Opprobrium

Finally I have a place to use this word. It means harsh criticism or censure and can include public disgrace arising from someone's shameful conduct. I read this headline, Hoodies, signs, but little unrest, the day after the George Zimmerman verdict. I disagree. It should have read Hoodies, signs, and much deserved opprobrium for George Zimmerman and the rest of us that stand by and allow gun violence to continue to take the lives of children in this country every day. He may have received a not guilty verdict in our court of law but he still faces the much deserved opprobrium of the court of public opinion. My opprobrium isn’t about race, or racial profiling, or Angela Corey bringing the wrong charges against Zimmerman. I wasn’t going to blog about Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman either. I wasn't on the jury or in Sanford. I didn’t witness the struggle between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin that might have been self-defense or standing your ground yet in the end resulted in a death. But I am a mother (of children), a grandmother (of grandchildren), and a human being conflicted and filled with opprobrium and unrest because a child is dead. There is no justice for the victim regardless of whether you think the victim was Trayvon or George. It isn't about whether or not the jury was right or wrong because the jury has spoken. However, a child is dead and his death poses questions. What if the races were reversed? What if Zimmerman had stayed in his vehicle and waited for the police? What if there was no escalating fight between an unarmed teen and an armed adult? And the question I ask myself, what if Trayvon Martin was my child? We need to use our opprobrium to bring us together so we can answer these questions and work to prevent something like this from happening again.