An imperfect verdict.

The mother of Jordan Davis says that she will pray for her son's killer in an eloquent and passionate press conference, after her son's killer was found not guilty of his murder by a jury made up mostly of his peers.


She said that she felt sorry for him that he will have to spend the rest of his life being remorseful for her son's killing.


I watched this trial from the start, and I wish I could say that I am surprised.


The lives of young black men in this country (especially in places like Florida) just doesn't matter that much. Sadly, some will argue, that young black males themselves are to blame for this. They kill each other in such record numbers that others feel like when a young black life is lost it is no more meaningful than the death of a family pet.


But this is a chicken and egg question; because when the justice system finds it necessary to treat the killers of young black men differently than they do others, we all see it. And we all know the deal. The system sends a message to all of us.


"But Field, the man is looking at 60-90 years in jail, what more do you want?"


Well yes. But this is because Mr. Dunn chose to fire a second volley of shots into the SUV on that fateful night. He was charged and convicted of attempted murder of the other boys who actually lived. That is why he is going to probably spend the rest of his life in prison, not because he shot an innocent young black male in cold blood.


Following the logic of the verdict, if he had shot and killed all the young men in the car that night he would be a free man.


Angela Corey, the incompetent state attorney in Florida, says that her office is going to retry Mr. Dunn on the first degree murder charge.


I hope that she does. Because the parents of this young man deserve closure.   


I am listening to Don Lemon (My current HNOTD) go off on CNN about the verdict and the fact that Mr. Dunn was not found guilty of gunning down Jordan Davis. "This is absolutely about race, and it makes me angry" he says. "It's time for some real talk about the elephant in the room and what type of message this sends to society at large."


The irony of this is, of course, that folks like Lemon contributed to this climate in our country. He did by constantly declaring that folks who see race in everything doth protest too much.


Tonight, I think that even Don will agree that maybe we need to protest a little more.


"We are so grateful for the charges that have been brought against him,.... "We are so grateful for the truth. We are so grateful that the jurors were able to understand the common sense of it all."


You might be "grateful" Ms. McBath, but I am not. Because in the very near future, there will be another mother grieving the loss of her son just like you.