Horrendous killings. Trayvon Martin. Chris Lane. Everyone’s been talking about them. Reverend Al Sharpton has been vocal about his concern that an individual’s race is of paramount importance when determining fairness within the U.S. judicial system. He went to great lengths to ensure that Trayvon Martin’s mother received adequate attention to justifiably voice outrage regarding the conditions surrounding the death of her son, as viewed from the following video.
In the aftermath of the ruthless killing of Australian baseball player, Christopher Lane, where the perpetrators were enticed into such activity solely in the name of “fun” several news sources have questioned Al Sharpton’s behaviors in not outright shaming those responsible for pulling the trigger. Al Sharpton has been under significant pressure from other news sources such as Fox and CNN as shown below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UsBBVghZwM
Al Sharpton has been criticized by other news programs not for what he has done, but primarily for what he has not done. Mr. Sharpton has not vocally chastised the three boys, all younger than 18, involved in the shooting of a man randomly jogging in their vicinity for no purpose beyond sport. In response to these concerns, Reverend Sharpton shared his reasoning.
“I protest when I’m called in and when there’s an injustice. The three were arrested, there was nothing to protest. The system worked there, and racial? Not only did the police not say it was racial, one of the three were white,” Al Sharpton said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtYfRIfzbFs
Al Sharpton has not spoken out against the age of the boys involved in the crime with one of the perpetrators being 16 while another is just 15. Nor does it appear that other news sources are questioning why he is not. Has the gender of the individuals been scrutinized? The type of music enjoyed? Does any of this really matter? Why isn’t the commentary focused around what has driven a society to enable individuals not legally old enough to drive a car feel entitled to claim an unknown human life?