This will not be funny.  This is perfectly serious.

I did not stay glued to the television set throughout the Trayvon Martin investigation and trial.  But, I saw enough of it to draw some very strong conclusions.

Let me correct a misconception that’s all over Facebook today:  stand your ground was not an issue in this case.  That was not the defense.  The defense was simple self-defense.

The second solution suggested was to do away with self-defense.  A slight overreaction, don’t ya think?  Actually, nine times out of ten it is women and minorities who are helped by self defense laws.  Ask Bubba – he’ll tell you about at least 20 cases he’s defended on self defense — all of the minorities.

The third was to blame the jury.  (Heavy sigh.)  Great, now all you’re doing is discouraging good people from serving on juries for fear of being targeted as wrong-doers.

I have a few suggestions.

First of all, we have to pay juries better to allow minorities to participate.  In my county, the $24 jurors are paid can be extremely damaging to people who don’t get paid if they don’t work.  So, they don’t show up when summoned for jury duty, knowing nothing will happen to them if they don’t.  Why would the District Attorney’s office go hunt them down when the last thing a District Attorney wants – as least in my county – is minorities on jury panels.

But now comes the part you don’t want to hear.  If the Trayvon Martin case had a competent district attorney, a judge who at least seem to pay attention, and a police department who didn’t make up their minds before all the evidence was available, the outcome might have been different.

Surely I wasn’t the only person who noticed that the only minority in that courtroom was the victim and every damn person in that county is to blame for that.

It is like pulling teeth to get people to vote in non-Presidential years, when judges, DAs and sheriffs are elected.   Barack Obama can change the world, but who your local sheriff is will most certainly change your life.

I live in a majority minority county yet we elected a man to be sheriff who called the President of the United States of America, “that clown in Washington.”  Every single judge we have is white, old, and Republican with the exception of one, who is female.  Our District Attorney, also white, old and Republican, could not try his way out of a paper bag.

Elections have consequences.

Please do not vote just the top of your ballot.  Find out something about the candidates who decide if your child is safe walking home from the store with Skittles and ice tea.  They are all our children.  And until we can protect them, the job is not done.

One other small thing. George Zimmerman’s brother said that George will spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder.  Yeah, well, so will every black kid in America.  I figure that’s even so quit whining.

Okay, sermon over.