I Am Sabrina Fulton

In 1976, my senior year in high school, our homecoming queen was African-American. I remember thinking that this is the future, a place where we all get along, where the color of your skin doesn't matter. If you would have told me that our country's racial problems would only get worse, I never would have believed you. Not for a minute.

It was a joy to dance at my older son's wedding, and to watch him hold his infant son in his arms for the very first time. Sabrina Fulton will never get to do anything like that. My younger son was a fashion conscious teenager. He wore skater shoes, tee shirts, hoodies, baseball caps and pants that hung low. Really, really, really low. He listened to rap and hip hop as he tried to make sense of his world. I watched with pride as he received his Bachelor's degree. He is 27 now, and next week he and I are going on a short vacation together, just the two of us. Sabrina Fulton will never get to do anything like that.

Go to Amazon and you can buy a shirt that says, "I am Trayvon Martin." President Obama commented that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin. My sons are white, but they were once 17-year-old young men just like Trayvon Martin. Last night I caught a glimpse on the television. There was Sabrina Fulton, remarkably composed and articulate, talking about her precious boy. My mother's heart broke a little for her. If George Zimmerman is ever charged and goes to trial, he as an American citizen has a right to a vigorous defense. That defense has already begun in the media. Casting aspersions on the victim is part of the whole process, however painful that is to Trayvon Martin's mother. And George Zimmerman has a mother, too, right? How horrible it must be to know that your child has taken a life.

Sabrina Fulton is enduring the worst pain a woman could ever experience, and she's doing it 24/7 while the whole world watches. I would like to apologize to her. I would like to say I am sorry. Sorry for her pain. Sorry for her loss. Sorry that I have done so little to make this country a better place for our children.

Susan