What do you mean it's about time I got back here? That weekly blogging is not blogging at all?
That's just ... just ... OH THE HUMANITY!
It's not that I don't have anything to say. I mean, I can always find a way to stir the pot, even if I have to use a dried out ball point pen to do it. What I have discovered is that often times, when the thoughts are bumping into each other in my head, it's next to impossible to organize them enough to get them on paper ... errr ... screen!
This has been one of those weeks.
~*~
I continue to be disturbed by the Trayvon Martin murder, and not just about the circumstances surrounding his murder either. The racial divide (those who feel race/prejudice played a part vs. those who don't) is equally disturbing.
A survey this week of 3,006 adults across the United States found that 73 percent of blacks believe George Zimmerman would have been arrested if Trayvon was white, while only 33 percent of whites believed so. And 52 percent of white Americans polled said race made no difference in the case, while 85 percent of blacks believe that race played at least some roll in the way the events have unfolded thus far (via USA Today/Gallup).
Who's right? Well? I believe that many white folks have a very difficult time accepting that Trayvon's murder (and the way it has been handled) might have anything to do with race, because doing so would imply we might still have race issues in the United States, and then they'd have to change.
You'd have thought electing a black president would have quieted those people!
~*~
Speaking of race/prejudice, and the desire to sweep it under the rug, let me share a story with you. Well, actually THREE stories ... all that occurred within the last SIX days. They exhibit the very behaviors/attitudes that I believe led up to Trayvon's murder.
1. I read this on my tumblr dash after posting a link to an article titled Trayvon Martin, And When A Black Man Deserves To Die, written by Bomani Jones:
a somewhat response to the Trayvon blog…
... My mom always told me, if you dont want to be treated like a bum, dont look like one. Like it or not, Perception is reality to most people. Im not saying people should stop dressing a certain way or acting a certain way, but if you do, be prepared for how you will be treated by others. If your cool with that then have at it, but dont then turn around and complain about how you were treated because of how you looked, YOU made that choice. Before everyone jumps down my throat with all the myriad of rape scenarios, I dont not believe a woman wearing a short skirt is asking to be raped.
Soooo ... a woman wearing a short skirt is not asking to be raped, but an unarmed, black teenager wearing a hoodie is asking to be killed? Got it! I mean, everyone knows it's not okay to blame the rape victim for the crime committed against her, but apparently society is still okay with blaming the murder victim for the crime committed against him.
AWESOME!
2. Mike and I went to the laundromat Wednesday night. I know! Can you believe he actually does laundry with me? Anyway, while I was folding clothes - and Mike was across the way blowing his nose - a woman walked in. She was quite chit-chatty with me (Why do people always think I want to talk to them??) as she put her clothes in the drier. Once she got the drier going, she went back out to her car to wait.
Ten minutes later, the clothes were folded and Mike started taking them out to the car ... which just happened to be parked right next to Chatty Cathy. When he headed in the direction of of Chatty Cathy's car, she quickly locked her car doors and rested her elbow on the driver's door window ledge in order to shield her view from the ABMM (Angry Black Man Mike).
3. Yesterday, I got a call from the school regarding Cam. He had been suspended (again). This time due to his (WAY out of line) response to a teacher (white female) who accused him of "throwing gang signs" who wrote him up and sent him to the Dean's office. Cam insisted he was doing nothing more than showing a classmate the sign language alphabet after that same classmate had asked him if he knew it.
Far fetched? What if I told you the classmate corroborated Cam's story?
Still far fetched?
What if I told you the teacher rescinded her first write up (after learning of the classmates corroboration) and changed her story to "Cam was signing the alphabet with a classmate, and at the completion of the alphabet threw a gang sign"??
I kid you not.
One has to wonder if the same assumptions would have been made had a white, female, AP student been signing the alphabet to a classmate.
Then again, Cam was wearing a hoodie. Good thing his hood was not on his head or he might have been shot instead of suspended.
~*~
8 comments:
A number of years ago, a young unarmed black man was shot by the Cincinnati Police while attempting to evade arrest. Racially motivated or not, he had no reason to run, aside from a few unpaid traffic tickets, but he ran anyway. When directed to stop, he did not. He was wearing loose fitting pants, and at the end of a dark alley, when he tried to pull them up, it looked to the officer as if he were pulling a weapon.
I know the circumstances in the Trayvon case are very different, but this displays how a culture of paranoia can create bad situations for both sides. At the end of the day, the officer was acquitted and we had riots a la Rodney King. But honestly, if the boy hadn't have run, then he would be alive right now.
Phineas Delgado, I was with you until you stated, "But honestly, if the boy hadn't have run, then he would be alive right now."
See? That's a stretch for me.
First of all, you are talking about a demographic that has had (generally) a VERY different experience with law enforcement than ... say ... his white counterpart. Although you may not understand his reasons for running, they might be very well founded based on his experience.
Second, your assumption that if he hadn't run, "he would be alive right now" is not beyond question. You don't know that any more than I know that if Trayvon Martin had been wearing a polo shirt and plaid shorts, he would be alive right now.
And justifying a killing? When the victim was no reasonable threat? Yeah ... just no ...
What really amazes me about the Tayvon killing is how quickly it became a republican v democrat thing. At first, almost everyone wanted Zimmerman arrested. But, Fox News and The Daily Caller (Tucker Carlson) went to work reminding people (white conservatives) how scared they are of black teenagers and TA-DA! It's all Obama's fault! Weird.
Jay
Incidents like the Trayvon Martin tragedy seem to further divide the races and set us back.
I'm not sure I'd recognize gang signals if I saw them. But I've written up a few kids for flashing the Support Kony sign. We teachers are just mean ;)
Zimmerman claimed that he was part of Neighborhood Watch. His neighborhood wasn't part of the national organization. If your neighborhood wants to be part of the organization, the watch members receive training. The watch members NEVER carry weapons of any kind.
The Guardian Angels NEVER carry weapons of any kind when they patrol neighborhoods.
I believe that Trayvon would have been shot by Zimmerman if he were wearing plaid shorts and a polo. Zimmerman is an out-of-control vigilante who thought he was a big man with gun.
I believe he hasn't been arrested because Trayvon was black. I naively thought that this country was getting better with race relations considering a black president was elected. I think it's made things worse. The old white men are scared of the black man and are terrified because Obama is in charge. It's so ridiculous because the rest of the country is suffering.
The whole incident sucks and it certainly shows how divided our country still is and the gap has widened over the last 8 years or so...so sad
Some very close friends of mine made this video. I think it's very moving and I'm still a little pissed I wasn't available for the filming that day. Anyway, it came about from the Trayvon story and I think you will like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve7jniT7H3w&feature=player_embedded
There's only one real problem with accepting that there's still racial division in this great country. That would be to have folks admit that they have preconcieved notions about race, and what one person will do or say to another.
I have a very diverse group of friends, and even though I'm so white I can light up a dark room, you'd never know that I have very close friends that color the other end of the spectrum.
I actually had a police officer stop two of my friends and I while we were walking downtown a couple weeks ago, and asked them why they were trying to give me a hard time...
Why do people make assumptions like this, and then make even bigger asses of themselves by opening their mouths and spouting that garbage?
Granted, at least he was trying to do someting just in case things weren't what they seemed, but it was so stereotypical that it was really quite pathetic.
I agree with you Dana.
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