As I have immersed myself more and more into political activism or organizing I think I have opened my eyes to see the extremely sad reality of the planet. We all know this is not a perfect world, but do we understand how imperfect it is? Or is it that we understand but we choose to ignore and continue our repetitive fast-paced routines.
In regards to the Trayvon case, I think it is more than just possible racial profiling. It is a whole culture that has been imbedded in our brains through a mixed bag of past history, misinformation, and political and capitalist oppression. We base our emotions on the immediate ideas around us instead of exploring outside our communities to form our own opinions.
The Trayvon case is sadder than just losing a minor to racial profiling. It’s a small tidbit of what is going around the entire world with various races. It’s interesting that one of the articles on Zimmerman stated that he tutored two African-American children despite having to travel to a “dangerous” neighborhood. Dangerous neighborhoods are created again through misinformation, or lack of it, combined with the oppression that has resulted from politics, capitalism, and flat out racism. It is why people of the same race or culture stick together in the same neighborhoods. Why would they venture out and be beaten and let down by discrimination. It is this type of mentality on both sides of the fence that create racial profiling and it’s hard to breakdown and digest. Why would we think negatively of anyone just based on skin color? You don’t. The negativity comes from a long history of ill defined superiority.
In the case if Zimmerman, would it be surprising that his emotions led to racial profiling despite his good deeds and community service work. No, it should not be surprising to anyone because this is the culture we have created and this is the culture we continue to fuel. This is the way we are raising our children to feel afraid or superior instead of teaching a level of understanding on why things are the way they are and to fight to chnage it. What’s even sadder is that people would rather stay quiet and be fueled by their ignorance or misconception than to get out and seek the actual truth. This is what has given birth to activism because there is more to this complex situation than what meets the eye and the problem is bigger than just racial profiling. It’s an inappropriate culture that has been instilled in this country for centuries and all people of all races, genders, ages, and cultures feel it. This case looked outside of the picture is so much more heartbreaking than you think.
In regards to the Trayvon case, I think it is more than just possible racial profiling. It is a whole culture that has been imbedded in our brains through a mixed bag of past history, misinformation, and political and capitalist oppression. We base our emotions on the immediate ideas around us instead of exploring outside our communities to form our own opinions.
The Trayvon case is sadder than just losing a minor to racial profiling. It’s a small tidbit of what is going around the entire world with various races. It’s interesting that one of the articles on Zimmerman stated that he tutored two African-American children despite having to travel to a “dangerous” neighborhood. Dangerous neighborhoods are created again through misinformation, or lack of it, combined with the oppression that has resulted from politics, capitalism, and flat out racism. It is why people of the same race or culture stick together in the same neighborhoods. Why would they venture out and be beaten and let down by discrimination. It is this type of mentality on both sides of the fence that create racial profiling and it’s hard to breakdown and digest. Why would we think negatively of anyone just based on skin color? You don’t. The negativity comes from a long history of ill defined superiority.
In the case if Zimmerman, would it be surprising that his emotions led to racial profiling despite his good deeds and community service work. No, it should not be surprising to anyone because this is the culture we have created and this is the culture we continue to fuel. This is the way we are raising our children to feel afraid or superior instead of teaching a level of understanding on why things are the way they are and to fight to chnage it. What’s even sadder is that people would rather stay quiet and be fueled by their ignorance or misconception than to get out and seek the actual truth. This is what has given birth to activism because there is more to this complex situation than what meets the eye and the problem is bigger than just racial profiling. It’s an inappropriate culture that has been instilled in this country for centuries and all people of all races, genders, ages, and cultures feel it. This case looked outside of the picture is so much more heartbreaking than you think.
RSS Feed