The Rev. Deborah Dean-Ware | Guest Column

OPINION: Running for his life ... standing our ground against the violence against blacks

Posted on Sun, Mar 25, 2012 : 6:38 a.m.

Trayvon Martin, 17, was slain in the town of Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice. Neighborhood crime-watch captain George Zimmerman claimed self-defense and has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating. Since the slaying, a portrait has emerged of Martin as a laid-back young man who loved sports, was extremely close to his father, liked to crack jokes with friends and, according to a lawyer for his family, had never been in trouble with the law.

Photo courtesy of Martin Family

Editor’s note: The Rev. Dean-Ware said she planned on leading worship Sunday in a hoodie, jeans and sneakers, and has asked her congregation at The Church of the Good Shepherd, United Church of Christ, to follow suit. Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie when he was fatally shot.

We have been hearing a lot this last week about a "Stand Your Ground" law as it pertains to George Zimmerman and his shooting of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Zimmerman claims self defense even though there is mounting evidence that he actively pursued Trayvon and there still has been no arrest.

We hear a lot of support for "Standing One's Ground" laws that are all over the country. We hear about the "right to defend oneself" under the guise of the 2nd Amendment. But I can't get the image of that poor child, walking home with a bag of Skittles and flirting with his girlfriend on the phone, suddenly "running for his life" and pleading for someone to help him.

Rev. Deborah Dean-Ware

The 9-1-1 tapes are chilling -- they are bone chilling. One has Zimmerman calmly speaking to the dispatcher when he begins to follow Trayvon and then the dispatcher warns him not to follow the "suspicious" (read: black) individual. The other one is a neighbor who is hiding upstairs because she is terrified by the shrieks for help (which are audible on the tape), the single gunshot and then the silence, the deadly silence.

That poor child, lying there alone and dying while people cowered in their apartments in fear. Trayvon -- the latest of the thousands over hundreds of years who have "run for their lives” because they are not white. Sadly, Trayvon Martin won't be the "last."

I am an educated, white, middle-class woman. Walking down the street, I have never been seen as "suspicious." Nobody has ever called 911 because they thought I was up to no good. I have never been the target of the "Stand Your Ground" laws - I do not represent the images in people's heads when they talk about "the right to defend themselves" with deadly force.

I move through this world with a freedom that Trayvon never experienced, but a freedom he deserved solely for being a beloved Child of God. This freedom is what God desires for all of God's children. I believe God aches for these lost ones, the ones who fall because of hatred and systemic racism.

Michael M. Krop Senior High School students carry signs and chant during a rally demanding justice for Trayvon Martin on Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla. Martin was slain in the town of Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26 in a shooting that has set off a nationwide furor over race and justice. Neighborhood crime-watch captain George Zimmerman claimed self-defense and has not been arrested, though state and federal authorities are still investigating.

AP Photo/Alan Diaz

don't know about you, but I ache for Trayvon and for the thousands of other unnamed black men and women who have run for their lives -- run from slave traders, run from slave owners, run from lynch mobs, run from vigilantes, run from police with batons and water hoses. I thank God for all the thousands who courageously "Stood Their Ground" for justice and fairness and freedom, even when it cost them their lives.

So how do we, this day, "Stand Our Ground" against the violence directed toward people of color? How do we embody the deep and abiding love that God has for all citizens of this world, for each and every child whom God claims as "beloved?" How do we begin to deconstruct the systems of our society that has institutionalized racism, sexism, heterosexism?

Well, I believe we begin by grieving together, and praying together, and crying together. We witness to the preciousness of Trayvon's life. We turn to God's word again as a reminder of God's call to justice. We acknowledge fearlessly that we haven't always lived into this call for justice.

It is time to "Stand Our Ground" and remember that it is Holy Ground.

The Rev. Deborah Dean-Ware is the new pastor of The Church of the Good Shepherd, United Church of Christ, an intentionally multi-racial, multi-cultural, open and affirming, just peace, whole earth, accessible to all congregation in Ann Arbor. You may read her blog at pastordebponders.wordpress.com/.Â