I kept trying to figure out why everybody took such a deep-rooted interested in this Troy Davis case. I kept hearing about how we “took a man’s life” without knowing if he was 100% guilty. I kept hearing about “a life unjustly taken”. But every day, I open the newspaper and see plenty of examples of lives that were unjustly taken – many times by people just like Troy Davis. Yet, I never hear any of my peers on twitter talking about THOSE lives that were unjustly taken. I couldn’t figure out why Troy Davis was so different.
Then it hit me.
It isn’t about a life being taken unjustly at all. It’s about being able to tell the government “you fucked up.”
See, society in general loves to spit in the face of authority. Especially the urban youth who are basically taught by their parents that cops and government are the enemy. Yea, we’ll get our check on Friday, buy overpriced bottles of Absolut at the club on Saturday, Gucci sunglasses on Sunday, and are broke by Monday. We have nice cars, but no health insurance. We spend money on outfits for ourselves but can’t afford to take our kids to the zoo. We do all this and then complain that the government is keeping us down, that it’s their fault we’re not succeeding more in life.
So here was our opportunity to show everyone that we were right all along. We don’t really have a fair chance to make it because any one of us could’ve been Troy Davis. It wouldn’t matter to us what he did – he would be our scapegoat. Our reason to prove that we’re not struggling because of ourselves, but because the country is racist and elitist.
There’s a very good reason why most people aren’t still talking about Troy Davis today. Because most people didn’t care in the first place! Most people will go about their usual bad habits and then point to this case whenever it’s convenient, so we can show why we’re still stuck in poverty, or why we aren’t further along in the social structure. See, if people actually cared, they’d be working today to find ways to get capital punishment rescinded. I wrote an entire article on yesterday on some of the ways we can make this happen. But it involved actual work. People don’t want to work, they’re just searching for crutches. My tweets about Jay-Z and Kanye received over twenty times the amount of replies than my Troy Davis tweets did.
I’m reading the NY Daily News this morning and there’s an article about a man who kidnapped and raped a girl back in 1988. He was sentenced to fifty years, but got out on parole after serving only eleven. He then kidnapped an eleven year old girl from her school bus stop and held her captive for eighteen years, raping her repeatedly and fathering two children with her until she was finally rescued.
Where’s all the outrage on twitter for this? What about this eleven year old girl on her way to school – a girl who could’ve been any of our daughters – her life irrevocable altered? Where’s the outrage for the parole board that let this monster out after barely serving one fifth of his sentence?
Oh wait, there’s nothing to rally against because we don’t want to end parole. Without early parole and very forgiving parole boards, our friends, our favorite rappers, they might actually have to serve close to full sentences. So what if every now and then, someone like this gets and takes or ruins an innocent life? It’s worth it so we can wear our “Free Weezy” shirts and scream about how the government shouldn’t incarcerate all our innocent celebrities of color.
We only want to scream for reform when it’s convenient. And all we want to do is scream, not actually work towards reform.
In the Bronx a few weeks ago, a young man with a gun open fired on two others but missed them and hit a two year old baby. The baby was shot in the head, lost her eye and had to undergo an extensive amount of surgery. That baby couldn’t been your son or daughter. Shouldn’t we be fighting causes that will help protect our families?
You want to talk about victims? That’s a victim. But if it was up to some of y’all, I feel like you’d rather defend the shooter for not being read his rights or some other technicality. This “I Am Troy Davis” stuff is nothing but propaganda. If you’re living a normal life, not carrying guns or selling drugs, if you work a job and have a family, then no, you aren’t Troy Davis. If you are, then you’re putting yourself into those positions and risking the consequences that come with it.
See, if you want to rally behind change, how about using a cause like our lax gun laws in this country? that’s a cause worth fighting. Not only that, but it’s a cause where you can actually make a difference. Instead, you choose to put all your energy into this one man who was a convicted criminal because his one life might’ve been unjustly taken, when you could be putting your efforts into reforming laws that could help save hundreds or thousands of truly innocent people by reforming laws that allow criminals to have free reign. To me, I don’t understand how you could put the rights of one man over the lives of thousands of others.
You want a cause? Open up your local newspaper tomorrow morning. You won’t need to skim through more than four pages to find plenty of worthy causes worth fighting for. Oh, but who cares about causes if we can’t say “I told you so” to the government. Those aren’t worth fighting for.
It was never about Troy Davis. It was never about the death penalty. It was never about one man’s life being unjustly taken. It was about revenge. A vey sad day for our generation.
Another well written post. Good to hear someone with a balanced point of view on the Troy Davis thing.
Posted by Tom | September 23, 2011, 11:45 amyour post makes sense but I feel like you only preach to the village idiots, the same way you highlight on your twitter all of the ridiculous tweets to Obama.. for me it is about doubt, regardless of how you feel about this person, regardless of who he was & what he was as a person. it’s widely reported that 7 out of 9 witnesses recanted their statements. does that mean anything? sure you can site all the other issues and all the other things wrong with the world that we can flip through our newspaper & read. but does any of that change the doubt?
Posted by ye | September 23, 2011, 11:47 amunfortunately, the majority of us are “the village idiots”. most of us are informed. obviously, this isn’t for those who are dedicated to the causes. but did you read my previous post? that was a proactive approach to ensuring change. it requires hard work, time and effort. but there’s almost no responses to that post. nope, because then people might actually be held accountable for their words.
i’m not getting into the “7 out of 9″ witnesses. unless you’re willing to look at both sides evenly and make a decision, it’s a pointless argument. besides, I’m not debating whether or not he should’ve been put to death. it’s irrelevant to this discussion.
Posted by culturevi | September 23, 2011, 12:59 pmBut why is it irrelevant? All concerns are relevant and just because your not being congratulated does not mean it’s pointless. Common man… You emphasized one life and one man, but that one life is a life worth fighting for. Utilizing his life story is the means to saving hundreds more. You can start with blogs and reading the newspaper but respect that others wish to begin their battle with Troy Davis…
Posted by Oh shut up | September 24, 2011, 9:15 pmway to go. Keep going.
Posted by anthonydavid | September 23, 2011, 12:52 pmAs you said, most of us are not Troy Davis…most of us are hard working individuals who never encounter the things Mr. Davis encountered. Most of us in our everyday lives have an opportunity to change someone else’s life by just stopping to care. Its our responsibility right now to prevent the next Troy Davis from ever entering the prison system.
Posted by Yevette Jackson | September 23, 2011, 1:06 pmi agree. we sensationalize criminals, hustlers and gangsters to the point where we act like the police and the government are the enemy. our cops, judges and politicians are FAR from perfect, but so are most of the people we rally behind.
you hit it right on the head tho. WE need to initiate change and accept responsibility by helping others and providing guidance. it all starts on an individual basis, not at the government level.
Posted by culturevi | September 23, 2011, 1:17 pmOh thank you God… Finally I knew if stuck around and kept the faith I would see some decency and positive reinforcement within your replies. I really don’t intend on disrespecting you (again) but I was beginning to feel that you were really attempting to guide your readers, by chastising and ridiculing them for their shortcomings…
I think we all need to consider “what if it were me”.. If it were me, I would not care if I’de never met you in my life, if you only mentioned my case during a lunch break conversation, or if you organized a public protest… Just mention me, because when the person you mentioned me to decides to mention me to another. Then your efforts and/or effortless mentioning was worth it, no matter how minut or how grand.
Posted by Oh shut up | September 24, 2011, 9:42 pmWithout our rights, we have no life, no free will. That’s what “Give me liberty or give me death” means.
To me, liberty and the idea of upholding our rights are much more important than anyone’s lives. Furthermore, one life is just as important as thousands. Those who are standing up for a single person, much like in the Troy Davis situation, could be making enough of a fuss to prevent it ever happening again to anyone.
Posted by Lizz | September 23, 2011, 7:28 pmI think I get what you’re saying, and I think I agree. My point here is it isn’t about this one case. We jumped on the bandwagon for two days and made a fuss, but why aren’t we fighting now – a week later – to save the next person? Because no celebrities are telling us to, that’s why.
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:14 pmMan on man! You’re on point again. My cousin whom I live with is a police officer here in Baltimore. A few weeks ago he and his sergeant had to lock up a lady who wouldn’t move her double parked car on a one way street. They asked her and her uncle who was standing outside talking to her through her car window, many times in a civil manner to move the car or just park. Eventually they had to remove her from her car and lock her up for several minor offenses. All the while this takes place in a crime stricken neighborhood. Once they began the process of locking her up random neighbors and passers-by came by to catch it on their cameras phones and my cousin asked them “where are their phones when someone is being shot or drugs are being sold” People are picking battles just to get revenge at authority and not the right reasons. I’ve never once spoke on the Troy Davis thing on my blog or my timeline because I know he’s not the only “alleged” innocent person to die and it began to feel like propaganda unfortunately. I’m glad you called people on their bs.
Posted by iquell | September 23, 2011, 7:34 pmthat’s a great example. see, people never look at the other side of things. they like to take one angle and consider that fact. people need to open their eyes and minds. thanks for sharing that.
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:23 pmI couldn’t have said it better. I was amazed at all the people rallying together to protest for a man I’m sure many people never even knew existed until a few days ago but could care less about things that happen in the world every day.
Posted by Robin | September 23, 2011, 9:02 pmYES! that’s my point! where’s all the outrage for all the other injustices????
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:24 pmI am left.. indifferent after reading this. When I researched Troy Davis I was skeptical about his innocence until I read the facts that were cited on MANY different websites, reports and news broadcasts. As I saw mentioned in one comment above, I rallied for this cause because there was overwhelming doubt within his case. They found NO GUN on him, 7 “witnesses” recanted their story AND there was no DNA linking him to the victim just shell casings (I’m sure you know already).
However, I do agree that change needs to happen within the COMMUNITY before we try to even address the government. I see that some were referring to Mr. Davis as a criminal involved with drugs and of course I’m not condoning those actions but sadly, that is the life that MOST black youth feel that they are dealt. However, I did not see those same individuals mentioning that he dropped out to help his sister AND went BACK to school to receive a diploma (an action that is typical within our world, casting judgement without willingness to help nor even sympathize on what the individual may have endured to get to that place; AS IF anyone was born to this world thinking/dreaming “I want to be a criminal one day!”).
As far as the government, I feel they are the most organized criminals we will ever know and they need to be stopped. But again you brought up an excellent point! We don’t need to worry about them or “revenge” we need to focus on how to better ourselves as a community, people, and as a humanity because THEY are ALWAYS going to stick together.
My complaint is that people are once again here PUBLICLY tearing down each other’s opinions and trying to dictate where one’s focus should be instead of joining together to complete MANY TASKS at the same time (big and small; political and local). I saw someone suggest that we should read about daily issues in the newspaper instead of events such as this. But along with enlightening myself about problems in my city I will also and ALWAYS question why this BLACK man was executed but the WHITE WOMAN (Casey Anthony) was let free [and I only mention her because both of their cases were recent and included murder; just different skin complexions.]
I just pray that majority of the general PUBLIC will wake up and realize that as long as we cast these loud, judgmental opinions while maintaining our closed eyes, the government will surely continue “executing” their many jobs for the general public.
Posted by Daphane | September 23, 2011, 10:02 pmDaphne I thank you for your insight!!! And to reiterate on earlier posts.. I think revenge has set in and it is pitiful that it has come to that. But did we ever consider that relentless examples and decades of unsuccessful effort for change..just to arrive here in 2011 and know that racism may still be of significance in such a case is simply disheartening. Some are just tired and sickened that this is still a likely aspect and when enough is enough sadly vengeance clutters persistence and motivation.
Posted by Oh shut up | September 24, 2011, 10:02 pmi would’ve liked to have replied to some of your earlier posts, but i think you had replies disabled.
i think the point I’ve been trying to drive home is this – does racism still exist? yes. but you’re not going to change it by complaining, nor will you change things by getting behind some random “hot topic” for two days on twitter. it takes actual work, which people don’t seem willing to put in.
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:29 pmwell casey anthony was found not guilty in a court of law, troy davis was found guilty and went through the appeals process in numerous courts. not really a great example. but thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:26 pmGreat article. I think people just don’t care for the most part, getting behind a cause for them means they would have to put effort into something. They would rather sit on twitter and see what their favorite celebrity is doing that day or indulge in whatever twitter-ossip is going on. My people African-Americans as a whole has gotten complacent since our parents & grand-parents fought for civil rights some 50-60 years ago. Maybe we will wake up soon. Before its too late.
Posted by icyjohnson | September 24, 2011, 8:55 pmEXACTLY! i just tweeted that. it’s up to each generation to fight to improve things for those who come after us.
Posted by culturevi | September 26, 2011, 6:36 pm