For those of you that don't know, Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old black high school student from Miami, Florida that was visiting his father in a gated and predominately white community in Sanford, Florida when he was approached by George Zimmerman, a White/Latino neighborhood watch vigilante, who ultimately shot Trayvon point blank in the chest killing him. Even though there are other factors that led up to the shooting, the reason for this cold blooded murder is simple; Trayvon was black and was deemed "suspicious" and was profiled by Zimmerman as being up to no good. The family of Trayvon Martin and the nation is in a justifiable uproar because Zimmerman has not been arrested despite this clearly being a hate crime. Listen at the 2:21 mark as Zimmerman refers to Trayvon as a "F**king Coon".I pray ever day that Trayvon Martin gets the justice he deserves but unfortunately this is not the first and it certainly won't be the last time a person is profiled and stereotyped because of race.
Whether Black, White, Hispanic, Chinese or whatever your ethnicity, racial tensions and misunderstandings in this country are just as American as apple pie....this country has came a long way from slavery, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement to where BLATANT racism and segregation is not tolerated as much anymore, but it's still alive and thriving in many well known cities throughout the country. For example, check out Huffington Post's 10 most segregated cities in America as of 2011.
ARE YOU THE LEAST BIT SURPRISED BY THIS???
Too many people still believe that race mixing is wrong and some even deem it biblically immoral to marry and/or reproduce outside of their race. I personally feel folks should be with whomever they want despite race, religion, background or sexual preference. Respect, trust, loyalty and most importantly LOVE is all that really needs to be evenly yoked, because without them it doesn't matter what flag is mutually being waved...ignorance will eventually rear its ugly head!
But lets not submerge too deep into this topic because we'll be here all day.
But until we learn to do better as a nation when it comes to race relations and equality we will continue to be disgusted and saddened by the events that took place in Florida on February 26.
If people took HALF as much energy as it takes to hate someone and redirect that negativity into respecting each other, then things like this would not happen!
We wouldn't be a country full of bigots and racists and separate ourselves from each other in the name of equality and religion. We wouldn't judge based on looks and allow how an individual is dressed to determine whether or not they are a good or bad person.
There's no telling how many more generations will be subject to this type of ugliness but unfortunately it looks like it's here to stay.
So we have to EXCEPT the fact that some parents are raising their children to fear what they don't understand.
We have to EXCEPT the fact that the media portrays certain groups and ethnicity's less than favorable. We have to EXCEPT the fact that there will always be cultural division.
Or do we?
What happened to all the DREAMERS?
Symposium on the State of Race in America on April 9, 2012 in Washington D.C.
