LETTER BY DELVIN ARNELL
During the planning stages of SALT Newspaper we made it our priority to create something that could be enjoyed by all people without biases to race or color. While we pride ourselves in being three black males who are positive contributors to society, we never wanted our craft to become so “black” that it couldn’t reach the hearts and minds of those outside of our community. In a country where we’re told all men are created equal it’s really hard to digest the notion of equality when the system that govern our nation pour ignorance in our communities, divide our families, and shamelessly kill black men. The days of marching the streets and singing hymns are over. We must now awaken. In this day and age we are granted the right to place just officials into power through the act of voting, it is a shame we often pass up the opportunity to exercise this right.
As I sit back at watch my twitter explode about the injustices of our country’s judicial system, how many Troy Davis’ have there been and will further be before we begin to demand so type of reform? Looking into our own families how many of our loved ones have be subjected to the inequalities of the law? How many of us have been overly harassed by law enforcement because we fit the description? While I wholly and fully sympathize with Troy Davis supporters and family alike this story is but a repeat of what all blacks have been subject to since the construction of this disgusting system. While I can draw parallels to the Casey Anthony case….I’d just rather not. As a black man I can only ask those of my community to band together and support one another. We must learn to put our families and neighbors first and hold our communities in high regard. As I fight off the choked up feelings I get while I write this, I hope this case hit home for the Black community. Through all of our contributions to this country we are still treated as second class citizens. I don’t write this to cause build a divide against whites but to build a bond amongst ourselves.
God Bless.
