Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin Situation

So somehow, I got a late start on the Trayvon Martin story. I normally don’t pay attention to the TV news, nor do I regularly check the online national news sources. Part of the problem, which is definitely true in this case, is that the lines between fact and opinion are highly blurred. I find the various slants placed on “news” stories counter-productive, annoying, and insulting, but that’s for another day. 

But of course, with all the attention being paid to this story, it piqued my interest. I’ve come to a conclusion:  we’re NEVER going to know the full factual story of what happened. You know why? There weren’t any unbiased witnesses to the entire situation. From what I’ve read (in doing my best to weed out fact from opinion but probably doing a bad job of it), Trayvon, a 17-year old African-American boy, was wearing a hoodie, in the rain, at late dusk, walking through a gated community. He had gone to the local 7-11 to buy Skittles and an Arizona Ice Tea, and was walking back to his father’s fiancées house within the community at dusk. (Do I need to know that he bought Skittles? Really?) A local member of the gated community, George Zimmerman, an adult who appears white, but in fact is half-white and half-Latino (Peruvian) had taken it upon himself to act at the unofficial head of security in the neighborhood, and was cruising around in his vehicle, armed, on “patrol”. (The half-Latino fact was specifically pointed out in a few sources, as if that is supposed to have some bearing on the story). At one point he exited the vehicle, and then called 9-1-1 call to report a suspicious person. It is known that the 9-1-1 operator told him not to exit the vehicle – but of course, as stated, he had already exited the vehicle. He did not go back into the vehicle, and at some point there was a confrontation, though I haven’t found anywhere that definitively said who the initiator was, and who the escalator was, and supposedly there may have been some racial slurs used, and one of both parties may have been screaming for help.

The result, of course, is that Trayvon was shot and killed. George claimed he fired the gun in self-defense. The police took his statement and eventually he was left to go on his way. 

And then…outrage. 

(OK, I’m a little guilty of doing some slanted reporting. But I’m not pretending to be a news source.)

First, I’m not going to agree or disagree here whether outrage is necessary. A life was lost, which could have been prevented at several different times, regardless of the specifics of the circumstances. But I will question where the outrage is directed, and what the intended result of the outrage should be. Was it self-defense, as was claimed? Or an indictment on Florida’s version of self-defense, the Stand Your Ground law? Or unchecked racism? An error in judgment by one party? Or both parties? I don’t know.  I really don’t know.  But I think there needs to be some care taken not to go overboard and create some unintended consequences.

The two things I do know, for fact, are the following:

1. If no one was carrying a gun, no one would have been shot. My post here isn’t about gun control or gun laws though.
2. It is absolutely possible that racism, and/or racial profiling, played a role here. 

Yes. In the 21^st Century, racism still exists. (I’m saving racial profiling for another time.) The fact that racism is a definite possibility here means that racism still exists. And sadly, unfortunately, in my opinion, racism and other related isms, will never going away.

We, as a society, are obsessed with what separates us, what divides us.  Race, gender, economic status, weight, religion, what state you’re from, what football team you like, eating preferences, favorite color, whatever. And what is sad most of all is not that there are differences, but when these differences are used in justifying hated. And more often than not, that is something that is taught at a young age. Just as there are good people who are trying to raise their kids to love the person inside, there are people who are doing the opposite.  And there are probably even more people who are subconsciously doing that and are in denial.  Our hope of a truly united human race rests on people who can grasp, understand and overcome the hatreds they were taught and raised under. And if there is one or two people who can’t, then this cycle will continue to exist. 

In order to grasp and understand, one has to think. And that is the bottom line of these issues…people who make judgments, who then do not stop and think, and think critically, before acting. And we’re all prejudiced. But those of us to try hard to not let our prejudices get in the way of how to treat our fellow man in various different scenarios are the ones who have this figured out. For some people, in some cases, this may not be possible, and I’m really trying to be non-judgmental in that statement. Someone who has been raised by a staunch racist, who may have had something bad happen to them by a member of another race who is unfortunately acting just like the stereotype, may never have the capability of getting past their racism.

The other part of grasping and understanding and thinking critically is this:  every situation, every example, is at least slightly different enough, that we should try to avoid placing a label or a blanket statement or a predetermined reaction on it.  Is our view of a situation possible?  Probable? Definite? And would the right reaction change based on the change from possible to probable to definite?

So, what does this all mean? What I’ve been taught to do, and what I believe everyone needs to learn and remember is...

1. As I said, racism definitely exists. We need to call it out. We need to stay away from denial, even hopeful denial. However…
2. We need to be careful, when declaring someone or something racist, that we are definitely sure that is the case, and that we’re not guilty of being judgmental ourselves. For example, how do we know that George Zimmerman wouldn’t have acted the same way if he saw a white kid, in a typical skater punk outfit, which of course features a hoodie? But of course…
3. We need to recognize that we all are naturally prejudiced, based on our upbringing and our experience. For example, I was mugged at gunpoint by a black teen in a hoodie. Guess what? Whenever I see a black man in a hoodie in an uncertain situation, I of course hesitate. BUT…
4. We need to keep our natural prejudices in check when acting. After I hesitate, I don’t instantly react and call 9-1-1 and tell that cops that I found the guy who mugged me four years ago. Because guess why? I’m probably wearing a hoodie myself, which I tend to do in the winter on weekends. So, yes, some people in hoodies are trouble. Some aren’t. Which is why…
5. We need to figure out how our prejudices are formed. Unfortunately, there may be some truths to the source of our prejudices. A stereotype, in my long-standing opinion, wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t some truth. So, while we are calling racism out for what it is…
6. We also need to look within our own kind and call out those who fall into those negative stereotypes, especially intentionally.  And we need to fight those stereotypes. And more importantly…
7. We can’t play into the hands of someone those who are willing to oppress. 

Someone pointed out another news story of a lesser known black celebrity, who was driving in Brooklyn with three other black men, and they were pulled over in a routine safety check checkpoint. (These are done through NY State, where police will sit on a main road and on ramp, and check everyone’s inspection and registration, and randomly check insurance information and license information. I have driven through three in three years and never had an issue.) This man called racism because they were pulled over while, in his words, “they were driving around lawfully”. The police ran his license and plates and found that the driver had unpaid parking tickets and a suspended license. They were asked to exit the vehicle, and again we don’t have a full unbiased story, they were pepper sprayed and beaten. Was there racism at play? I’ll go as far as possibly. 

BUT…don’t pretend you were driving “lawfully” but on a suspended license. It takes away from your credibility, which unfortunately takes away from your potential claim of racism, and in worse case, further fuels a negative stereotype.  

I like to think that I’m a hopeful person with one eye focused on reality, so I do offer a realistic hope…the hope that over time, the amount of difference-related hatred, which manifests itself into an outwardly act, becomes less and less commonplace. But, until then, we all need understand our surroundings. We all need to understand what is out there, what is possible, what is probable, and think, and then act accordingly.  We all need to be responsible for ourselves.  

I have found myself over the years in places where I knew I had to be extra careful. In college, I was verbally attacked for months by people of my own race (which I’ve posted about in this blog). Years ago (I was probably 24) I was driving from Eastern PA to Western PA, taking back roads most of the way. I had to use a restroom so I stopped at a diner in Path Valley, PA. I am not exaggerating (ok, a little) when I say that the Lawrence Welk record screeched to a halt as I walked in. The stares I received made me hesitate about going in, but I did, carefully, ready for whatever might happen, and fortunately nothing did.   Not too long after that, my good friend’s car was stolen from way out in the Philly suburbs, and three days later, the car was found in the 1900 block of Diamond Street in North Philly. (Those who know Philly will probably shudder). We went to see what condition the car was in, and when we turned off of North Broad Street, we soon realized that we were WAY out of our league. The street had at least three entire blocks of gutted-out row homes, debris in the street, burnt out streetlights, etc. We didn’t stay there very long at all, again, fortunately nothing happened, but the entire time, again, we kept aware.  When I was mugged, and when the cops came, the first thing they asked was, “what did the suspect look like?” And it pained me to say, “young black kid, looked like he was 18 or so, wearing a black hoodie.” I hated it. Completely hated it. But it happened.

And this isn’t just a black-only issue. Not too long ago, a very disturbing YouTube video was being posted of a group of black teens (I believe in Chicago) who were physically attacking a single Oriental teen. The Oriental teen just curled up in the fetal position, tried to remain as non-confrontational as possible until the attack ended. I could only think that if he tried to fight back, things would have ended up much worse.

My point:  be aware. Don’t take any situation for granted without thinking it through. And I’m not saying be paranoid, but the way things should be may not necessarily be. And I find that sad.   But I do hope. Someday, maybe this lesson won’t be as necessary.