After the verdict on George Zimmerman was revealed, the world, the people and the media took to social networks to vent.
All I saw was a lot of anger and a lot of people misinformed about what it means to be a person of colour. I saw many people claim that the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case was NOT about race.
What the hell was it about then? Skittles?
Perhaps it is the overuse of the race card that makes people think they should counter-argue that a racially motivated situation is not about race.
This certainly was.
The media tends to bring up race but at the same time, use it to construe stereotypes and discrimination in their broadcasts. This was about race as soon as Zimmerman spotted Trayvon in a hoodie. George Zimmerman saw him as a threat--- maybe because of how black males are portrayed in the media, in his social circle of the gated neighbourhood, or perhaps of his own previous experiences.
As much as I hate when people throw their race card, the WAY people viewed this case was always about race:
Geraldo claimed that the hoodie was an indicator of gangs, thugs and crime to people like Zimmerman and warned Latino and Black parents to keep their children from wearing hoodies. If it were about hoodies, how come I haven't been shot at or targeted before?
It wasn't about the hoodie. It was about being black. RACE.
Some believe that this wasn't about race because if Zimmerman was black, this whole case would not have been given that much attention because people feel as though black on black crime is all too common.
We could say that "If Zimmerman was black", "If Trayvon wasn't black"... But the fact is, Trayvon is black and Zimmerman is not. RACE.
Tweeters took their 140 characters and turned this trial into a criticism of how black males perform their race. They got into talking about rappers and their negative impact on black youths. They went in on how black mothers (because a lot of them are single), their sons grow up to glorify black men on TV. RACE.
We see history repeating itself all too often. A non-black citizen sees a black citizen and accuses him of wrongdoing, kills him, and gets away with it. Emmitt Till? RACE.
If a man sexually assaults a woman, is it not about gender and power? A man that only lived as a man attacked a woman that has ever only been a woman. Trayvon didn't just decided to be black that day. He has been consistently black and Zimmerman has consistently been an idiot. To deny race as a motivating factor in this case is to deny that Zimmerman believed he had the power to take away a life.
I've been told that being Asian, I have faced less discrimination and less oppression personally and historically because I'm not black.
Wake up call: Just as people can look at you and know you're black, people can look at me and know I'm Asian. They look at my last name and know I'm not white.
Putting a quantitative label on how much each race has endured discrimination and prejudice is demeaning...to them and to you.
As you may believe that the black community continually faces oppression until this day, so do all of the other "others". It is like saying, "What do you have to worry about? You're not black!"
If Asians are oppressed 20% of the time, and blacks are oppressed 50% of the time-- Isn't it still oppression? Do I feel less oppressed standing next to a black woman?
Why is it that race is the only social marker you think of when you think of oppression? I'm not arguing that being black, you're more or less mistreated by everyone else in the world. In fact, when it comes to certain crimes, we all know that law enforcement sees them as a "black problem"--- but only because they're, for the lack of a better word, dumbasses. Especially for black males doing nothing wrong and minding their own business doesn't even seem to keep them safe, as seen with Trayvon Martin.
But as a black person, don't label any other races as better off.
Don't give them that power.
A pack of skittles containing the colours of the rainbow was all Trayvon wanted, really. Yet, his wasn't safely packaged.
A family lost their son and a community lost one of their own. This case has torn hearts and destroyed what little grasp of safety many still cling onto. It has before and continues to do so each day.
If you believe that you and certain people can't co-exist in this world, I suggest you roll your bubble out onto a private island and continue your sad life in solitary.
So march on and let the world know that this is unacceptable. Continue to fight against racism and oppression.
This isn't about no damn skittles.
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