The absolutely senseless cold blooded murder of five year old Cannon Hinnant is truly egregious. As a father, few things can get me this upset. I can not imagine the gut wrenching feeling Cannon’s own father felt as he looked his son’s murderer in the eyes, both wanting to seek revenge and wanting to stay by his son in his final moments. What this family has experienced is every persons worst nightmare.
And then your son’s tragic death becomes a pawn in a racist narrative to discredit Black Lives Matter.
Over the last few days I’ve seen countless examples of folks sharing “where’s the media attention on this?” or “when it’s a white kid there aren’t any protests in the streets!”
First, I always find it so odd when people will share a literal news article with the title, “where’s the media’s coverage of this!” Right there. It is right there! You just shared it. So don’t pretend that this isn’t getting coverage. However, let’s address a reality: not all murders get national attention. For every family that experiences a tragic loss, that pain is real and deep. There are an average of 41 murders per day in America. Not every one of them will be reported by Anderson Cooper. That does not diminish the tragedy!
The reason that the senseless murder of a five year old captured media attention is because of how horrific and rare it is. What sparked the outrage that caused protests in the streets over police brutality was how common it is. That is an important distinction.
The question of, “where’s the protests” falls apart when you realize that an immediate manhunt went out to find the murderer, he was captured within 24 hours, is sitting in jail, and will likely die behind bars. Juxtaposed that to the fact that those that murdered Breonna Taylor are still at large.
We protest injustice, not just tragedy.
My heart grieves deeply for the parents of Cannon. This is a pain that will never go away and a horrific moment they will have to relive both in the courtroom and in the questions that Cannon’s sisters will ask. They will be haunted by this moment for the rest of their lives. As community, and in the spirit of loving our neighbor, we should pour love and support around them.
Stop using Cannon to justify hate.
Nathan Monk is the author of Chasing the Mouse, Charity Means Love, and his first novel The Miracle is out now. You can also support his writing through Patreon here.
