you worry about them being less able to navigate through what might be ordinary events for other kids. If you have a gay child, you worry about assault. And believe me, if you have a black child, especially a boy, you know that for some people, even those tasked with protecting your child's safety, they raise suspicion just for walking down the street.
There is much left to unfold in this case. So many angles, so much we don't know. If you pick each piece apart, they are all important: police procedures, gun laws, municipal integrity, powerlessness, racism, the question of neighborhood watch, and more. But one piece that cannot be overlooked is the awareness that young black men in America must constantly have about how they are perceived, and the burden of fear forever carried by their parents.
Any parent cringes when they hear about the death of a teenager. We never forget that our kids are all so, so vulnerable. They are newbies to freedom - they relish it and want to get out and around every minute they can. But if you have a new driver in the family, you dread news of a crash. If you have a special needs child, you worry about them being less able to navigate through what might be ordinary events for other kids. If you have a gay child, you worry about assault. And believe me, if you have a black child, especially a boy, you know that for some people, even those tasked with protecting your child's safety, they raise suspicion just for walking down the street.
There is much left to unfold in this case. So many angles, so much we don't know. If you pick each piece apart, they are all important: police procedures, gun laws, municipal integrity, powerlessness, racism, the question of neighborhood watch, and more. But one piece that cannot be overlooked is the awareness that young black men in America must constantly have about how they are perceived, and the burden of fear forever carried by their parents.
