From the start I knew I could not bear to watch the televised trial or listen to any of the reporting of Florida v. George Zimmerman. For me, the stage was set long before the "trial" but the results were solidified with the defense attorney's opening remarks--a joke. When the trial became the "Trayvon Martin Trial" it became pretty clear to me how we were painting the world (at least this corner of it). Semantics help us to create images, and they describe how we see the world and the world we create. We must always chose them carefully. Trayvon Martin should have never been on trial. But for many he was, and continues to be.
I think the most level statement I've read to date was the press release issued by Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center: a response to verdict in State of Florida v. George Zimmerman.
"Can we respect the jury verdict and still conclude that Zimmerman got away with killing Trayvon? I think so, even if we buy Zimmerman's story that Trayvon attacked him at some point. After all, who was responsible for initiating the tragic chain of events? Who was following whom? Who was carrying a gun? Who ignored the police urging that he stay in his car? Who thought that the other was one of 'them', someone about to get away with something?
The jury has spoken, and we can respect its conclusion that the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. But we cannot fail to speak out about the tragedy that occurred in Sanford, Florida on the night of February 26, 2012.
Was race at the heart of it?Ask yourself this question: If Zimmerman had seen a white youth walking in the rain that evening, would he have seen him as one of 'them,' someone about to get away with something?
We'll never really know.
Racial bias reverberates in our society like the primordial Big Bang. Some years ago, Rev. Jesse Jackson made the point in a dramatic way when he acknowledged that he feels a sense of relief when the footsteps he hears behind him in the dead of night turn out to belong to white feet. Social scientists who study our hidden biases make the same point in a more sober way with statistics that demonstrate that we are more likely to associate black people with negative words and imagery than we are white people. It's an association that devalues the humanity of black people -- particularly black youth like Trayvon Martin.
George Zimmerman probably saw race the night of February 26, 2012, like too many others would have. Had he not, Trayvon probably would be alive today.
The jury has spoken. Now, we must speak out against the systemic racism that still infects our society and distorts our perception of the world. And we must do something about it."
You can find it in its entirety here.
The second event also is another which highlights the cultural discord and our continuing inability to see others as simply "others". They are objects of amusement, even in the face of tragedy.
This a screen capture from an actual newscast reporting the names of the pilots in the Asiana crash earlier this month. There are a number of accounts on how this happened. No one seems to be in any hurry to resolve the matter. Only to absolve themselves and their organizations of any guilt.
This looks to me like one of those inappropriate e-mails generated by folks around a water cooler or at a local bar. It looks to me like one of those horrid e-mails that you get that leaves you wondering how you got on this list. Only this one... this one... got out of hand! This one actually made the air.
I cannot admit to you how many times I have received similarly racist emails. After deleting them, I can't admit to you how many times I have not taken the right next step. I didn't call and have a conversation about the inappropriateness of the e-mail. I didn't trust that the person/s who sent me the e-mail had enough humanity to understand why their missile was inappropriate. I thought as little of them as they thought of the "object" of their ridicule! That won't happen again.
Believe it or not, there are real conversations taking place across this country. All with one single agenda: creating communities where we can all live together. They are happening in large groups and small groups. They are taking place in large cities and small hamlets.
I'm not sure where we humans are on the evolutionary timeline. ( I can also respect that many people don't believe there is an evolutionary timeline.) I don't think we have forever to get it right: to get our greed in check; our self-absortion and all of the other ways of being that constantly motivate us to exploit our home planet and each other. We either learn to live together in mutual respect sharing the resources provided, or we die... together. Playing out our existence as if we truly believed that we cannot surpass our lower desire to remain Neanderthals. It's as simple and as complex as that.
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