I've had readers tell me my view of American justice in my books is too harsh or bleak. In "How To Rape A Straight Guy", half the reason Curt's such a danger to anyone is because of his treatment at the hands of some jail guards, who set him up to be sexually assaulted, and the deliberate indifference of society once he's completed his jail term. In "Porno Manifesto", the cops and prosecutors protect the boys who gay-bash Alec. In "Rape In holding Cell 6" I take it even further, with cops and prosecutors working together to make money off the brutalization of men who've been arrested, and who then cover up a murder. And in "Bobby Carapisi", it's the homophobia of a deputy DA, a cop and a nurse that sets in motion the tragedy that engulfs both Eric and Bobby; and the unwillingness of the cops and DA in an unnamed Texas town to deal with male rape that allowed Allen and his buddies to continue their evil.
Well...today Florida proved I'm actually being quite kind in my attitudes. George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. Didn't matter that Zimmerman initiated a situation that resulted in an unarmed teenaged boy's death. Didn't matter that the only reason Zimmerman, who's half-Anglo and half -Hispanic, called the cops and followed Trayvon Martin with a loaded gun was because the kid was black. Martin had done nothing to cause alarm except walk to the store to buy Skittles and iced tea while visiting his father.
Florida has a "Stand your ground" law that it has shown only applies to whites. A black woman who fired a warning shot at her abusive ex-boyfirend as he approached her was handed aseven TWENTY year sentence in prison. Bullet didn't even come close to the prick, but she got jail. White guy kills a black kid, and it's all the black kid's fault.
Justice is not blind in America. She's White and wide-eyed, and crimes Anglos commit are treated with understanding and/or acceptance (except for women who are pregnant or abused and fight back; different standard for them, no matter what their race). Wall Street steals hundreds of billions in wealth and nobody goes to jail, because almost all of them are white. Black guy robs a liquor store? Decades in prison. White kid gets caught with coke? Rehab. Black kid gets caught with crack. Jail. George Bush ignores warnings of a terrorist attack and thousands die, but everybody rallies behind him; four people are killed in Benghazi and it's all Obama's fault. It goes on and on.
America is a racist, homophobic, anti-anything-but-white-rich-males society. Always has been, and I guess she always will be. The few voices who cry against that are overwhelmed by the deafening silence of those who might want things to be better or fairer, but who will do nothing about it and keep electing people to office who do everything they can to help the rich and white over the poor and everybody else.
Nothing new about it, unfortunately. After all, we damn near perfected genocide and wiped out several civilizations decades before Hitler went after the Jews, but it was just against a bunch of savages so nobody really cares.
It's sad...and pathetic...and America.
Well...today Florida proved I'm actually being quite kind in my attitudes. George Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges in the death of Trayvon Martin. Didn't matter that Zimmerman initiated a situation that resulted in an unarmed teenaged boy's death. Didn't matter that the only reason Zimmerman, who's half-Anglo and half -Hispanic, called the cops and followed Trayvon Martin with a loaded gun was because the kid was black. Martin had done nothing to cause alarm except walk to the store to buy Skittles and iced tea while visiting his father.
Florida has a "Stand your ground" law that it has shown only applies to whites. A black woman who fired a warning shot at her abusive ex-boyfirend as he approached her was handed a
Justice is not blind in America. She's White and wide-eyed, and crimes Anglos commit are treated with understanding and/or acceptance (except for women who are pregnant or abused and fight back; different standard for them, no matter what their race). Wall Street steals hundreds of billions in wealth and nobody goes to jail, because almost all of them are white. Black guy robs a liquor store? Decades in prison. White kid gets caught with coke? Rehab. Black kid gets caught with crack. Jail. George Bush ignores warnings of a terrorist attack and thousands die, but everybody rallies behind him; four people are killed in Benghazi and it's all Obama's fault. It goes on and on.
America is a racist, homophobic, anti-anything-but-white-rich-males society. Always has been, and I guess she always will be. The few voices who cry against that are overwhelmed by the deafening silence of those who might want things to be better or fairer, but who will do nothing about it and keep electing people to office who do everything they can to help the rich and white over the poor and everybody else.
Nothing new about it, unfortunately. After all, we damn near perfected genocide and wiped out several civilizations decades before Hitler went after the Jews, but it was just against a bunch of savages so nobody really cares.
It's sad...and pathetic...and America.
2 comments:
Amen. This may be the most brutally honest thing I've seen you post. I watched the verdict live from a bar last night and everyone was outraged. I live only an hour away from the scene of this tragic incident. I have one single friend who was actually celebrating the verdict but he's a gun-nut conservative asshole so I wasn't particularly surprised.
It's gonna get nasty, now, Michael. Real nasty.
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