ARTICLE WRITTEN FOR "THE EXAMINER"
There’s a personal ideology that I’ve subscribed to most of my adult life that may explain why in this day in age, racism continues to exist. In 2012, we still (for the most part) have to deal with the perception of who is REALLY the superior race…as if there was ever such a thing. In 2012, a young teen-aged boy was shot simply for being black as well as being in the wrong place at the wrong time. My heart goes out to Trayvon Martin’s parents as they struggle to cope with not only the loss of their child, but the very reason why they lost their child in the first place.
Racism is nothing new. Its existed and flourished for centuries and unfortunately American culture is steeped in it. Many of us know of the horrors that some races of people have been subjected to by other races of people. Racism at one time had been an acceptable way of life, and the very act of blatant discrimination was not only the norm, it was expected. Today, discrimination still exists, but it’s now cleverly masked. Our social conscious has been raised to the point where it is considered not only politically incorrect to assume the worst in our fellow man based solely on the color of his skin; it is in most circles deemed downright wrong and offensive. I say most circles because there is a portion of our population who will struggle to hold on to the idea that there is such a thing as racial superiority; that indeed, there are members of our population who are less deserving of the civil liberties that are afforded to most people of this nation.
I’ve always thought that man has an innate need to feel superior to his fellow man. There are people, (black, white and everything in between) that believe that one race of people are better than the other and that the particular race in question deserves every opportunity to thrive and advance. These same people do not believe that all men were created equal. In fact, they may use their own repressive tactics to support their particular beliefs. For instance, if you have one group of people that has been allowed to flourish and another that has not, the party that has thrived will then blame the disenfranchised party deeming them as lazy and non-deserving of wealth or prosperity. Somehow, the group of people that didn’t have access to equal education and opportunities are labeled that they are non-deserving because they are simply inferior. Yet the reason why they are being labeled inferior is because of the lack of equality and access to opportunities. It’s a vicious cycle.
Trayvon Martin appears to have been yet another victim of a hate crime…and we all know that hate crimes resonates deep within our culture igniting outrage and the need for change. We are reminded of how ugly we can be as a people, and we are left wondering why in this day in age, do we have to deal with the senseless death of another child, because like it or not, that’s what the Martin case has become. He is a reminder that attitudes that were prevalent throughout history still exist today. He is a reminder that until we start to see the best in our neighbors as opposed to the worst, racism will continue to exist. Attitudes need to change if we are to survive as a people because we know that, for the most part, there is only one race…the human race.
We need to understand that there is a place for everyone on this planet; whether we understand their culture or not, and that the only reason that a person should be denied access to peace, prosperity and happiness should be based on the content of their character (meaning, are you a threat to society as we know it) and not the color of their skin.
I don’t know what was going on in Zimmerman’s mind since I only know what the media has reported. By me saying this, I am by no means defending him. By the media’s account, he made assumptions which led to choices made that he can’t take back. Trayvon wasn’t just a black child…he was a child. His dreams will never be realized. We will never know what he would have become.
But if Zimmerman did kill this child because he assumed that he was up to no-good simply because he was black, then that says something about him as an individual as well as a portion of our society. It shows that some of us still have a long way to go as a people and that the need to feel better than our fellow man has to be abolished so that we can then move forward and dwell in the peace and harmony that I believe God had purposed for us to begin with.
Of course, the other piece of this highly emotionally charged case is the way that it is being handled which reflects the ideas and values that society may place on the lives of other races of people.
Still, the only thing that I know is that I could be Trayvon’s parents. So could you. We know that racism is taught. So what do you do? We learn from this and teach our children how to love instead of hate. We start there because we have to start somewhere. Otherwise, several months from now, we will be reading about another Trayvon Martin.
J.L. Whitehead
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