Looking for a Cause
Everyone wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone wants to be recognized as a part of a group. Everyone ties themselves to something and wants to be passionate about it. "Because," they reason, "how can you really feel life if your emotions aren’t involved." This is a part of being human, I think.
This is why so many people made such a big deal about the Stanley "tookie" Williams execution in California. This is why people who didn’t even know him cried when he was executed for murdering four people. As a co-founder of the Crips, we know he was undoubtedly responsible for far more than just murdering four innocent people. You don’t become the leader of a gang like the Crips by only killing four people.
Was it really the execution of, what they thought was an innocent man that moved these people to hold rallies in support of this Stanley Williams? Hardly. A blind man could see through that B.S. Innocent men, women, and children are killed in a far more brutal fashion all over the world every day. Does it move most people to tears? Nope. I admit it, I read about murders and worse in the news everyday and don’t even give it a second thought. These things don’t just happen in Africa either. They happen in our own cities, yet, because there’s no rally or candle vigil, not many people care.
Is it wrong to want to feel that you are a part of something bigger than yourself? Of course not. But why be such a dumbass as to expend energy supporting a convicted criminal when there are people worth saving all around who never get a second look by most of us?
