A well-known, mainstream media-vetted college professor named Dr. Boyce Watkins states that it’s time for Trayvon Martin’s parents to “step to the side,” out of an apparent fear that “being honest” could negatively affect the race-baiting political agenda that Obama allies like Al Sharpton have carefully crafted.
Dr. Watkin’s stark admonishment, “Get her off the stage right now,” came in a recent blog post that shows the goal of the politicization of the Martin shooting is not truth or justice.
Who is Dr. Boyce Watkins? He’s a professor at Syracuse University and his website shows that he’s been a frequent guest on cable news shows, including CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. He is also a frequent speaker on black issues, and his site shows his speeches have earned high praise from well-known leaders of the resentment-driven civil rights movement, including Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Michael Eric Dyson.
In his bluntly-titled article, Note to Trayvon’s Mother: It’s Time for You to Step to the Side, Dr. Watkins referred to the recent Today Show appearance by Trayvon Masrtin’s mother where she said:
One of the things that I still believe in, a person should apologize when they are actually remorseful for what they’ve done. I believe it was an accident. I believe that it just got out of control and he couldn’t turn the clock back. I would ask him, did he know that that was a minor, that that was a teenager, and that he did not have a weapon?”
Dr. Watkin’s reaction is pretty stunning:
When I heard these words, I froze in my tracks. I couldn’t believe that Trayvon’s mother would make a statement that was in such stark contradiction to the charges being brought forth by the prosecutor. In fact, there’s a big part of me that wonders why she was on the show at all.
Note that Dr. Watkins is not concerned with the veracity of the statement but rather how the statement affects the politically motivated prosecution of George Zimmerman. In fact, later in the article Dr. Watkins explicitly says that even if the assessment of the shooting as an accident was honest, it should not of been said.
God bless Sybrina for being honest (if that is what she meant to say), but there are some things better left unsaid. For the mother of the victim to make a statement in national media that directly contradicts the efforts of the prosecution is nothing short of disastrous.
Which begs the question: disastrous to what? Being honest and telling the truth is certainly not disastrous to the goal of actual justice. However, justice is clearly not the goal of men like Sharpton and Watkins. In fact, as Watkins admits in the final paragraph of this piece, this really isn’t about Trayvon Martin at all. He says:
Trayvon’s parents have done their work and they’ve done it well. They’ve achieved the first steps toward justice for their son, and now it’s time for them to try to rebuild their lives in private. Rev. Sharpton has done a wonderful job of highlighting the racial dimensions of this highly unfortunate incident. At this point, the conversation about black men in the justice system must grow beyond Trayvon Martin, and the prosecution should be allowed to do its work. The family, as well all associated racial advocates, need to strategize in private, listen to the evidence and just stop talking.
In other words, thanks for letting the professional race-baiters like Al Sharpton use your son, but his death has now served our purpose, so please shut up.