Respect the laws in racial cases

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and others of their ilk must have worn out a number of mirrors as they daily prepare to be front and center to any camera they can find recording yet another injustice to someone who is black. Years ago, I respected Jackson’s and Sharpton’s stated goals to end racism in America. I now have total disdain for anything they do or say because their behavior is divisive and totally self-serving. They have acquired enough power and money that they feel they can force or overrule legal decisions by intimidation, i.e. the Trayvon Martin case and the considered decisions of the Police Chief of North Chicago and the Lake County prosecutors regarding the death of Darrin Hanna.

Apparently, Jackson and Sharpton think that laws existing now will not work as they wish, so they seek the media and rile everyone involved rather than let the parties in charge do due diligence before threatening to lead a march or do harm. If they were truly wanting to promote equality and respect for people of all races as well as the amendment additions in 1988 to the Fair Housing of 1968, they would have equally condemned the brutal beating of Matthew Owens in Mobile, Ala., by a group of black adults who then said, “Now that’s justice for Trayvon.”

Always couching any mistreatment as something racially motivated harms everyone and blurs a reasonable assessment of the situation and the proper punishment of the perpetrators according to the laws in existence. Am I supposed to bemoan anything I consider mistreatment of me to my largely Norwegian heritage?

Karen Goettsche

Inverness