The Curious Case of more than just Trayvon Martin

The recent case of the murder of Treyvon Martin has been haunting me ever since I first heard about the case. How unbelievably sad it is to hear and read about this. It makes me feel so upset. The issue of racism, stereotyping and profiling is very serious and people of all races, backgrounds, and appearances have to deal with.

I am reminded of a lecture and subsequent discussions that I had in my Culture and Communication class a couple weeks back. The topic for the week was racism, and we read articles and had discussion on the matter. It was one of the most frustrating weeks I have had in that class for many reasons... As we had an open discussion of reactions to our readings I heard students in my class say how they felt like racism was not really an issue anymore. This was not just one student, it was multiple. And in my opinion there basis for believing this was not based in any sort of reality or fact. (Which made it even harder for me to swallow!)  They would say things along the lines of "Yeah, that [racism] used to me an issue in the past, but I don't really think it applies to us anymore." or "We've come such a long way, racism isn't that bad anymore." I sat there listening to many of my classmates make statements like these. I was shocked and upset. What world do they live in? How can they say that racism doesn't exist? Many questions and comments similar to these were being shouted in my mind. While I did speak up and express my disagreement, I knew I could not fully say everything I wanted to without blowing a gasket, and a rather large gasket at that! I was in one of those blood boiling, heart racing, could feel my face getting redder and redder, if I open my mouth again I will probably lose it and no one will know what to do with the crazy nut sitting on the third row moods and I needed to either say everything that I was thinking, or leave the room. Those were my options that I felt I had at the time. By the grace of God my professor chimed in and said that while she wanted to continue our discussion, we were over time and we needed to leave for the next class. Whew! A great option three!

Now back to the Trayvon Martin case, this is a prime example of a trigger happy, profiling, stereotyping, man who completely and totally overreacted and the consequence was murdering a young 17 year-old. A blatant example of race struggles. I realize that I was obviously not there in Florida when this happened, so my sources of information are our every so trusting media (insert sarcasm here) so I am doing my best to sift through it myself. Yet with that said, I feel like it is obvious to see what is going on.

We have a problem on our hands. Racism, stereotyping and profiling are the problem. And I feel like not enough people think it is. Therefore, there is more awareness and fighting that can be done to do something about it. Have you checked your personal biases and judgement when it comes to these areas lately? If not, I would encourage you to do so. I will admit, I sometimes react in ways that I am unhappy about when it comes to certain judgments, stereotyping, and profiling. The idea that people use "natural thought" as a scapegoat for stereotyping and profiling is repulsive. They fall back on that having these thoughts are somewhat natural, and they are okay. To some degree I think it is a natural reaction that happens, but I still struggle with it a lot, and on a very serious and deep level. I do not like to use the word hate, I feel like it is just too powerful and very strong, but I HATE racism. It literally makes me nauseous and very upset. I do not think racial or racist jokes are funny and I do not want to hear them.

At this point I feel like I am babbling, so I am going to post this, step away and come back and add some more thoughts later this weekend. I get too emotional and my brain does not stop when I get going thinking about this topic.

I do want to share with you some articles and videos that I have looked at in regard to the Trayvon Martin case. I encourage you to read them, watch them, and check your heart when it comes to racism. Where is it?


The Curious Case of Trayvon Martin
Trayvon Martin Furor Echoes British Campaign for Justice
Heat don hoodies after teen's death

Thanks for reading readers!