Selective humanity

I should probably try to copyright this phrase because I think it will become popular one day. But today, it's my two word phrase for the country's reaction to the killings that occurred at an elementary school in Connecticut, where 26 children were brutally murdered. Selective humanity.

When I was 14 years old, my best friend was brutally murdered in her home across the street from mine, in what has remained a 30 year old "cold case". About a week after she was killed, a white 14 year old girl was also killed and her case was solved almost immediately. And though authorities had to look through 20 miles of forest to find her body, they not only did that, they found the murder weapon AND her killer. All in a week. Selective humanity.

And for the record, my friend's death was NOT a case of "no snitching" stupidity popular among some Black communities because: 1) I lived in an integrated community which consisted of lower income whites and middle/lower income Blacks. IMHO, the police simply didn't see it as a big enough issue to pursue it. At least that's what I thought at the time and still think today.

So when I watched the news about the tragedy in Connecticut, I immediately thought about my friend, then I thought about the record number of children killed in cities like Philly, Chicago, and DC. Then I thought to myself, maybe NOW someone will give a damn about ALL the kids in America killed due to gun violence this year.

Selective humanity.


*Images from Google image gallery. The young lady in the senior portrait photo is Phylicia Barnes, whose body was found 4 months after her disappearance from Baltimore, Maryland in 2011