Posted on 07/13/2013 12:31:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Over the past several days, I have been watching the trial of George Zimmerman in horror, anger, and disgust. My heart has been heavy.
I watched at the attempts to discredit Trayvon’s parents - Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. I watched as they cried throughout the trial, my heart aching as Trayvon’s mother looked away when her son’s dead body was shown on the screen. I could see the immense pain in her eyes.
.. And then there was Trayvon’s friend, Rachel Jeantel. I watched how Zimmerman’s defense attorney grilled Jeantel with unnecessary details. I noticed the mocking tone, and the condescending requests for her to repeat her words “loudly and clearly.” The disrespectful attempts to paint her as dishonest, ignorant, and uneducated were obvious.
And then I watched the closing arguments -- how the prosecution provided point after point demonstrating where truth and justice in this case lie; while the defense attorney relentlessly tried to tear apart a kid’s character, painting him a criminal, aggressor, and thug.
What is striking to me about the Zimmerman trial and overall media commentary is the intentional erasure of race, as if Trayvon was murdered in a vacuum. It’s as if race and racism in this country do not exist, as if race had nothing to do with Trayvon’s death, when in reality, race is at the heart of it all.
For those of us who understand how race relations in this country work, race is the elephant in the room. To us, it is clear what happened: Trayvon, a young, black male, was walking down a street in white, upper-middle class suburbia. He was consequently racially profiled, followed, and then killed - by a man who made assumptions about his identity and values merely by looking at him.
We all know Zimmerman did not have to act; he was told not to by authorities. He didn’t have to follow, shoot, or kill. But he did, because what he made himself believe was that Trayvon was a criminal. Just another “f***ing punk,” one of “those assholes” who always gets away.
This trial and Trayvon’s death hurt. It hurts because this is not new. It’s part of a long history of violence against black and brown bodies, a history of violence that is intimately connected to our own present-day lives.
On a daily basis, people of color are profiled and policed. From the way we are perceived when walking down the street, in the airport, and malls; to the way colleagues and peers make assumptions about our competence in schools and workplaces; to the subtle microaggressions we deal with from passersby; to the disproportionate state violence and brutality of our communities by police and authorities.
Racial profiling is our daily lived reality.
That’s why it is a slap in the face for people to say race had nothing to do with the way Zimmerman profiled Trayvon. This statement in itself completely denies us our truths and our lived realities. It essentially says, “We don’t believe you. We don’t see race, racism, or racial profiling, so it can’t be there. Stop making this up.” To that I say: “We know it when we see it. Just because you don’t see it does not mean it is not there. It means you are privileged enough to not have experienced it or understand it.”
And that is the gut-wrenching irony in all of this: that the victims of racial profiling, racial violence, harassment, and microaggressions are told to keep quiet. We are told race doesn’t matter. That racial bias did not play a role in Zimmerman’s decisions. And, in fact, the judge herself ruled the term “racial profiling” would not be allowed during the trial.
Well, this begs the question: How can you even begin to fairly administer justice if you have already sanitized the crime? How can you get to the bottom of it, if you have already eliminated the very real possibility of racial bias? It seems to me that justice for Trayvon was - from the beginning - set up to be a futile effort.
The double irony in this is, it was, in fact Zimmerman who first made this a race issue. Had Trayvon been a white, blond-haired teenager, I doubt Zimmerman would have acted in the way he did. But, Trayvon wasn’t privileged enough to be white. He was black. He was wearing a hoodie. And that was enough for Zimmerman to assume he was a threat.
Sadly, something in my gut tells me justice will not be served. That, even in the best case scenario, Zimmerman will not face the full charge. For those of us who are on the side of justice, obviously this is not enough. All we can do is anxiously wait for the verdict.
However, what is clear to those who understand America’s race problem is that the Zimmerman trial merely spotlights how black life in America is worthless and disposable. The refusal to acknowledge racial bias and stereotyping as a cause for Trayvon’s death represents a myth: the myth of “post-racial” and “colorblind” America.
This America simultaneously devalues black life, while e-racing racism and tangible manifestations thereof. This America attempts to “move forward” from the race conversation, while completely sidestepping it. This America tries to apply a band-aid to the wound, without stopping the bleeding first.
I submit that our country’s race problem will never go away until we first heal the wound. Until then, it will keep coming back to haunt us.
Lolla Mohammed Nur
Did you just add that barf alert, lol?
Lolla honey ... mohammed is a boys name.
Whatever.
But I DID read a littlr ... just to see.
I stopped at
"For those of us who understand how race relations in this country work, race is the elephant in the room. To us, it is clear what happened: Trayvon, a young, black male, was walking down a street in white, upper-middle class suburbia. He was consequently racially profiled, followed, and then killed - by a man who made assumptions about his identity and values merely by looking at him."
A picture is worth a thousand words. In this racial trial is a latino and a black. Suddenly this latino is a white guy and now it’s racial. These idiots spew crap and the public has become blind!
Based on the crime statistics, you'd have to be insane not to profile. Discreetly as possible of course.
I’ll bet the homeowners there will be surprised to hear themselves described as “white, upper middle class” since most of them aren’t. It’s a converted apartment complex, as I understand it. Hardly Palm Beach.
'Nuff said.
There has been much speculation on the extent and reasoning behind the Administration’s meddling in the Zimmerman trial. From the obvious pushing for an arrest when one was not forthcoming to the ‘If I had a son...’ statement, one has to wonder if the doctoring of Zimmerman’s photo to lighten his skin to portray him as white was also orchestrated from on high. What would be the reasoning for this and what is hoped to be accomplished?
From the beginning this has been portrayed by Obama’s sycophant left wing media as a white man shooting an innocent black child. But just the pictures tell a different story. The portrait of innocence Martin was not and neither was he a child. As for Zimmerman can anyone say that looking at him, his mother, and his uncle in the courtroom the first thought you have is “white people”? So what is really going on here?
The tensions between blacks and Hispanics has been going on for decades in every American city and prison. However, the Democratic Party needs to control these tensions as they could fracture the Democrats and weaken their power. Thus they had to orchestrate this as a ‘white vs black’ issue. We now have the why, but what else are they accomplishing?
A subtle message is being sent by this Administration that seems to have escaped media attention. IF YOU ARE HISPANIC, YOU DON’T MATTER. In essence the Democratic Party is making it clear, blacks in the Democratic Party are the house workers and Hispanics are the field workers. The black power brokers in Washington see they are about to be overtaken by Hispanic demographics and are sending the clear message that the Hispanic place on the Democratic Party Plantation is on a lower rung.
Imagine if Hispanics had even a tenth of the race-baiters that American blacks have. Now imagine if most Hispanic radio stations had been portraying this trial honestly, that one of their own was being railroaded by the Obama administration. The outcome and aftermath of this trial would be dramatically different and it would not bode well for the Democratic Party. The fact is that Washington was able to control the entire narrative regarding this trial. Only time will tell if the Hispanic community will wake up and break their Democratic Party chains.
Took about ten seconds:
http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/profiles/lolla-mohammed-nur
http://lollamohammednur.tumblr.com/about-and-contact
Communities of Color Use Storytelling to Oppose Minnesota’s Voter ID Amendment
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/10/voices_for_voting_rights.html
https://twitter.com/lomonur
Appears to be tied to MN Public Radio, unless there's another Lolla Mohammed Nur plying the same tripe in the same area
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/about/people/mpr_people_display.php?aut_id=31214
https://www.youtube.com/user/LMNMuslimah
http://www.cehd.umn.edu/trio/mcnair/2010/Nur.html
https://www.mndaily.com/user/1117
Then she hasn't been paying attention.
The community Martin was killed in had people of all different races in it.
He was consequently racially profiled, followed, and then killed - by a man who made assumptions about his identity and values merely by looking at him.
Who described his behavior as being a person who looked like he was on drugs, and couldnt even positively identify his race, stating only, when asked, "He looks black."
Sorry, sweetie. The facts just don't match your perception. Maybe you should've learned the facts before forming that perception.
“Lolla Mohammed Nur “
She has done her duty to leftism. She will win awards for her writing.
One certified victim group helping another one out.
By race they don’t mean race. They mean that every time a White has a confrontation with a non-White, the White is wrong because he is a racist.
This person should look at the group she belongs to, and recall that that group is racist, angry, violent, intolerant, deceitful and uncivilized.
Monur.
Ms. Nut has ALOT to learn about the USA.
Per DOJ stats, between 1976-2005 blacks were 12% of the US population yet accounted for 52.2% of all homicides committed.
What say you to that, Lolla?
For 40 years now, it’s all about race and nearly every bit of it has been directed at white Americans. So much so, many totally innocent white people feel guilt.
Given this fact, I find it quite interesting the U.S. Government for about 30 or 40 years now, has intentionally been flooding America tens of hundreds of thousands of non-white people, including Muslims, Mexicans, Haitians, Turks, etc., etc.
You and I don’t share a country lady, lets get that straight from the start!
I work in a 99% minority job. Over 500 people work there and almost all of them would agree with this.
Pack mentality!
People get emotional when the facts do not support their irrational beliefs!
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