The sun barely set on the Trayvon Martin verdict when reactions from the family and black leaders urged us to accept the verdict.
We must respect the law, they told us in prepared statements and quotes in high-profile news stories.
Why?
The Law exists to protect the citizens. The law works for us. We don't work for the law. When the laws cease to provide adequate protections, it is not in our interest to blindly follow it, but to work to update, change, or repeal it.
A law that makes the Trayvon verdict necessary is not a law anyone should accept. People of moral conscience should be able to agree that a man can't shoot a boy in his heart at point blank range, watch him die, and not be held accountable.
We cannot send the message to future George Zimmermans that you can find comfort in the law for executing someone who you believe is suspicious.
I was comforted to hear Attorney General Eric Holder propose we eliminate the Stand Your Ground Law that Zimmeran used in his defense.
Americans who don't want a country where citizens can execute each other willfully should stand our own ground. We should not accept this verdict as settled law.
Instead of sending out black leaders to urge "their" people to accept the law, they should be leading with constructive ways to voice our anger.
We won't accept the Trayvon verdict.
We should boycott Florida -- and any other state with Stand your ground laws -- until they are repealed.
Shooting innocent children is legal in your state? We won't spend another dime there. We no longer choose to take our children to Disney World, Tampa, or any other location where they could be targeted on their way home.
We will not accept this verdict. We will be angry. We will do something about it.
We must respect the law, they told us in prepared statements and quotes in high-profile news stories.
Why?
The Law exists to protect the citizens. The law works for us. We don't work for the law. When the laws cease to provide adequate protections, it is not in our interest to blindly follow it, but to work to update, change, or repeal it.
A law that makes the Trayvon verdict necessary is not a law anyone should accept. People of moral conscience should be able to agree that a man can't shoot a boy in his heart at point blank range, watch him die, and not be held accountable.
We cannot send the message to future George Zimmermans that you can find comfort in the law for executing someone who you believe is suspicious.
I was comforted to hear Attorney General Eric Holder propose we eliminate the Stand Your Ground Law that Zimmeran used in his defense.
Americans who don't want a country where citizens can execute each other willfully should stand our own ground. We should not accept this verdict as settled law.
Instead of sending out black leaders to urge "their" people to accept the law, they should be leading with constructive ways to voice our anger.
We won't accept the Trayvon verdict.
We should boycott Florida -- and any other state with Stand your ground laws -- until they are repealed.
Shooting innocent children is legal in your state? We won't spend another dime there. We no longer choose to take our children to Disney World, Tampa, or any other location where they could be targeted on their way home.
We will not accept this verdict. We will be angry. We will do something about it.