Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman. Still with me? I know we've heard those two names a lot lately, but there’s still a lot to be said
about the
verdict in the Zimmerman trial.
In a recent
Pew poll, respondents were asked whether they were satisfied with the
results of the case and whether the issue of race is receiving more attention
than it deserves. Conversely, they were asked if the case raises important
issues about race that need to be discussed. Of the respondents who were white,
most responded they were satisfied with the results, while the majority of
black respondents reported dissatisfaction with the results. Black respondents
were more likely to respond that they believed the case raised important issues
that need to be discussed while the majority white respondents said the issue
of race was getting more attention than it deserved.
So what does this tell us? It tells us that when we’re
getting tired of the discussion and thinking it’s been talked and written about
to death, we need to take a step back and think about where we’re coming from.
Who are we in the conversation? Are we someone who has felt the effects of
racism in its many forms? Or are we someone who has grown up with the privilege
of not having to think about our racial identity?
Race is an issue in this case because people who experience
racism are telling us there’s an issue. Shouldn't we take a step back and think
about that for a minute?
The thing
is, any one of us could have just as easily been George Zimmerman or
Trayvon Martin. In fact, most of us will
assume roles similar to those seen in this case. We will experience judgment
based on our appearance, and we will judge others based on their appearance. For
that very reason, we can’t dismiss the conversation about the Trayvon Martin
shooting and the subsequent trial. It isn't just a conversation about people of color or white people. It’s a conversation about the choices we
make as individuals and as a society. It’s about the moments when we look at
another person and decide who they are and what they can do to us based on snap
judgments and stereotypes.
If we aren't talking about this, we aren't acknowledging that a serious tragedy
happened. A young man is dead. The value of human life is too great not to examine why he’s dead, what led to his death and how to stop it from happening
again. The same snap judgments that George Zimmerman made about Trayvon Martin
could be the same you or I have made when we were walking down the street and
we started walking just a little bit faster because someone fit a certain
stereotype. The same judgments people have made about Trayvon Martin being a
troublemaker and a delinquent could be the same judgments thrown on you as a
young person who chooses to dress in a certain way, or even as a parent who would
allow it.
We need to
talk about these perceptions and judgments because, while they don’t seem that
big of a deal in our everyday lives, it only takes that perfect storm of a
moment when, you’re holding a gun and that profile goes up in your brain and your
fear or anger turns into a finger on the trigger.
So have the
conversation. Stick it out. Think about how you might have acted if you had been in George Zimmerman’s shoes. Then
think about how you can act differently in your own shoes every day.
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