Standing Our Ground by Lucia Kay McBath & Rosemarie Robotham

Author:Lucia Kay McBath & Rosemarie Robotham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria / 37 Ink

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Jordan leaned against the windowsill in my bedroom, waiting for me as I searched in my closet for a sweater to put over my shoulders in church later that morning. A pale watercolor sun brushed the windowpane, outlining Jordan in light. He was visiting me in Atlanta for Easter weekend, and we were on our way to Sunday morning services at Trinity. I had no idea this would be my last Easter with my son, or that I would have only eight more months to be with him in physical form. The television was still on, tuned to a news station, and commentators were discussing Trayvon Martin. It was going on six weeks since law enforcement in Florida had declined to press charges against his killer.

“Mom, why did that man shoot Trayvon down?” Jordan asked me that morning. “Trayvon wasn’t doing anything but walking home.”

“I know, sweetie, I know.”

I picked up my Bible and hymnal and turned to go. Curtis was already downstairs waiting for us in the car. But Jordan wasn’t finished.

“I mean, why are they just gunning us down like animals?” he persisted.

I paused in the doorway and turned back to face my son, who hadn’t moved from the window.

“Baby,” I reminded him, “some people in this country will look at you and see only your skin color. They will not see you. They will not value your life. They won’t recognize what is special and beloved about you. That’s why I need you to always be vigilant about where you go, who you talk to, what you do. A lot of people out here don’t have reasonable conflict-resolution skills. If they’re upset with you, they’re not going to try to talk it out. They’ll just take out a gun and shoot you.”

Even though I had often cautioned Jordan in this way, on that Sunday, he wasn’t really hearing me.

“That’s not going to happen to me,” he declared, pounding his chest in a surge of sixteen-year-old bravado. “I can outrun a gun. I can wrestle the gun.”

“Jordan, this is serious. You’ve got to watch yourself.”

He shrugged, still focused on Trayvon, and the complete lack of reason behind his slaying. “I just don’t understand how the law allowed that man to do what he did,” he said. “What is wrong with the state of Florida?”

“Baby,” I said, “this isn’t only happening in Florida. This is happening all around the country. You have to be careful wherever you are.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me,” he said, teen boy bravado welling up in him again. “I can take care of myself.”

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