In light of the ruling in the Dunn trial, black parents everywhere are hugging their kids a little closer tonight.
You may have heard of Black Twitter by now. Black Twitter is just regular Twitter, but black people supposedly use it "differently" than white people do. As a means of Magic Negro communication I suppose. Kinda like jungle drums only with tablets, laptops and cell phones. You know those modern Negroes, they'll always find a way to talk about white people even though we're really not supposed to be noticing race.
Do I sound bitter?
Anyway, I'll leave you a few links to explore the original Slate article that couldn't help pointing out that black people are "different" and communicate "differently." Then there was the subsequent annoyance from black people in general that comes with having been reduced to being defined by a brown blird and blue hat. And eventually, there was the embrace and acceptance that came to redefine Black Twitter as it is today. Which again, is still just the regular Twitter. I don't want you think someone created a Twitter servant's entrance or separate water fountain or anything.
But Black Twitter is a bit solemn tonight. In regards to the Dunn trial, general comments from white folks online seem to feel that the verdicts received are the best we're gonna get. Some are claiming prosecutorial over-reach is to blame. Trying to convict a white man of first degree murder of a black teenager was ridiculous. Should have gone second-degree. It was just a bad sports call.
In the hearts of black people everywhere, the guilty verdicts for attempted murder are not enough. It's tantamount to saying that if you're going to shoot at black people, you can only be found guilty if you don't miss. Shoot to kill or we just can't believe you were afraid enough.
It's almost as if the jury punished him for only killing one, not all of the black males who were there.
Do I sound bitter?
Black Twitter is solemn tonight. The postings under the hashtag #DangerousBlackKids are adorable, tongue-in-cheek and heart breaking. Posted with the wry patience and bitter flavor that comes with acknowledging white hatred and the injustice that comes along with it.
It speaks to the depth of love that black people feel for our children. The love that is so often denied to even exist by conservative pundits and politician who constantly make the claim that black parents do very little for their children at all.
And to add insult to injury, the very white jurisprudence system sanctions the killing of our children.
Black Twitter is solemn tonight. But there's a quiet love and strength and expression of purpose: To have black children and all children recognized as human beings before all else; not just as canon fodder in the political fight to have "Stand Your Ground Laws" proved as the modern day license to kill.
