Gregory and Travis McMichael exhibit generational racism.

Slavery in America officially ended in 1865. That means there has been 155 years since the Emancipation Proclamation. I am 61 and my great grandmother who was born in 1900 told me that her own mother was a little girl when slavery ended. That makes me five generations removed from when Americans owned people as property. My great grandma’s mother would have been considered. a slave even though she was a child. Keeping this in mind, then Gregory McMichael age 64 and his son Travis 34 would logically be 5 and 6 generations removed from the time owning slaves was legal. These are the men who are being charged with shooting Ahmaud Aubrey because he was a black man jogging in their neighborhood.

When my great great grandmother was a little girl, McMichael’s great great great grandfather could have been a slave owner. Gregory McMichael would have grown up at the same time I did in integrated schools. This means that his son should have grown up in a society that was even more integrated. It’s possible that Gregory McMichael’s father and grandfather might have been involved with the KKK. Now I don’t know this for a fact. I am projecting a possible scenario for why a father and son felt it necessary to kill a black man who was not harming them. In 2020, after having a biracial president for 8 years it seems to have enflamed hatred instead of dispelling it. Many people cheered when Obama won and thought America had reached a turning point.

Behind the scenes however, there were probably those who did not like having a black man in the White House. Once Obama was out and Trump was in, some Americans may have felt that a kindred spirit was in charge. Once Trump began his hateful rhetoric with winks, nods, and dog whistles to white suoremacists this no doubt encouraged those on the frenges to become bold. Travis McMichael is the same age as my daughter who is my middle child. She had white friends in school and often went to their homes. One came over to our house. We had white neighbors and all the children got along. I wonder what Travis McMichael heard in his home and what type of school he went to?

I see black, white, Asian, Hispanic, and Arabic Americans in a daily basis, walking and driving through my neighborhood. Could Gregory McMichael have raised his son far away from people of color.? What was imparted through the generations to Gregory and what did he in turn share with his son? If Aubrey was indeed doing something wrong they could have called the police and allowed them to handle it. Why was so much hatred in their hearts that as a father and son, together they took a man’s life? If Travis has a son, I wonder what seeds he has planted in his own child? Generational racism can be broken. Love and tolerance can be planted instead of hate.

Why did the McMichael’s take the law into their own hands? To think that together this father and son had such evil in their hearts towards a black man is disturbing. Gregory McMichael did not have to pass down to his son, what had been passed down to him. There obviously were conversations where black men were discussed. Even if both men had encounters problems with black men, they did not have the right to take the life of a man who had done nothing to them. It’s frightening to think that if I jog in a certain neighborhood I could lose my life. It’s even more troubling to consider that if any of my male relatives encounter the police they could end up like George Floyd. My oldest son was stopped one night because of a busted taillight.

He was asked to step out of the car and before he knew it there were 3 police cars surrounding him. He said they were screaming at him to lift up his tongue and being overwhel he put his tongue out. Instead of calmly explaining that they wanted to see if he were hiding drugs under his tongue they made my nervous and they thought he was not complying. Some police officers are agreesive and treat all young black men as if they are drug dealers. My son has always worked 2 or 3 jobs at a time and had many family members to help him financially. He is a teacher, counselor and a preacher. He had 2 masters degrees and mentors young boys. He als is not the stereotypical big tall dark skinned black male that many are intimidated by. Even so in that night he was treated as if the police thought he was a thug.

I wish I knew why there is so much anymodtiy towards African American males. Why do so many white makes seem to hate them so? There are good and had people in all races. Everyone has someone they don’t get along with but you don’t take their life. I wonder what was going through the mind of the policeman who had his knee on George Floyd’s back. Why did he feel the need for such aggression? Why did the other officers not call him in his abusive behavior. Two of them were men of color as one was Asaisn American. and the other African American. To keep someone down like that for 8 minutes and 46 seconds is unbelievable. Why did Travis McMicharl shoot Ahmaud Aubrey 3 times unless he was shooting to kill. I wonder if Derick Chauvin had a racist father or if his actions were simply because he was a bad cop? It’s now being reported that he had 18 complaints against him. None of us ever knows for certain what is really going on in the mind of another. What is known now is that afte Travis McMichael murdered Aumhad Aubrey he used a racial slur. That’s a lot of hate and we know it goes back at least one generation to his father Gregory.