NAACP members and other hooded protesters march in memory of Trayvon Martin in Arlington, Texas. (Associated Press)
The Trayvon Martin case has captured national attention in the last week – more than 2.1 million people have signed a petition demanding that his alleged murderer, George Zimmerman, be arrested and tried for murder.
Outrage was sparked by the specific details of Martin’s death. The black teenager was returning from a convenience store trip and walking through a predominantly white neighborhood.
The soft-spoken seventeen year old was on the phone with his girlfriend,carrying two items he had purchased for his brother. He was hurrying home to his family, wearing a hooded sweatshirt. There is no evidence that he was threatening anyone or had the intention to commit violence.
His attacker, Zimmerman, the neighborhood’s self-appointed crime watcher, spotted Martin and found him intimidating. His scores of calls to police showed how he often took on the role of a cop-wannabe. Many note that he pursued “suspicious” youths – usually black males – loitering in the street. And that is the premise of Zimmerman’s action that most frustrates segments of the American politic who seek to practice tolerance, justice and unity.
The signal behind the Zimmerman case – and the minority of people who have come to defend him – indicates that America is nowhere near where it needs to be in terms of human rights and the defeat of racist stigmas. It signals that stereotypes are still active – and play a large role – in American society.
“Being black could turn an ordinary situation into a life-or-death moment … some … will look at you and see a thug – even if their only evidence is your skin. Their racism relates to larger anxieties and problems in America that you didn’t create. When someone is racist toward you – either because they’re profiled you or spit some slur or whatever – they are saying they have a problem. They are not speaking about you. They’re speaking about themselves and their deficiencies,” Touré, a black author writing in TIME Magazine about the implications of the Martin case for black males, said.
Touré notes the inherent prejudice in the Martin case. He encourages black teenagers to avoid ‘ghetto’ forms of clothing. He tells them to never resist arrest, even if they have never done anything wrong. He concludes that it is better to be safe than sorry.
The scarier question in the Zimmerman case – an event that happens more often than publicized – is: how many of us are influenced by stigmas that are entrenched in us by socialization and personal experience?
College recruiters largely overlooked Jeremy Lin because he was an Asian American. Many question the ability of non-religious politicians to make moral decisions. A large wage gap exists between women and men. Stigmas can affect the highest levels of government. A 2010 TIME survey, in the wake of the Park 51/Cordoba House project ‘controversy’ reported, “Twenty-eight percent of voters do not believe Muslims should be eligible to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. Nearly one-third of the country thinks adherents of Islam should be barred from running for President.” A country that was founded on the separation of church and state cannot stand the thought of an American Muslim in a position of power.
America destroyed the Native American way of life. It enslaved Africans for economic gain. It locked Japanese American citizens in interment camps. It stopped Chinese Americans from immigrating to this nation.
It placed “No Irish Need Apply” signs on its factories. It stopped Jewish escapees from entering the country during World War II. It initiated a plan called “Operation Wetback” to send Hispanics back to their ancestral homeland.
It thought John F. Kennedy would report to the Pope instead of the American people. It stopped women from enjoying equal opportunity and its benefits. And today it limits the liberties of homosexuals.
If this nation is to avoid more cases that share the same tone and logic of Trayvon Martin and his murder, we must renew our efforts to look beyond stigmas and stereotypes. A black man in ghetto-like clothing can be the most socially productive man in America. An Asian American can be horrible at math and science. A Hispanic could be a seventh-generation Texan. A Muslim could have served in the U.S. military and lost relatives on 9/11.
We should not assume who or what people are – no matter their culture, religion, social status or appearance. Otherwise, American history will continue to be a song on repeat, and I, for one, think this particular song is at least 236 years out of fashion.
Rahfin is the News Editor. He is a freshman majoring in mathematics, economics and public policy.
