Father Michael Pfleger likens Zimmerman acquittal to murder of Emmett Till

 

 

 

 

In a very emotionally charged worship service, Father Michael L. Pfleger Sunday called on the U.S. Justice Department to open a Civil Rights case against recently acquitted George Zimmerman and likened the results of the Trayvon Martin case to the murder of Emmett Till 58-years ago—both murderers got off Scott-free.

 

Saying racism has once again raised its ugly head, Father Pfleger said the acquittal of Zimmerman, accused of murdering the 17-year-old teen, is an indictment against all black men in America.

 

Pfleger called on President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney Eric Holder to not only open a civil rights case against  Zimmerman but to design a new Civil Rights bill and to restore the voting rights the U.S. Supreme Court recently watered down by striking down a key section of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The ruling allows some states to challenge and change the laws or voting rules activists say will make it more difficult for minorities to vote.

 

Father Pfleger also called on Obama and congress to declare violence a public health issue so that the funding resources for stemming violence will follow.

 

Flanked by the men in his church including children holding signs that read, “I AM TRAYVON MARTIN” AND “TRAYVON MARTIN Murdered Again By Injustice System,” Pfleger said he is angry, disappointed and disgusted over the not guilty verdict of Zimmerman and said this case is far from over.

 

With the choir, led by Cinque Cullar, singing,“What About the Children,” Father Pfleger said, “Like many of you, I’m angry. I’m disappointed. I’m disgusted and yet like many of you, I’m not shocked. Unfortunately, this is the America that we know all too well.“

 

Referring to the acquittal of Zimmerman, Pflegersaid, “Yesterday, we watched the justice system fail miserably again. TrayvonMartin was murdered again by an injustice system.

 

“The most basic and the most fundamental of civilrights is the right to life. That was violated late night again and unfortunately it happens across America every day. America is full of Trayvon Martin’s,” Pfleger said.

 

Saying the facts of this case are clear, Pfleger said, “George Zimmerman, armed with a gun, stalked and then took the life of Trayvon Martin” a teenager going to his father’s home.

 

“The murder of Trayvon Martin reminds us of America’s travesty that race, whether we want to acknowledge it or not, is still a defining and crippling reality in America. It reminds us that though we are 150 years past the Emancipation Proclamation Black men are still not free in America,” Pfleger stated.


“It reminds us that the dream of Dr. King articulated 50-years ago next monthin Washington, D.C. is still an unrealized nightmare.

 

“Dr. King said 50-years ago  ‘I pray that one day my children and all children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,’ but 50 years later, skin is still a reality of judgment in the United States of America.

 

“Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American male was profiled. He was walking from a 7-11 store to his home…not at midnight, not at 1, 2 or 3 a.m. but at 7 p.m. He was armed with Skittles and an ice tea. He had a right to go to the store, and he had a right to walk back home not wondering whether he would be murdered on the way home from his dad’shouse,” Pfleger stated.

 

“George Zimmerman chose not only to profile Trayvon but armed with a gun chose to stalk him and follow him even after he was told go back to your car. Do not follow him.

 

“The acquittal of George Zimmerman tells us we haven’t come too far from the 1955 murder of another young man, Emmett Till.  His murderers went free. It tells us that we have not moved very far from the murder of Medgar Evers. His murderers went free. It tells us that the justice system is yet flawed and broken,”charged Pfleger.

 

Saying someone from the media called him and askedif he had asked his Facebook friends to pray that Zimmerman gets convicted andquestioned how he could do that being a minister, Pfleger answered, “Because Ihave lost faith in the justice system in America,” having seen similar cases over the years.

 

“So I prayed for an intervention into an unjust system to call justice where justice I was afraid would not happen.

 

“The murder of Trayvon Martin tells us that race and racism is still alive that racism is in the very DNA of the American society. The acquittal of George Zimmerman sends a message….”

 

Pfleger called up a mother who had called him henight before. She told him, “America just sent my 15-year-old son a message that his life does not matter…. I’m afraid for my son’s life,” the mother told Pfleger.

 

“We can’t keep as a church calling our brothers on the street and telling our young brothers on the street value your life, value your brother’s life. How do we keep doing that while society says their life has no value while very day society tells our young men we don’t care about you?

 

“Some of the angry calls I received last night after I spoke to the media said I was an agitator and that I throw race into this issue. I am not throwing race into this issue. America has thrown race into this issue for 200 years and we’re tired of race being the foundation of injustice in America. I refuse to ignore the race in this issue. We are not ina post racial era. In fact racism has a second breath in America today and last night it got new oxygen,” he bellowed.

 

Scoffing at his critics who accuse him of injecting racism into the Zimmerman case, Pfleger said, “Look at the facts. Who are the most incarcerated? Who are the most unemployed? Who is the majority living inpoverty? Who are majority of the 2.5 million in prisons across America? Who are the majority of the 2,863 sitting in Cook County Jail waiting to be charged? Where are the poorest performing schools in America? Where is the lack of access and opportunity most in America and where are our sons most at risk in America”?

 

Pfleger turned to Exodus 1:15 and talked about the King of Egypt who told the Hebrew midwife when they help deliver the child, if it is a boy kill it but allow girls to live. “The king sent a message that the  life of young men was of no value, no significance and no worth and was to be destroyed and killed.

 

“The midwives raised up and said ‘no.’ They refused to take the lives of their sons. They refused to be co-conspirators of the murder of the males and that’s what we’re going to have to do in today’s society. We must rise up and say no. You will not kill our sons….

 

“We must not be co-conspirators to a system that is trying to wipe out our sons. We must rise up to the structure of an unjust system that puts our sons at risk,” Pfleger said.

 

Referring to Exodus 1:15, Pfleger told the story about helping the Hebrew women in childbirth. If it’s a boy, kill it. If it is a girl, keep her. It was to be destroyed or killed, but the midwives raised up and the midwife said, ‘no.’ They refused to take the lives of their sons. They refused to be co-conspirators of the male, and that is what we’re going to have to do. We must rise up and say, ‘no, you will not kill our sons.’”


“We must not be co-conspirators to a system that is trying to wipe out our sons. We must rise up to the structure of an unjust system that puts our son sat risk.

 

“Michael Vick went to prison for dog-fighting, but a man went free for killing a black youth and all of America rose up against Michael Vick. Well, where is America rising up about the killing of our children?

 

“We must rise up and join with the NAACP. I call today on President Obama and Eric Holder to open a civil rights case against George Zimmerman…racial profiling. I call President Obama and the congress to design a new civil rights and restore voting rights in the country. I call on President Obama and the congress to rise up and declare violence as a public health issuein America because…resources will come to stop it,” he bellowed.

 

“Rise up, America. Face the sin of racism and levelthe unequal playing field. Let’s cleanse hatred, bigotry and prejudice in thebloodline of America where it is…affirmed every day in America.”

 

But, Father Pfleger talked about the other side ofthat coin. “ We must rise up and stop this senseless violence in our owncommunities because when we allow violence to continue in our ownneighborhoods, it gives acceptance for others to not value our children.”

 

As an example, Pfleger last night Robert Zimmerman,the brother of George Zimmerman was interviewed on CNN. He was asked about theblack youth killing each other and no one is being held responsible. Pflegersaid Robert Zimmerman responded, “It goes on in Chicago every day and no one’sheld responsible.

 

“We must not allow violence to continue in our neighborhood and justify our children’s worthlessness. Just like Paula Deen justified herself when we use the ‘n’ word. When we shoot each other, we justify George Zimmerman because we say we don’t value.

 

“We must rise up. Stop the violence. We must stopthe violence. We must not kill each other and not let anybody else kill us either,” Pfleger said. “We must rise up and fight the proliferation of guns.”

 

Referring to state and federal lawmakers, Pfleger said they “have now given permission and now there is no commonsense gun laws. Now America arms herself and arms countless of George Zimmerman’s all over America. It creates an atmosphere where guns become the first lines of offense.

 

“I fear as guns are now going to be allowed al lover the state of Illinois and all around this country that it’s going to be an open season on black people being shot in America.

 

“We must stop the gun proliferation, and we must rise up strong, bold, courageous and unwavering, but we must rise up in peace. We must raise up in non-violence. Violence must never be an option. We must never allow evil to pull us down to the lowest common denominator,” he said. 

 

“At the center of our Christian faith is the conviction that there is a God, a God who is able to exceedingly and abundantly more than we can imagine. The God we serve is not weak, and he is not incompetent.

 

“Each day the sun, the moon and the earth are held in place by this God. If this God can hold the universe, he can hold us. He’s greater than evil. He is more palpable than every demon and every devil. God is able to take us to every attack, to every injustice, every trial, every difficulty of life and give us victory in the midst of it all,” said Pfleger.

 

“Each of us…face circumstances individually and corporately as a human family…circumstances that seek to shatter our dreams, paralyze our hopes and our future.” Quoting Dr. King, Pfleger said, “Each of us faces experiences of life that seek to turn our days of joy into sorrow and brings periods of stormy floods and severe droughts. That is what happened last night in America, but the core of our faith is knowing without a question or a doubt that God is able.

 

“God is able to give us an inner equilibrium that enables us to stand when we’ve done all that we can do. The winds will blow,the storms will rise, but my God…that allows me to stand because I’m built on a solid rock. We have peace that allows us to stand, and we believe that we shall have victory over every trial, over every circumstance and over every situation.”

 

He said Dr. King reminded us “that we can’t do this without faith” he says will help deal with temporary trials “and move to a lasting victory.”

 

In honor of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, Oscar Romero, Dr. Martin Luther King and Trayvon Martin, Pfleger said, “in honor of all of the unknown’s that have been shot in the night, hung from the trees, murdered in the back woods…let us commit today to non-violently but courageously rising up. We must no longer allow America’s lip service to the guarantees of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but justice will not be achieved without radical changes of the structure of this unequal society. Justice and equality are neither automatic nor are they inevitable. Rather,every step towards the goal of justice will require sacrifice, will require suffering, will require struggle, and will require passion tenacity of committed individuals.

 

“If we’re going to change society, we can no longer give a damn of what people think of us. We can no longer care about who likes us and who doesn’t like us…but we care only about justice, and truth and freedom for generations yet unborn. Freedom.

 

“We look back over the annals of history and it’s always been expense. Freedom has always demanded suffering and self-denial. Just ask Nelson Mandela who lies now in a bed clinging for life and spent 27-years in prison because he would not compromise and come out early.

 

“This is no time for apathy. This is no time for complacency. This is the time for vigorous, positive action. This is the time when we must rise up and fight injustice wherever it raises its ugly head.

 

“In government, in the marketplace, in brokenstructures or in our own blocks, we must refuse to be silent because as Dr.King, my mentor taught us, when we re silent about matters that are important,we begin the end of our life….

 

“Understand, too much is at stake. Our children…ourfuture…the credibility of the church…our very faith is at stake. We have a responsibility to rise up, speak up, stand up and fight peacefully and non-violently but courageously and boldly.

 

“Do not get weary of fighting, pushing and demanding because God is able….” Once again quoting his mentor, Dr. King, Pfleger said, “The arc of the Moral Universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

 

“Guns can’t kill what we’ve got. Violence can’t stop what we got. Dogs and fire hoses can’t end what we got. Hate can’t destroy what we got. There is nothing stronger than a moral stand in truth; so we will fight and I know that one day justice will flow like a river and righteousness like a mighty stream because we are Trayvon Martin and we will break down every Jericho Wall and cross every Red Sea until righteousness reins in every corner for every man, woman and child in this universe.”

 

Pfleger said Dr. King taught him “when there isinjustice, business as usual must be interrupted that things just can’t go as normal when injustice raises its head.”

 

He asked his congregation to join him at 79^thand Racine “and symbolically stand in the street and stop traffic…that says forat least for this moment business as usual cannot continue while injustice raises its head,” Pfleger said. “Let’s interrupt hatred, violence and injustices.”

 

To demonstrate his outrage over the acquittal ofZimmerman and the “unfair” judicial system, Father Pfleger led his congregationout of the church and onto 79^th andRacine where he blocked traffic singing and praying for justice not just forthe Trayvon family but for the healing of America.

 

They filed out of church each armed with black andwhite signs that read: “I AM TRAYVON MARTIN” on one side and on the flip side “TRAYVON MARTIN MURDERED AGAIN BY INJUSTICE  SYSTEM”!

 

Slowly walking down Racine to 79^th Streets, the congregation followed Father Pfleger singing “Praised God,” and “Amazing Grace.” Her head lifted to the heavens, one woman prayed aloud saying, “Lord, we need our children.” Pfleger led a prayer that was echoed by his parishioners, “We stand here symbolically and interrupt business as usual.

 

“We ask you God stretch down your hand and use each of us from this day on to” fight against violence, hatred or injustice that “raises its ugly head. We will not be still. We will not be silent. We will interrupt evil. We are all Trayvon Martin. We will not rest, and we will not be silent.  We commit to you, God. We can’t do it without you, God, but weknow that in you all things are possible… Reign down justice, now.”

 

Earlier, in a very dramatic performance, Rickey Harris, who heads the Saint Sabina “Spirit of David” praise dancers, paid a special tribute to Trayvon Martin and his family. In front of the altar, sat a hooded statue representing Martin that included the items Martin carried when Zimmerman fatally shot him…a can of ice tea and a box of Skittles.

Chinta Strausberg is a Journalist of more than 33-years, a former political reporter and a current PCC Network talk show host. You can e-mail Strausberg at: Chintabernie@aol.com.