Time to Stand OUR Ground

In the years to come the trial and verdict in the murder of Jordan Davis by Michael Dunn will be remembered as a cultural touchstone.   A tipping point where suddenly the veil fell away and left all of us who are rational, thinking people asking ourselves how we came to this place and how we find our way out. 

Like many others, I have been transfixed by this trial, gathering up news as it came through the filters of the various news sources. I was stunned at the confluence of evidence and testimony. Stunned that Michael Dunn had the gall to try and describe a crime scene narrative totally inconsistent with the physical evidence and the eye witness testimony. A listing of these inconsistencies could run 

But what has been the most shocking and ultimately the most hopeful on the flip side is the reaction. In short Black people are pissed. Here we are seemingly on the verge of a post racial America only five years ago when President Obama was elected and suddenly we find ourselves face to face with Jim Crow himself.

It isn’t just the usual suspects who are outraged. We expect indignation from Rev Al or Cornell West who sometimes seem to see the world through mud crusted glasses but even the voices of moderation have suddenly found themselves radicalized by the realization that this is all bigger than any of us thought. When moderates like Michelle Bernard  or even the usually apolitical Wayne Brady are compelled to speak out something is in the air. 

Jon Stewart and Jessica Williams teamed up on the Daily Show Tuesday night to do a sharp and biting analysis of the case and the verdict but even the humor of the moment could not mask the message - the message that for black mothers their baby boys were in danger and even those who are fortunate enough to be a part of the 1% could not sit easily. 

And therein lies the seeds of change. . .

Last night I spoke with an old friend from High School. He was the black kid in an almost all white high school in the 70’s. The kid that everyone loved. He’s usually as upbeat as any human being I know but last night the sadness in his tone was palpable. I got off the phone and turned to my wife and said simply; “Black people are pissed.” and she did the oddest thing. She raised her hand as if she was in school. I looked at her questioningly and she said “So am I!”  

Its not just black people who are outraged. Its a whole lot of us of every color. It is just the army that will be needed to take on the institutional Frankenstein that we have created with Stand your Ground laws, Voter “Fraud" legislation intended to tamp down the minority and low income vote and a host of other stalking horse laws intended to match the growing wealth gap with its evil twin - The justice gap.

The fight is on. Choose your side because its going to be a battle. Either we kill the monster or it controls our country for another 100 years. It's time to Stand OUR Ground and say that we will not go back. 

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