The Riots...

Once again, the black community hears an unfavorable verdict and the riots begin. No matter where in the nation the verdict is handed down, those intent on destruction and mayhem will find an excuse to riot and do so in the name of righteousness.

Had the verdict been guilty for George Zimmerman and he been given 5 years probation, the riots would have started a bit later, because the same narrow minded idiots would believe the sentence was too light, even though the verdict was guilty. No matter what came down, there were going to be riots, either by those using the innocent verdict as a reason to destroy, or those who would use the guilty verdict, no matter how harsh the sentence, as a cause for jubilation and destroy in the name of "justice."

Can anyone see how this further destroys the progress we have made in race relations in this country? How such idiotic behavior undermines the trust and dignity that we have begun to develop between brotherhoods as a result of so many years of work? That people would allow others to run amok and burn, smash, destroy and injure in the name of alleged justice? Come on, this isn't justice. It's hooliganism and vandalism in its' highest form. And done in the name of a deceased person who some people are trying to canonize like a saint. Shame on you.

I went through the Baltimore MLK Riots in 1968 carrying a Remington 870 shotgun and my greatest fear was not the dark streets, not the Molotov cocktails, not the roaming gangs of looters. It was the possibility that I might have to shoot a fellow American. Even after tours in Vietnam, I just wasn't hardened enough to wrap my head around that; this was happening in an American city. Sure, Newark was in the past, but this wasn't Newark, this was Baltimore and the people here were more civilized and gentile. Or were they? No, the streets were just like Newark, taken over by the young people who burned and looted, while their elders sat on the curbs and wept, not about their own burned out stores and shops, but about the race relations that had fallen back 20 years in just a few nights. Yes, I spoke with many people in the streets those nights, and we all agreed that Martin Luther King's death was a horrible thing, but these riots were not going to bring him back, nor would he be pleased by the actions of these thugs.

Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the Trayvon Martin - George Zimmerman verdict, the justice system has spoken. There was no prejudice on the part of the jury who made the decision. It's over and time to move on to constructive things. Don't let Trayvon Martin's memorial be one of looting and burning; let it be one of building new bridges towards peace and a renewed commitment towards brotherhood between races. Zimmerman will have to find his own way. Please find yours. Peacefully.