Subscribe
NewsOne Featured Video
CLOSE

Earlier this week, I stated that it might make sense for the family of Trayvon Martin to get off of the media circuit.  I saw no meaningful value in all of the television and radio appearances, since George Zimmerman has now been arrested and charged.  At this stage in the game, the only individuals who benefit from additional media coverage are those who make a living by highlighting (and at times exploiting) grief-stricken Mothers like Sybrina Fulton (the mother of Trayvon Martin).

After seeing that Fulton was somehow advised to appear on “The O’Reilly Factor,” I’ve become deeply concerned that someone is guiding Trayvon’s family reputation right off a cliff.

Ms. Fulton spoke on Thursday to none other than the most-famous bigot on earth, Bill O’Reilly. Why she appeared on the show, I have no idea.  The appearance is not going to make her son look better in the public eye.  The audience is not sympathetic to her cause.  Bill O’Reilly has never shown any legitimate concern for the well-being of African Americans, especially Black men.  She might have been better off speaking at a Klan rally, since there wouldn’t be more than two million people watching.

Being the racist bully that he is, O’Reilly pretended to sympathize with Ms. Fulton’s grief.  He then did what he does best:  go for the jugular and humiliate unsuspecting amateurs for all the world to see.

O’Reilly indirectly attacked Fulton for working with Al Sharpton, who has been accused of fanning the flames of racial hatred in America.   Of course, Ms. Fulton hasn’t been playing this game long enough to understand the complications that come with defending Al Sharpton.  Ms. Fulton’s close alliance with Sharpton has bolstered the media attention necessary to push for Zimmerman’s arrest, but surely undermines public sympathy for her cause.  Since Zimmerman has been arrested, she’d be best not to address the Sharpton issue anymore in public.

O’Reilly then went on to accuse Ms. Fulton of conspiring with Black civil rights figures to “convict George Zimmerman on TV.”

So, right before our very eyes, the man who shot an unarmed boy in cold blood has been transformed into a victim.

The egregious violation of Trayvon’s civil rights has now been trumped by the quest to protect the rights of the man who killed him.  Yes Ms. Fulton, Bill O’Reilly is a heinous human being who cares almost nothing for your son.  O’Reilly makes millions every year empowering those who want to see black boys in prison or dead.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney for Sabrina Fulton, would likely be verbally pimp slapped by every working attorney in America for making his client a part of a national media circus.  Some have accused the attorney of advising Fulton poorly last week, when she went onto national television and stated that she believed that Zimmerman shot her son by accident (a direct contradiction to the second -egree murder charge).   He is now serving his client up to the lion’s den of Fox News, a place where reality becomes so distorted that it is OK to joke about murdering the first Black president.

Perhaps Mr. Crump should now give his client a bottle of Vodka and let her tell her darkest secrets to George Zimmerman’s defense attorneys.  It appears that he has no problem leveraging the legitimate grief of a determined Mother to make himself into the next Johnny Cochran.   Maybe he sees the dollar signs from a big civil suit, I’m not sure.  Either way, Crump is doing the Martin family a huge disservice by exposing her so readily to her enemies, and I can see no logic behind this strategy.

This situation is getting messier by the second.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.