So we’ve got a black president. We’ve got black colleges and universities. We’ve got successful black entrepreneurs and CEOs. I mean with all of this success flying around, racism must be dead, right?
Though the success of many African-Americans has marked milestones and shown that the minds of many Americans are now open and understanding, it causes confusion among the colorblind that racism is no longer existent. At least, racism regarding African Americans.
Racism has only evolved, it hasn’t died. With that evolution, the idea of what racism means and how it is displayed has become very distorted. Most people think that to be “racist” or to exhibit racism, one must go around yelling racial slurs, or walk around yelling, “white power.” Though people still do this, there are so many underlying feelings that many people have about different races that constitute racism or racial prejudice. Those feelings can be translated in everyday life, through everyday activities and conversations.
Most recently, we’ve seen it play a role in the tragic shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla. There is great debate as to whether race played a role in the killing or not. The suspect, George Zimmerman, is hispanic, and claimed that Martin looked “suspicious.” Martin was wearing a hoodie while walking down the street toward his father’s home. The only items he was armed with was a can of sweet tea and Skittles
Geraldo Rivera, on Fox and Friends, stated that he felt Trayvon’s wearing of a hoodie contributed to his being shot. This created an uproar from people e v e r y w h e r e. But what about a hoodie makes one so suspicious? A hoodie is a piece of attire worn by many different people, regardless of race, sex, or socio-economic background. In an article by ABC News on Rivera apologizing for his original statement, Rivera said his intention was to warn “urban parents to realize that clothing their children wear…could appear menacing to people who don’t know them and could put them unnecessarily in danger.”
“Urban” is the key word here. Though the accident took place in the suburbs, and though non-urban kids wear hoodies all of the time. In my opinion, Trayvon wouldn’t have looked so suspicious if he was white.
UA graduate student, Sidney Fussell, says that he has experienced racial profiling first hand. He recalled an incident where he was riding in a car with a friend who was white, and they were pulled over for a rolling stop sign. “The cop who pulled us over asked for the driver’s ID, then my ID, runs them both, then gave them both back. A few moments later, another cop comes up and asks for my ID again, not the drivers, and ran my ID again. This was obviously racially motivated to me. I mean, it’s a white guy in a nice car…and then me,” said Fussell.
Though nothing ever came of it, it only adds to Fussell’s other experiences. Would you say this is racism? Would you be offended if any of these things happened to you?
What you must keep in mind is that it’s easy to say that race doesn’t matter when you have never had to experience the prejudice that tells you that it does. It’s easy to say racism doesn’t exist when you’re of the majority. And it’s easy to be color blind when you are not a person of color. Acknowledging race is not racism, and pretending that one’s race doesn’t exist is a flawed idea that only upholds ignorance. It’s all about embracing, understanding and avoiding stereotypes, and treating all people as they way you’d like to be treated — like a human being.
