RUTHFULLY YOURS

After gavel-to-gavel coverage of the George Zimmerman trial, I need a break.  After all the post-verdict anger, lamentations and inane discussions about what it is to be a black man in America, I’m exhausted.

After watching President Obama liken himself to Trayvon Martin, I’ve had enough.

All this talk about race seems intentionally shortsighted and disingenuous.  It simply implicates whites and infantilizes the black man.  And those needing to hear straight talk the most are shortchanged by the soulless profiteers of the racial grievance industry.

I’m tired of Trayvon Martin being compared to Emmett Till — which, by extension, projects a racial ethos similar to that of 1955 upon contemporary America.  Martin was no Till, period.

Martin was not some kind of martyr.  Please, already.

I’m tired of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. being photoshopped into a hoodie.  This is nothing short of repulsive, and it denigrates the memory of Dr. King’s contribution to racial justice.

Our nation shall forever be in debt to Dr. King.  The same cannot and should not be said nor insinuated about Trayvon Martin.  There is no comparison.

I’m especially exhausted of hearing condescending white progressives encouraging blacks to maintain a false narrative of victimization.

The embarrassing demonstrations increased racial fatigue because those engaging in them did so at the expense of their dignity and credibility.  These people — willfully or through neglect — ignored the facts and evidence of the case in a grandstanding attempt to make whites feel responsible and guilty for perpetuating racial discrimination.  At the same time, whites feel obligated to perform penance of indeterminate length — defined by the racial grievance industry — without assurance of absolution.

Meanwhile, black-on-black crime is much more destructive and prevalent than a “white Hispanic” killing a black male.

The charade is disgusting, and I’m tired of it.

The Zimmerman trial wasn’t about race.  The FBI’s investigation found absolutely no evidence of racial bias.

Martin was criminally profiled.  In the 14 months prior to the fatal Martin-Zimmerman confrontation, the Retreat at Twin Lakes apartment complex was burglarized eight times — with all suspects being roughly the same height, build and color as Martin.

Thus, Martin wasn’t stalked or “hunted down like a rabid dog” because he was black.  As noted during the trial, suspicion was raised because of Martin’s behavior and because he fit a very specific criminal profile.

Blacks aren’t helpless victims abused by “the system.”  The facts prove it.  The reason that blacks — specifically black males — are disproportionally represented in the criminal justice system is because we commit a disproportionate amount of violent crime.  Period.

According to FBI statistics, of the 2,938 murder offenders counted in 2011, 1,803 offenders were black.  The total number of black murders in 2011, regardless of age, was 2,695.  Of that number, 2,447 had black offenders.

Blacks are complicit in their own demise.  The system that blacks fear, which they claim is out to get them, is — in reality — blacks themselves.

In other words, there are too many black and progressive fingers pointed outward and not enough pointed inward.  This is because there’s no political capital to be gained by doing this — no emotions to be exploited and no one to morally indict as racist.

Does racism exist?  Yes, of course.  But no one race is responsible for all — or even most — of it.

Does racial discrimination exist?  Yes, again.  And there always will be on this side of heaven.

For blacks and their enablers to continue to foment this notion that racism is America’s number one problem, however, is self-defeating, immoral and perpetuates a lie.

Too many blacks have no idea how irresponsible and embarrassing they look in all of this.  And I fear, very soon, they will be called on their Dream-killing commodification and idolization of race.

By then, I hope I’ve recovered from my race fatigue.

Derryck Green, a member of the national advisory council of the Project 21 black leadership network, received a M.A. in Theological Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing his doctorate in ministry at Azusa Pacific University.  Comments may be sent to Project21@natioanlcenter.org.

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