Justice? For who?
A young, pretty white school teacher runs over four black children, killing two of them in Tampa Bay last year and gets three years of house arrest.
I've never been one to play a race card because I tend to think the majority of people I know - regardless of skin color - value each other. I tend to peeshaw people who say that jury verdicts or a judge's ruling isn't tainted by the hue of one's skin. But, this case makes me wonder. It really, truly does. Or is it a statement about children? We can always have more, so who cares if we kill two of them. No big loss. Do we, as a society, not value the lives of our most innocent and most precious? I wonder.
I admire their mother. She said "It's not about a black and white thing. It's about my kids."
Porter, a former Muller Elementary School dance teacher, received two years of house arrest and three years of probation, to be served consecutively, for leaving the scene of an accident involving death. This woman ran these four children over as they crossed the street from a playground. I have seen kids run out into traffic, but it had to take skill to hit all four of them. She was driving a little Toyota Echo at 38 mph when she hit the kids in the crosswalk and drove away. She never stopped to see if they were ok. The 3-year-old was stuck under her car for about 150 feet while she drove away.
This made me so sick to read. I can't imagine how awful it would be to do that to someone and then not to even stop and see if the kids were ok, to try and help them. She was a teacher for God's sake. Did she have no love for children? An acquaintance I know in town hit a child who ran in front of his car. It wasn't his fault and the child was fortunately not seriously injured. But, he stopped to help the child and he was troubled by the incident. This woman taught school and dance the next day. Hello.
Who got justice here? Jennifer Porter? It certainly wasn't Bryant Wilkins, age 13. Aquina Wilkins, age 8. Durontae Caldwell, age 3. LaJuan Davis, age 2. Bryant and Durontae died.
I've never been one to play a race card because I tend to think the majority of people I know - regardless of skin color - value each other. I tend to peeshaw people who say that jury verdicts or a judge's ruling isn't tainted by the hue of one's skin. But, this case makes me wonder. It really, truly does. Or is it a statement about children? We can always have more, so who cares if we kill two of them. No big loss. Do we, as a society, not value the lives of our most innocent and most precious? I wonder.
I admire their mother. She said "It's not about a black and white thing. It's about my kids."
Porter, a former Muller Elementary School dance teacher, received two years of house arrest and three years of probation, to be served consecutively, for leaving the scene of an accident involving death. This woman ran these four children over as they crossed the street from a playground. I have seen kids run out into traffic, but it had to take skill to hit all four of them. She was driving a little Toyota Echo at 38 mph when she hit the kids in the crosswalk and drove away. She never stopped to see if they were ok. The 3-year-old was stuck under her car for about 150 feet while she drove away.
This made me so sick to read. I can't imagine how awful it would be to do that to someone and then not to even stop and see if the kids were ok, to try and help them. She was a teacher for God's sake. Did she have no love for children? An acquaintance I know in town hit a child who ran in front of his car. It wasn't his fault and the child was fortunately not seriously injured. But, he stopped to help the child and he was troubled by the incident. This woman taught school and dance the next day. Hello.
Who got justice here? Jennifer Porter? It certainly wasn't Bryant Wilkins, age 13. Aquina Wilkins, age 8. Durontae Caldwell, age 3. LaJuan Davis, age 2. Bryant and Durontae died.
3 Comments:
At 11:20 AM, November 10, 2005,
Random and Odd said…
Yeah, this one got my blood boiling too. I am pissed about the black white thing, but a huge part is the anger I have for the mother.
She left 3 VERY young kids with a 13 year old to supervise. Even under the BEST circumstances it would be difficult to handle that situation.
arg!
At 11:30 AM, November 10, 2005,
Anonymous said…
To hit them and then keep going? Excuse me? I can't hit a squirrel without stopping and crying my head off.
At 1:07 PM, November 10, 2005,
Army of Mom said…
LabKat- I'm the same way.
Kristine- I thought about that, too, and while I wouldn't let my children do that, I have many friends who let their 12-year-olds babysit kids from 10 to 2 at the playground down the street from their home. I would never do it. Had the bitch simply stopped and tended to the injured children - would have still died - but would have been a horrible, tragic accident. Driving off with the kid stuck under your car ... *shuddering*
Plus, we must be the only moms around who still keep our kids under our watchful eye. Kids in my neighborhood PLAY in the street regularly with no adult anywhere around. I keep waiting for one of them to get hit by a car. That's when I go to the cops and say, listen, these kids are always in the street unsupervised, it was a matter of time before someone ran them over.
but I hear what you're saying.
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