New Black Panther Making the Case for Intact Families at the University of Maryland?
When the lede in the University of Maryland Diamondback's story about an on-campus memorial for Trayvon Martin described students as being "disturbed by the statements guest speakers made near the end of the event", I thought it was safe to assume one of two things: Either someone had condemned the nation as universally racist or someone had insinuated that Martin wasn't completely devoid of blame in his own death. But I never expected this:
Crowd members booed one speaker who said Martin’s death was a byproduct of black fathers neglecting their children. Martin was visiting his father at the time of his death.
“Black boys are being raised by their mothers, taking on their characteristics,” said the speaker, a New Black Panther Party member.
This is an admittedly mixed bag. The "taking on their characteristics" line could either be a broad slap at women or a reasonable insight into what happens when young men lack the presence of a consistent father figure. It's hard to know without further context. And as for Martin's death being a "byproduct" of the breakdown of black families, there doesn't seem to be any evidence that would justify drawing such a straight line.
Still, it's amazing that you could have a member of a radical left-wing organization speak at a racially-charged event on a major college campus and make the case that the breakdown of black families is a serious concern. I suspect that a conservative making the same case would have been met with hand-drawn signs and blistering editorials in the university newspaper.
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