Stop the trail of tears

A number of our schools locally, as well as several Historically Black Colleges and Universities have been receiving threats, which have resulted in campus lock downs and restriction of movement around those campuses and communities.  Though many of the threats have been found to be hoaxes, they all must be taken seriously.  False accusations have left a trail of tears and tragic destruction throughout the history of our country.

Charles Stuart, a Boston man, had killed his wife Carol, then shot himself, and chose to claim that a black person had committed the crime.  Many black communities and individuals were harassed without legitimate cause.

Susan Smith, a South Carolina woman, pushed her car, with her children in it, into a body of water which resulted in their death.  She claimed there was a car jacking by a black man who took her children.  Many black communities and individuals were harassed without legitimate cause.

Carolyn Bryant, a Mississippi woman, worked in a store where no crime was committed.  She falsely claimed that a black teenager whistled at her.  Emmett Till was snatched from the home of relatives, beaten, brutalized and killed.  Many black communities and individuals have been harassed without legitimate cause.

Amy Cooper, a white woman, was in the park with an unleashed dog in a dog leashed area and came upon a black man who was birdwatching.  He asked her to leash the animal as it was required. She called 911 and began to act as though she was being threatened.  Many black communities and individuals have been harassed without legitimate cause. 

Norma Padgett, a Florida white woman, claimed that four black men had raped her and beaten her father.  After nearly 70 years, in 2019, Gov. Ron DeSantis pardoned The Groveland Four posthumously and dismissed the indictments of the two who had been killed by police while vacating the convictions of the two who went to trial. Many black communities and individuals have been harassed without legitimate cause.

The Central Park Exonerated Five, the Tulsa Race Massacre, The Rosewood Massacre and countless other situations were ones that resulted in tragedy and involved race as fuel.  

Some will try to explain it, but there will not be an acceptable explanation.

Some will try to deny it, but the evidence is clearly out there.

The number of threats made against our local schools since the beginning of the 25-26 academic year should not be taken lightly, nor should they be overreacted to that they cause innocent groups of people to be targeted.

Now, we find finger-pointing and blame without evidence on the increase from the local to the national and the international level.  The people who use words that incite people to unreasonable behavior should be mindful that those words carry consequences. If we continue to live this way, we will see that it will be more than just black communities and individuals being harassed without legitimate cause.