Stephen Henderson: Why isn't there more outrage when innocent kids die in Detroit?

[FrodosPet]

http://www.freep.com/article/20120325/COL33/203250689/Stephen-Henderson-Why-isn-t-there-more-outrage-when-innocent-kids-die-in-Detroit-

The images are so stark, all those people wearing hoodies in pictures for Trayvon Martin. Former Gov. Jennifer Granholm. The Miami Heat. Random friends and neighbors.

They're all trying to bring badly needed attention to a face-slapping injustice: A white man kills an innocent black teen he unnecessarily feared in an Orlando suburb, and police and prosecutors won't even take the shooter into custody, much less charge him.

I get it. I'm angry, too. And scared for kids like my son, who'll be a teenager soon enough -- and seen as a threat by some people.

But I'm also wondering: What have we done for Delric? Or Kade'jah? Or Je'Rean?

~ snip ~

[Loudmxr]

1. Because events are metaphors and symbols that capture the human heart.

As a writer, if you don't understand that, then go play heavy metal guitar in some dinky bar.

And trust me... don't sing.

[Sherman A1]

3. Perhaps the writer through his question is

speaking to the larger issues of gun violence, poverty, stereotyping and such. I certainly believe the writer "gets it."

[msongs]

2. gun owners killing kids is an every day thing in this country nt

[FrodosPet]

5. And there is NOTHING acceptable about that

A twelve year old girl killed because someone was mad at her mom over a cellphone is just as dead as Trayvon Martin. Is her death any less tragic, any more excusable, because she wasn't killed over the color of her skin?

I'm not discounting the tragedy in Florida. What saddens me is all the other mother's children who end up in morgues and are ignored because "that's how it is".

[djean111]

4. I think that, in this case,

it is the lunacy of Florida's "stand your ground" law that causes such reactions. Yes, innocent people get shot and killed all the time. But now it seems we have created a law that says you can shoot someone any time anywhere (used to be just in your house) and then claim self defense. Of course, no witnesses, just your claim. Basically people can now just roam around with a gun and legally murder. Add to that being able to carry guns in bars and restaurants and really anywhere - and we have effectively gone back to the wild west. And it seems to me that before this law, when someone killed a person, there was at least some sort of legal consequence. But now it is said that Zimmerman just thought the whole thing was inconsequential and would blow over. I think the outrage, or at least my outrage, is fueled by the realisation that now anyone in Florida can shoot me and then claim self-defense. Even if they call 911 and rant about me, based on my race, right before they kill me.
Of course for some, the answer is that we all should now carry guns. Shoot first, holler self-defense while shooting. Piece of cake. Pretty soon even a football rivalry in a bar can turn deadly.