Dr. Imani Perry, Princeton professor, it’s YOUR fault that your sons cried at the George Zimmerman verdict
Update: I sent an email to Dr. Perry with the link to this blog entry, and I told her, “I welcome you to show this to your students and anyone else whom you think might like to read it and comment on it.”
Dr. Perry wrote back to me and said, “I will be reporting you to the police for harassment.”
Princeton professor Dr. Imani Perry recently wrote:
“My two sons, bright, creative and kind African American boys, aged 7 and 9, both wept when they heard that George Zimmerman had been acquitted. They were afraid he, or others like him, might come for them next.”
“I did not anticipate that their young lives would be as much defined by the tragedies of the murder and execution of Trayvon Martin and Troy Davis, as by the historic era of the first African American president. They already know the brutal truth of racial inequality, and that they are called to wage the battle against it, just as their forefathers and mothers.”
“I believe that if children are guided honestly through the reality of the world in which they live, it will help them build resilience.”
“I am training my sons to develop resilience in the face of the racial injustice.”
Dr. Perry, why would your sons worry that Zimmerman might “come for them next”?
Is it because they are planning to break Zimmerman’s nose, give him two black eyes, and smash his head against the concrete?
Or, is it because you lied to them, and falsely told them that Zimmerman “murdered” and “executed” Trayvon Martin?
If you believe that children should be “guided honestly through the reality of the world,” then why did you teach your own children that Martin was “murdered” and “executed,” when the medical evidence and witnesses called by the prosecution showed that Martin had violently assaulted Zimmerman, and that Zimmerman killed Martin in self defense?
Dr. Perry, did you teach your children about Roderick Scott? Scott is a black man in Florida who, in 2009, shot and killed an unarmed white teenager. A jury found Scott to be not guilty of murder because Scott had killed the teen in self defense.
Scott was found not guilty for the same reason that Zimmerman was found not guilty. Both killings were done in self defense. But while you taught your children that the Zimmerman verdict was proof of racism, I very much doubt that you told them anything at all about the Scott verdict.
If you want your sons to have “resilience in the face of the racial injustice,” then why did you scare them by falsely telling them that the Zimmerman verdict was the result of racism, instead of reassuring them by truthfully telling them what pretty much every legal scholar who has closely followed the case has said – that the verdict was the result of the fact that Zimmerman acted in self defense?
Dr. Perry, did you teach your sons that a year before Zimmerman killed Martin, Zimmerman had spoken out against the son of a white police lieutenant who had violently beaten a black homeless man? I’m guessing that you did not tell your sons about this, because it contradicts your bogus claim that Zimmerman is a racist.
Did you teach your sons that before Zimmerman killed Martin, Zimmerman had tutored black children for free? I’m guessing that you did not.
Did you tell your sons that before Martin was killed, a search of his backpack at his school showed it to contain a dozen pieces of women’s jewelry, including silver wedding rings, and earrings with diamonds, as well as a screwdriver, which is often used as a burglary tool? I doubt you told them this, because it gives credibility to Zimmerman’s claim on the 911 call that Martin was acting suspiciously. Martin may have been casing houses when Zimmerman saw him.
Did you tell your sons that Martin’s autopsy showed traces of marijuana in his system? I doubt you told them this, because it verifies Zimmerman’s claim on the 911 call that Martin was acting like he was on drugs.
In the real world, Martin was a burglar, and he used illegal drugs, and it’s quite possible that he was casing houses when Zimmerman observed him.
Dr. Perry, since you want your sons to know “the brutal truth” and to be “guided honestly through the reality of the world,” I was wondering if you have ever told them that 93% of black murder victims are murdered by other blacks?
Dr. Perry, your sons did not cry because of the Zimmerman verdict. Instead, they cried because you taught them to see racism where it does not exist. You taught them to have sympathy for a violent teenage thug who brutally beat a man’s head against the concrete. It’s your fault that your sons cried. It’s not George Zimmerman’s fault. It’s not the jury’s fault. It’s YOUR fault.
Dr. Perry, I hope that for your sons’ own happiness, when they go to college, they get degrees in subjects such as math, engineering, computer programming, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, medicine, music, art, and literature, and avoid at all costs anything to do with “African American studies,” a subject which seems intent on making people feel like helpless victims, instead of empowered, intelligent human beings.
Update: I sent an email to Dr. Perry with the link to this blog entry, and I told her, “I welcome you to show this to your students and anyone else whom you think might like to read it and comment on it.”
Dr. Perry wrote back to me and said, “I will be reporting you to the police for harassment.”