Groveland four pardon. It’s a start.
Todd Gore,
Clermont, FL
I’m a 57 year old white man living in Lake County Florida, just a few miles from Groveland and I’ve spent most of my life in the central Florida area. I think that it is important to acknowledge how much better things are now, compared to 1949. At the same time, it’s equally important to recognize the problems that still exist and the lingering affects of institutional injustices that went on for so many generations. Hopefully this pardon provides some amount of solace for the families of the Groveland Four. Unfortunately, with the passage of time there is no longer any ability to obtain justice for the Groveland Four themselves. The admission of wrong doing by officials in this community is important for those of us that are here now. As we attempt to move forward towards the community, state, and country that we are capable to being, we cannot forget where we came from not so very long ago. The injustices committed against the Groveland Four are just extreme examples of a shamefully unjust system that was so ingrained in every aspect of public, private, and commercial life, that few could see it ever really changing. As we celebrate finally having a public admission of the crimes committed against these four individuals, it is equally important to remain aware of injustices that were being committed every day against an oppressed minority. We have come far enough in the last 70 years that those of us that want to see it, can see a time when equal justice for all is a reality for everyone in this country. To get there we have to be diligent in our efforts to move forward and we have to be both honest and complete about our past. Right now, we need to be very strong in dealing with the resurgent voice of those that would take us back to 1949. While those with a mentality that would actually take us back to the disgusting practices, policies, and laws of the past are fairly small in number, their message is insidious and can spread like a cancer as it seeks to wedge it’s way into any small crack that develops between otherwise right thinking people.
Thank you for the opportunity to share some of my perspective!
Acknowledging whtie privilege — just the start.
Shannon Rose
Eugene, OR
Explore Identity
People have so much baggage about privilege. So often people act as though it’s the end of a conversation. That somehow acknowledging the privilege that comes with just being seen as white means that you didn’t work hard for what you have, or that you don’t deserve it. I find it strangely coincidental that that is the same judgement often used against programs like affirmative action. The idea that there is *actually* more privilege bestowed by virtue of non-white status – and a presumption of lazy freeloading – while simultaneously asserting no claim to any privilege of our own. Instead, it would be refreshing to see a conversation start with an acknowledgement of the privileges bestowed upon the group, ‘white people’ (while recognizing the dedication and determination of individuals within the group) and move beyond the stricture of who ‘deserves’ what they have.
Why not start at the beginning?
Susan Roedl
Minneapolis, MN
Like much of the country I’m sad and confused at the Trayvon Martin verdict. How can George Zimmerman claim self defense when he got out of his car to pursue his victim? Why did the trial center on the end of Zimmerman and Martin’s encounter and not the beginning? So much talk in our country about personal responsibility yet it’s application is very selective.
