Hollywood actor Blair Underwood was caught being interviewed by CNN�s Piers Morgan while black. He made some profound statements once Morgan raised the subject of Trayvon Martin. Morgan has more or less been the network overseer when it comes to blacks and their freedom of opinions in pretty much the same mold as Fox�s Bill O�Reilly. Especially in the case of a young black male of 17 getting shot by an adult overgrown white Hispanic man with a gun. CNN�s overseer led off the Trayvon part of the discussion with �What do you say to your son, who�s walking home in that situation, if a George Zimmerman appears on the scene? What do you now say? Has it changed?�

Note: Morgan�s question �has it changed?� Has what changed? Notice this sly inquiry; overseer Morgan wants to know what black fathers (the few that are perceived to be remaining) are saying to their sons about them. Underwood, who is currently on Broadway starring opposite Nicole Ari Parker in a modern remake of �A Streetcar Named Desire,� and Morgan exchanged a few words about �hoodies� and then Underwood stated, �The point is, as I said to my son, you�re beautiful. And I always preface the word black with beautiful. Your beautiful black skin is a threat to some people. It is a sad reality, but it is a reality. It�s something my father told me. And I grew up in a house with middle-class privilege. I mean he was an Army officer, to a certain extent. And he said your presence is a political statement. My father told me that. I said that to my son.�

Underwood�s phrase �political statement� as just pertaining to black skin is my first time ever hearing of that and yet, it�s extremely believable. Most of us have lived this, blacks know what it�s like to be viewed as what Underwood called a �threat� from a variety of different angles. The biggest problem with these facts however, is not with whites or White America. Something is being handed down among men in the Underwood family that I fear is not taking place in many other black families. I�m not just referring to a lack of discussion about the �birds and the bees,� I�m talking about that other �facts of life� discussion that has much more to do with the blacks and the blues. By blues I don�t mean music, I�m talking the blue para-military uniforms associated with most police forces around the country.

Man-to-boy, father-to-son talk along these lines is rare today in a nation where 72% of black children are raised in single-parent households. Not only are most of the parents the mother, but some of the fathers and single black fathers have been cowering-back on talking to their sons or daughters on the subject of what to do when confronted by a racist. This, regardless of whether the racist of the moment is a typical average citizen, to someone white who is occupying a position of trust: Police Officer, School Teacher, or even Neighborhood Watchman.

I know that many of you now reading this, black and white want me to push for black parents to talk to their sons about confronting another black youth who stands to be a greater statistical or more frequent danger to his or her son. That�s part of the problem. Crime in general is an intramural sport; like most politics, it�s local. Even in cases where there is violence just between blacks, white judges, cops or laws written by myopic and detached white legislators always stand to impose backwards rulings. Perfect example is another case in Florida having to do with �Stand Your Ground� that the southern state�s news media has much more success in hiding than they did with the Trayvon Martin case. In fact way before George Zimmerman there was Marissa Alexander. This was a potentially life or death altercation between two people that the Florida Judicial System saw fit to initially and purposely make a bad call on, while patting themselves on the backs at what looks to be the final sentencing.

Like Zimmerman, Marissa held the gun, like Trayvon, she is black. Like Zimmerman she pulled the trigger, unlike Zimmerman she only fired to scare. There were no casualties except for probably her husband�s underwear. Easy call for Florida, she goes to jail. Marissa was known to have undergone spousal abuse for at least a year, and was cornered by her husband Rico Gray. On 8/1/10 she ran for the garage, fearing for her life. The door was jammed, so she grabbed a pistol, and as Gray was approaching she raised it over her head and pulled the trigger. She is about to do hard time for only hitting the ceiling (the Judge refused to grant her a retrial just days ago). Clearly this sister, a college graduate with no prior record, is not a killer in even the most remote sense of the word. Florida, on the other hand, has what they call a 10-20-Life Statues measure that allows their pro-redneck judges to cherry-pick who�s right and who�s wrong as much as Stand Your Ground does (I don�t have to tell you that they have been claiming Stand Your Ground doesn�t apply to her case even with Rico�s violent history of abuse and the circumstances). Just firing the pistol itself is a mandatory 20-year sentence (she could have received 25-to-life if she had aimed lower).

Reportedly there is no language in the law that distinguishes malice from fear. I don�t know Rico, but he seems to be an IGNANT MFer, he openly boasted from the witness stand during trial that he has five baby mamas and he regularly beats 4 of them, and Marissa was just 9 days removed from giving birth when this incident happened. In a Reality TV world, the Rico-man is king. Whereas he should be under the jail, he remains the beneficiary of some old white southern boys who view the educated black woman as the greater �threat� while he continues his Hustle and Flo�.

Obviously the father and son conversation that is handed down in the Underwood household was sorely missing in the Gray home. Skin color was skillfully used as a political statement in various versions of Stand Your Ground in numerous states, with lawmakers reportedly admitting this is a white man�s fantasy ruling that applies differently toward blacks. Not only won�t Rico be punished, there�s the possibility that he may never �get it.� Stand Your Ground was a repelling factor towards black skin, failing to protect a black woman against an abusive black man with a Hispanic name, months before it failed to protect Trayvon from an abusive white Hispanic man (I�m using �man� in both Rico and George�s case very loosely).

It behooves all black parents to stop pretending racism is over. Stop trying to use Christian dialogue to replace race dialogue (you can be both conscious and Christian at the same time you know). Turn off the TV and have that Black & Blue Talk with both your sons and daughters.

BlackCommentator.com Columnist Chris Stevenson is a syndicated columnist, his articles also appear on his blog; the Buffalo Bullet. Follow him on Twitter @pointblank009) and Facebook (pointblank009). Support his petition to permanently Abolish the Death Penalty in the US the Troy Davis Bill, HR92111. Click here to contact Mr. Stevenson.

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