A seventeen year old boy is dead. The man who shot him was found innocent. A young life is extinguished before it had a chance to blossom. Unfortunately, incident this has become more about ratings and legal experts who come out of the woodwork to capitalize on their 15 minutes of fame. Commercial gain that stems from deep personal loss is despicable.
All of the legal rhetoric and political jockeying does not change the fact that this awful tragedy could have been avoided. A mother lost her son, a father is grieving his loss. Why do the pundits dehumanize the process? I bet their stance would be very different if it was their child. I bet our individual beliefs would be different if the loss was closer to home. I can’t imagine the pain the family feel…maybe I just won’t allow mind to go there. Hug your children a little closer today and tell them you love them.
While the naive believe that color had nothing to do in this case, racism is alive and well in America. I know we would have been having a very different conversation if a white boy had been shot by a black man. It is time to take off the rose tinted glasses.
About Hemant Rustogi