They Don't Give a Fuck About Us!

I fought back tears watching the brutal murder of Chicago high school student Derrion Albert. The image of death visiting young members of our society is always tough to witness, yet it's something that I have seen far to often. Across America the faces of black youth eerily haunt the the television on a nightlybasis. While channel surfing you might come across the picture of a child smiling in a school photo and pause. It doesn't take long to realize what's behind that portrait; the pain of loss and suffering for another family tragically torn from one of its members. You might listen to the news reporter's commentary, remark about how sad it is, but in reality the loss of black life in this country has become so conventional that minutes later it is forgotten.

The loss of any life is grievous, but it is painfully clear that the lives of African Americans aren't important enough for the nation to care. I couldn't walk ten feet without hearing about the death of Yale grad student Annie Le. There was a national uproar over this murder that only calmed slightly when Kanye West rushed the stage at the VMAs.(You would've thought he killed the woman.) The fact of the matter is that social status, class, and race play a large role in what is important in our society. If you're rich, white, blond like Natalee Holloway, then your life is of more value to a nation that boasts it was built on equality.

Watching kids brutally murder another kid speaks a whole lot about what is going on in our communities. This story received more national attention not for the gruesome act that was caught on camera, but because Obama was pushing for an Olympic bid in his hometown. Just imagine if this kid had been a white student, or the homicide rates that are reaching two to three hundred in poor neighborhoods reached those heights in rich suburban areas. That world doesn't exist, and unfortunatley Derrion Albert, like Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, and Jasmine Lynn will be nothing more than a statistic.