Panama City, Fla. is sure on the map. Every major U.S. television news outfit has devoted sometime last week to the Martin Lee Anderson, especially after the verdict came down last Friday. Here are a couple of points that I've been pondering:
- Both sides (prosecution and defense) agree that manhandling/beating didn't cause Anderson's death. But you'd never get that impression listening to the national media. It's as if Rodney King had happened all over again and the drill instructors had pulled the poor boy off the street and started wailing on him. It's not that there can't be questions about the "use of force matrix" and the other tactics the guards employed, but let's at least get that first fact straight? See http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/269291.html for an example of what I mean.
- When all else fails, of course, we pull the race card. I haven't gotten a good explanation for why the race card has been called because the DIs are white, black and one Asian. Mind you I have heard that the non-whites were made "honorary whites" or were "following on the white man's coat tails." Sad isn't it that minorities can be portrayed in so many different ways all depending on the situation? As our local talk show host said this morning, he can't understand why the NAACP is so incensed that two black men were acquited of a crime in a small southern mostly white town.
Why were CourtTV broadcasters so shocked that PC hadn't broken out into riots after the verdict came down? I wanted to roll with laughter when I heard them saying, yes and students are out in the streets demonstrating... and then they didn't mentioned that the demonstrations were happening in the state capital of Tallahassee, hours away. Maybe because I remember what riot tension feels like and I'm sure most Jamaicans will agree that the April '99 Gas Riots were riots indeed. See http://www.j-zone.com/riots/pictures/ for some pretty good pictures from various areas that were affected. These people all need to smell tear gas wafting into their living rooms and sweet talk their way through a couple road blocks before they can talk about riots. But like I said to my boss, if thos verdict had come down a few weeks or months after Anderson died, then all bets would be off. I could well and see lots of angry people out on the street then.
I dunno, maybe it's because I'm not from here and grew up in the West Indies why I hold these views. It is sad that Martin Lee Anderson died though. As a mother I cannot and do not even want to imagine loosing my child. No matter anyone's faults or shortcomings, they could be me worst enemy, losing a child isn't something I'd wish on anyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment