Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

It is amazing how the *victim mentality* just automatically comes out at times like this.

Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - I thought my son would be much older before I had to tell him about the Black Male Code. He’s only 12, still sleeping with stuffed animals, still afraid of the dark. But after the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I needed to explain to my child that soon people might be afraid of him.

We were in the car on the way to school when a story about Martin came on the radio. “The guy who killed him should get arrested. The dead guy was unarmed!” my son said after hearing that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman had claimed self-defense in the shooting in Sanford, Fla.

We listened to the rest of the story, describing how Zimmerman had spotted Martin, who was 17, walking home from the store on a rainy night, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head. When it was over, I turned off the radio and told my son about the rules he needs to follow to avoid becoming another Trayvon Martin - a black male who Zimmerman assumed was “suspicious” and “up to no good.”

As I explained it, the Code goes like this:

Full Story Here:
Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

OK, I have tried to take the *high road* here, I have tried to be fair and balanced, I have NOT denigrated anyone, and I won’t, but the *Black Male Code* thing? Seriously?

Jesse Washington is fanning the flames, playing the victim if you will, perpetuating the playing of The Race Card and using the death of Trayvon Martin as an excuse to further HIS agenda.

The President of the United States and the GOP candidates for President are ALL using this incident to further THEIR agenda. The NAACP, Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton are using the death of Trayvon to further THEIR agenda.

The Race Card is being played shamelessly, and it seems that very few writing about the death of Trayvon Martin are doing so in a manner to NOT further their own agenda.

Jesse Washington, et al, pay attention and learn. If Blacks didn’t commit close to 70% of ALL violent crimes in America perhaps they wouldn’t be looked at in such a way. Maybe you’re raising your son to be a good man, I certainly hope so, but the *victim mentality* is a worn out move on your part, and that of any other race in America.

We are ALL on equal footing in this day and time. We ALL share the same woes brought on by an incompetent government, past AND present.

We ALL have the same opportunity for education and jobs, and we all have the same opportunity to succeed or fail.

Teach you son the MALE CODE (FOR ALL MALES) :

     1. Hold your head high.
     2. Square your shoulders.
     3. Walk with PRIDE, and exude confidence, not cockiness.
     4. Pull your damned pants up and square your cap/hat.
     5. Dress like a MAN, not some RAP Thug or gang banger.

A *hoodie* worn pulled up in Florida, or anywhere else, may be seen as some sort of a fashion statement for some, but it is seen as an indication of some degree of *back off* by many. It is seen as an indication that the wearer is some kind of bad-ass and not to be messed with. It’s a THUG mentality thing.

That mentality applies to ALL of us, White, Black, Asian, whatever the case may be.

If you look the part of a street thug, gang banger and all around bad-ass, people are going to assume that you are a street thug, gang banger and all around bad-ass. It can’t be said too often, appearance is everything, and again, this does NOT apply to Black kids and teens only.

Walk with respect, of yourself and others. Treat others with respect. Project a sense of RIGHT and morality, not a wannabe THUG persona.

I live in a very diverse neighborhood, we have Whites, Blacks and Hispanics living as our neighbors. My next door neighbors are Black. He is an engineer for a defense contractor and she is a teacher. Both are Conservative, both are wonderful people. They have the most beautiful daughters you could ever want to see; well spoken, highly intelligent and very friendly.

My neighbors across the street are Black. He is a service and installation tech for a national elevator company. He and his wife have 3 very wonderful children, polite, well spoken, well behaved and they present themselves in a respectful manner.

One of my neighbors is Hispanic. He is the successful owner of an insurance agency and his kids are a true pleasure to be around. Cute, funny, well spoken and respectful.

One of my neighbors has a son that is now in the Army and about to be deployed to Afghanistan. He was a good kid when he was young, he cut our grass, he hung out over here a lot, he was very artistic and a pleasure to be around. Then he fell in with a bunch of WANNABE bad-asses and dopers at school.

He would come home from school and as soon as he got out of the car he looked around to see if anyone was watching, hunched his shoulders over, did the side to side *look around* and flipped up his *hoodie* in an effort to play the part of a bad-ass.

For the longest time no one in the neighborhood wanted anything to do with him, he had become a total ASSHOLE.

I talked with his mother on many occasions and she was truly at her wits end, she was afraid he was going to end up in jail, or worse, and she was terrified that he was going to drop out of school.

Well, the kid DID graduate, then he went into the Army. He was home recently and he came over to apologize to me. I asked him why he was apologizing and he told me, “Mr. Fred, I was an asshole, I was on the road to serious trouble and I treated you like hell, and now I am not like that.”

This kid has turned into a young MAN. He now has PRIDE in himself, he is respectful of others, he has a sense of direction, and he is serving this nation as a soldier.

The kid I am talking about is White, but this example should serve as a lesson to ALL parents and their kids; no one is beyond redemption, no matter the color of your skin, that *pigmentation* thing is an issue that should be long dead and gone.

Sadly, it’s not.

Witness: Martin attacked Zimmerman

ORLANDO - A witness we haven’t heard from before paints a much different picture than we’ve seen so far of what happened the night 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed.

The night of that shooting, police say there was a witness who saw it all.

Our sister station, FOX 35 in Orlando, has spoken to that witness.

What Sanford Police investigators have in the folder, they put together on the killing of Trayvon Martin few know about.

Full Story Here:
Witness: Martin attacked Zimmerman

Maybe so. But I just can’t believe this was an unprovoked attack. Martin may have looked the part of the stereotypical *hood rat* due to his manner of dress. As I said earlier, appearance is everything.

I am thinking Zimmerman accosted Martin, began questioning him and Martin, feeling threatened, was defending himself against what HE perceived to be a threat to HIS safety. Maybe Martin was STANDING HIS GROUND too. Just sayin’.

Maybe this *witness* is a friend of Zimmerman? Maybe this *witness* is a racist? It is a possibility, and no one can ever say I don’t try and present ALL angles.

EDIT TO ADD: The picture I have of Trayvon Martin is now rumored to be 5 years old and depicts him as he looked at age 12. There are other pics surfacing now that show a person said to be Trayvon Martin at age 17, flashing GANG signs, calling himself a *Made Nigga* and belonging to some street gang.

There is a hell of a lot more to this story than meets the eye. I still have my suspicions of George Zimmerman and his intentions, but the recent pics of Martin also cause a lot of conflict to be added to an already highly inflamed situation.

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18 Responses to Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

  1. Robert says:

    Evidently this story is going to take the news for a while.. Good thing for Obama huh? Kind of like the Fluke issue… Slight of hand, selected outrage, perceived injustice, election year, swing state etc…

    I’m thinking there must be something in the facts that is NOT cut and dry or Zimmerman would be sitting in jail… Well unless everyone involved in Law enforcement in that town/state is a devout racist.

    Blacks kill more blacks than any other race yet no outrage… odd huh?

    • TexasFred says:

      Regarding Obama; I don’t know if this is so much a *deflection* issue or just one he is politicizing in an effort to show himself as a compassionate guy…

      Of course he IS entitled to an opinion, as are ALL of us, but folks tend to listen to Obama more than they do us…

  2. BobF says:

    There may be a witness that says Martin attacked Zimmerman but that attack would never have happened if Zimmerman had followed police orders and backed off. If someone was to follow me all over, it would put me on the defensive. If they continued to follow me, it may put me on the offensive if I felt was threatened. If I though this guy was going to attack me, and his actions indicated it, I would want to get in the first punches. I’m not going to wait until he hits me and they try to recover.

  3. Katie says:

    Word coming out is that Martin was a real bad apple. At 17 he was expelled from school, had a criminal record and was running with a bad crowd. He was sent to his father to straighten him out, but dad was having problems.

    The cops would have arrested Zimmerman that night if there were no witnesses. Rumor has it that there is a video of the event that clears Zimmerman.

    • TexasFred says:

      I would like to see some citation on this BS Katie…

      From all I have seen and read, Trayvon was an honor student and a pretty good football player..

  4. Bloviating Zeppelin says:

    Let me make this as simple as I can:

    In my jurisdiction, in my agency, over 45% of the violent crime is committed by black males between the ages of 15 and 25. Much of this is black-on-black crime, committed by young black males against young black males.

    This isn’t theory or guessing or assumption. These are stats that my department and others in the area compile and predominantly do not want getting out into the mainstream public.

    My suggestion to young black males? When your crimes trend down markedly, you may find yourselves with longer life spans, having to attend fewer funerals, with greater potential for employment and with more respect.

    This isn’t rocket science. Those are facts.

    BZ

  5. sdkar says:

    I am kinda tired hearing about how a black man can’t walk down the street in a white affluent neighborhood without being hassled.

    I would like to make a challenge to the black “victimhood” jerks out there touting this nonsense.

    Let’s take 100 black kids and have them walk through a white affluent neighborhood late at night and see how many end up with the crap beat out of them or dead. Granted, some of them may have to speak with an officer and explain what they are doing there at that time of night…but the chances of them ending up beaten up or dead is less than 1%. Martin is the exception to the rule, he is the less than 1% that ended up dead.

    Now, take 100 white males (or females) and have them walk through a predominately black, less than affluent neighborhood. I can assure you that 1/3 to 1/2 will end up robbed, beaten up, raped or dead. This is a fact. In fact, a run in with the cops by a white person in a black neighborhood would be a welcome sight indeed.

    I challenge anyone to do this…I defy you to prove me wrong. A white person in a black neighborhood is going to end up a target, a victim and a statistic.

    If black people don’t want to be hassled, then clean up your act. The statistical proven fact is that blacks make up about 13% of the general population but about 70% of the prison population. (give or take a few points I’m sure…but I bet I’m gosh darn close with the numbers.)

    Blacks want to tell the world how they feel like a victim around white cops and when walking down the street of a white neighborhood, but don’t want to even discuss how a white person feels about walking through a black neighborhood. Hell, you don’t even have to be white to be robbed or killed…if a white person isn’t around, blacks will rob other blacks if they think he has something of value…even if it’s pocket change.

    I am not a racist, but my way of thinking is backed up by statistics. The day they quit being the dominant race as the one commiting violent crimes is the day white people will quit looking at them suspiciously. Why do you think white people cross the street when they see a black guy coming toward them on the sidewalk. If you want people to treat you properly, then you could start by looking the part. Cornrows, gold teeth and baggy pants and hoodies are what the fashionable criminals wear these days. Maybe if they stopped grandizing hoodlums with rap music and started to mimic real heroes than life’s opportunities may open up for you.

    A black man says he wants a job but no one will hire him. Well, maybe if he completed high school, maybe some community college, stop with the tattoos and gold teeth, and dress respectable, then I will GUARANTEE that more possibilities will open up to you.

    I have heard many black men say the reason they turn to crime is because they can’t get a job, and they can’t get a job because they can’t afford to go to school. And as far as them all saying that they can’t afford college…that is BS. Community college is open to everyone. And with the gov’t programs practically giving money away to anyone who can fill out the application, anyone can afford to go.

    Respect is not something to be demanded…it is earned. It is earned by how you act, by how you dress, and by how you treat others. If you walk around with a chip on your shoulder and blame all of your problems on your race, then you will never amount to much and you will find very few people will want to help you or give you an opportunity. People will look at you and treat you for the NWA that you are.

    I am tired of blacks demanding that everyone change in order to make them feel better about themselves. I am tired of blacks blaming racism on every single problem encountered in life. We ALL encounter obstacles in life. Those that succeed don’t blame everything but themselve. They make changes and overcome. They work hard and build respect for themselves.

    Maybe if blacks turned the finger around and instead of pointing at whitey and demanding he stop the racism and instead, look inward and make changes within themselves, and stop with the racism, and the victimhood, life for ALL of us will be better.

    But that takes work…that takes ambition, and these things only come from a person that was raised with common morals and values and decency. Instead of telling your children that whitey is out to get you…tell him how to act decent and treat others with respect and most importantly, the value of an education and hard work.

    People like sharpton and jackson don’t want the black people doing this. By doing this, it makes them irrelevant and they don’t want that. So, they stoke the fires of racism and tell black people that all of their problems are white people’s fault and racist attitudes. It is these people and this victim attitude and PC BS that have set up blacks to fail. If only the majority of them could see this, than racism, and the negative stigma of the black man will be a thing of the past.

    Maybe one day it will happen. I know there are decenet black people that are trying to make this happen. Men like Allen West and others. But progress is slow. One day however, it will happen. One day. We can only hope that this day gets here soon enough.

    Then again, maybe I’m wrong…maybe I’m just a racist white guy that hates black people for no other reason then the color of their skin.

  6. TexasFred says:


    Chaz Bono and George Zimmerman — Separated at birth maybe?

  7. Always On Watch says:

    I found something this morning and finally posted about Trayvon Martin. IF what I found is accurate, something very nasty is afoot!

    • TexasFred says:

      And thus the reason I have edited my last 2 posts with this:

      EDIT TO ADD: The picture I have of Trayvon Martin is now rumored to be 5 years old and depicts him as he looked at age 12. There are other pics surfacing now that show a person said to be Trayvon Martin at age 17, flashing GANG signs, calling himself a *Made Nigga* and belonging to some street gang.

      There is a hell of a lot more to this story than meets the eye. I still have my suspicions of George Zimmerman and his intentions, but the recent pics of Martin also cause a lot of conflict to be added to an already highly inflamed situation.

  8. Always On Watch says:

    You know, a lot of people think that Trayvon Martin was shot on the sidewalk. He was not!

    Furthermore, his father didn’t even know that his son had been shot until a few days later. His father didn’t report his son as missing either. Why not?

    • TexasFred says:

      ABC News had a huge segment on it last night, Trayvon Martin’s PICTURE was brought to his father for identification, a pic in a BODY BAG, and you’re right, his father didn’t know he was missing, or hadn’t reported it…

      There is a hell of a lot more to this than meets they eye, I still don’t believe nor do I trust some WANNABE cop playing Neighborhood Watch Captain…

  9. Walter Gonzo says:

    Amazing how changing three words in Washington’s code makes its applicability such an irony…

  10. Walter Gonzo says:

    “Always pay close attention to your surroundings, son, especially if you are in an {unfamiliar} neighborhood where {white} folks are few. Understand that even though you are not a {racist}, some people might assume you are, especially if you are wearing certain clothes.

    Never argue with police, but protect your dignity and take pride in humility. When confronted by someone with a badge or a gun, do not flee, fight, or put your hands anywhere other than up.

    Please don’t assume, son, that all {black} people view you as a threat. America is better than that. Suspicion and bitterness can imprison you. But as a {white} male, you must go above and beyond to show strangers what type of person you really are.”

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