Destructive Ignorance in St. Louis and South Florida and the Unfulfilled Potential of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman

By Tef Poe Thu., May 31 2012 at 12:50 PM

Continued from page 2

Then reality sets in and they drive back home to O'Fallon and turn on the burglar alarm. My city will never reach its full potential as long as we continue to be one of the nations most racially segregated places. I truthfully would rather have a nuclear bomb dropped on my head than raise children in such a ridiculous climate centered in thinking like this is still the 1960s.

I don't have children at the moment, but I most definitely won't raise my children in St. Louis when I do have them. In Chesterfield, my son or daughter could easily be Trayvon'ed with no remorse. The inner city has crime issues the mayor chooses to ignore. So what self-respecting parent fighting for his family's well being doesn't want to live in a neighborhood that has maximum safety and developmental resources. This is the new America, and Blacks have the same educational opportunities as whites. There are plenty of holes in the system and the playing field still isn't leveled. But I have faith that if a person is willing to work hard and create opportunities for herself, nothing is impossible.

With this being said, blacks are moving into the suburbs and working the same jobs as white buddies. We are attempting to normalize ourselves in this society. The president is black? No big deal. A black family attending the same church as you? No big deal. Missouri: this is not the Jim Crow era. Hip-hop is helping kill a lot of this foolishness and the next generation will hopefully fulfill the potential promises of greatness our parents were too scared to honor. Trayvon Martin was born a member of the generation striving to do better than our predecessors when it comes to issues such as this. Zimmerman -- an older guy from the previous class -- didn't see it this way for whatever reason. Zimmerman profiled Trayvon while I'm sure Caucasian kids in Martin's age bracket from the same neighbor know the difference between a kid eating some skittles and a menacing house burglar.

Regardless of how you feel about the scenario, let's face the facts: This moron chased a sixteen year old kid down, got into a fist fight with him and shot him. Zimmerman is a damn idiot. First of all, no sixteen-year-old kid that you're following to begin with should be able to throw hands and whoop a grown man's behind. He deserved that hand-to-hand beating. He went heads up man-to-man (well, correction: man-to-boy) against a teenager and got dealt with. When the fight got too real he shot him dead in cold blood. He actually got off easy when you consider what could've happened. If Trayvon Martin actually had the strength of a 30-year-old man this might have ended differently. You cannot follow a innocent person with a damn gun and expect nothing to happen. I'd throw this guy in jail for being a damn idiot. Aside from his ignorance I feel sorry for his family and the predicament they are now in.

Trayvon died too soon like so many of the young men before him. We live in a world where everyone thinks he is John Wayne. We walk around with guns and we shoot anything moving. Zimmerman sat in court during his bond hearing as a shell of his former self. Whether the law convicts him or not he will live the rest of his life as a murderer. The decision to maximize your true potential rest solely on your shoulders.

Trayvon's choice to partake in the same self-discovering journey was snuffed from him far too early. Allowing ourselves to be influenced by bigotry and hatred damages our ability to bring positive change into the world. In the artistic community so many people seem to sit idle ignoring their potential. I wholeheartedly believe if our world will change then the musicians and artists of our world will serve as the beacons of light. This is why it's so drastically important for us to understand our potential. We should continue to fight like bats out of hell to protect this potential.

This was written in honor of a young kid who probably made the same mistakes I made his age. He was just an American teenager not really having a worry in the world. He probably never for once thought he would die like this. This is a sad story, and while I share empathy for Zimmerman's family I also realize only one person in this scenario is sleeping in a grave. Only one person in this situation is dead as a doorknob. Trayvon was murdered, and we must continue to destroy ignorance in all forms or we are indeed no better than Zimmerman.

Tags:

city, county, george zimmerman, intolerance, tef poe, trayvon martin

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Funksoul1965

Many of us white folks hear ya' Tef and feel the same. Please don't think we are mostly all racist idiots... What happened to the Sixties ideals of equality middle aged white St. Louis?

Gen A Jones

Big Kev

When you know Tef on a personal level inspiring and passionate stories like these come up in every day conversations. But something about this one really stood out. Well written Tef. Much Respect.

UBU

I have visited, and lived in various cities in the U. S., and I can say St Louis has too many young people that are trying to emulate a so called thug persona. I look at the youth, and think how they were once a small child, and how the lack of guidance, from parents, family, school, have left them feeling that they have no other way to get attention. They walk around without, trying to put on a fake facade to fit in. A lot of youth, male, and female are hurting mentally, with the lack of opportunities in this city, and the status quo of typical low paying job offerings, only reinforces that this is all that I'm am going to be able to achieve in life? It is many layers to the problems that have attributed to this current state of destruction. Their should be no finger pointing, but acknowledgement of the issues, and ways to get the youth mentally prepared for bigger challenges that exist in life.

Thanks for the great post!

Hr4thabr

I agree with your post and have no love for Zimmerman. But I'll be honest, if you look, dress, and walk like a thug in an upper class neighborhood, no matter the race, you should be prepared to be profiled. It's common sense. Inversely, if a white boy dressing like a rich white boy takes a walk in Pine Lawn, he is going to be looked at as an outsider and probably be picked on and laughed at.

Gen A Jones

There is a HUGE difference between being "picked on and laughed at" as you said would happen to the rich white boy in Pine Lawn and being arrested or harassed the way Tef Poe describes above....

Coming to expect that we will be profiled, that we will be harassed, that we will always be "different" and that as such we should just deal with it is not the way to progress. That is how you keep a slave in a slave's place...

I REFUSE to stay in "my place," I refuse to just deal with it. It is the persecutor that should change, not the persecuted.

Tef Poe

well I see Mormons in Pine Lawn and North STL passing out Jesus pamphlets on the daily and no one bothers them , they ride the bus knock on ppl's doors and talk to them ..they dress in slacks , dress shirts , church shoes and ties, no one bothers them at all and they've been doing this for years...ppl in the ghetto have bigger problems than worrying about a random white dude ..yeah they are incidents because ignorant people are everywhere but for the most part it's whatever..south stl is filled with whites, college students living here temporarily, ppl who jus live on the southside because the rent is cheaper...my room mates are both Caucasian.. it was raining the cat had on a hoodie ..I could see if it was summer time 90 degree's outside and he's walking around looking like a weirdo..

Gravy

*long and slow applause* Well written Tef. I couldn't agree more.

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Rickyjuice365

Unfortunately The powers that be in America Tef; Purposely ROB black communities and their youth of the idea that we are good enough as a race. The war has always been for the black mans potential and imagination. Its no coincidence that most of our prominent black leaders were murdered or jailed. Black people like any other people have immense potential, but the if it mean that the Consuming white man has to take a back seat to our intelligence or popularity they will most definitely snuff us out. In Short The Racist is afraid of the unknown, but more afraid of competition and even more afraid of not being in control of resources.

Wars in American History were not started because of evil powers, but the right to control resources.

Our Black People are strong, but afraid that if we were to rise up as a people they would once again invoke a reign of terror in our communities.

Brad Hicks

I've been making the point all along that I sincerely hope that Trayvon Martin threw the first punch. And I tell people why. Look at it from Trayvon's point of view, which, thanks to the fact that he was on a hands-free phone at the time, we know:

Trayvon Martin was a teenaged boy ...

Who had been followed for a block and a half by a middle aged man in a van ...

And then stalked for another black and a half through an alley by that same man, in the rain ...

And when the middle aged man caught up with him and Trayvon asked him who he was and why he was following him, he refused to say.

What in the HELL do people THINK that Trayvon thought he was dealing with? I don't think George Zimmerman was right to assume that some random teenaged kid he'd never seen before was a burglar, but for crying out loud, we raise all of our kids to think that a strange adult in a van who stalks you for blocks is a pedophile kidnapper. I sincerely do expect that Trayvon roughed him up bad, because as far as Trayvon Martin knew, he was fighting for his life; as far as he knew, if he lost this fight, nobody would ever see him again but his abductor.

George Zimmerman had no business stalking that kid, and even less business putting a gun in his waistband before doing so. But all the way up to the last second, this whole tragedy could probably have been avoided if, when Martin asked him who he was and why he was following him, he had said "Neighborhood Watch."

Kelsey W.

TEF POE IS A BOSS.

Keepliving19

Tef, really love your post. I'm so sorry that you were harassed by those cops, but glad you guys weren't hurt. Even though I agree with you about STL being one of the most segregated, racist areas in the US- bad people are everywhere. Don't let evil people steal your joy or pride in your city. Saint Louis needs people like yourself to bring about change. I encourage you to pray for that woman who was scared and hope she meets a black male that changes her perspective one day.