Editor’s Pick
MARCH 26, 2012 1:51PM
Trayvon Martin is Dead Because Black People are "Scary"
It's been a while since we have chatted about the invisible knapsack of black privilege in the Age of Obama. Tragically, the killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman demands that we black folks engage in some "real talk" (as I like to say) about our special role in American society.
During the last week or so, I have spent a good amount of time listening to white folks talk about the shooting of Trayvon Martin. I have talked to friends, been invisible as I sat next to white people at bars and cafes, and eavesdropped on conversations while riding on the bus. Of course, I have watched Fox News and lurked on Right-wing websites to get a fair sense of "real America's" collective pulse on this issue. I truly care about white people. I am their best friend because I always tell them the truth.
After doing all of this research, I have come to a conclusion that may be a bit upsetting to some of you: black people are scary. In fact, I have come to realize that as a black man, I am a member of a group that scares white people more than any other in America.
I think we should own this fact. Could it be that the disproportionate coverage we are blessed with by the news media has convinced white America that we are a threat to them? Always suspicious, dangerous, and suspect? Is this fear a result of a deeply held--an almost primordial belief that still lurks in the collective subconscious and racial id of Whiteness--that black men are "naturally" more vibrant, masculine, dynamic, virile, and athletic than white men?
Who knows from where this fear flows, and our natural ability to frighten white people comes. As black men we are left to deal with the consequences; the mysterious ways of (some) white people are not ours to divine or understand.
However, I am sure of one thing: regardless of how we may be dressed, many white people find us scary.
It could be our cool pose, energy, or mere fact of existence that scares some white people. Black men are so scary, that even when wearing suits in order to mute the power of our habitus, we are subject to extra precautions and security measures by the police, as well as individuals like George Zimmerman who have nominated themselves the "protectors" of their communities.
Ironically, for some white people there is nothing more terrifying than a dignified, intelligent, confident, attractive, and brilliant black man wearing a fine and tailored suit.
Given these facts, it is only reasonable to know that a hoodie would frighten White People--and those who think like them--such as George Zimmerman. In all, common sense dictates that people wearing hoods cannot help but be anything but terrifying.
Because he was 17 years old (and we cannot forget six feet tall), there are some white people who are quite upset that Trayvon Martin is being labeled as a "child" or a "boy" in the news media. Given that American society treats black children as though they are adults, this protest is both reasonable and fair. We must be empathetic and understanding here: for the white gaze, black boys (Ronald Reagan's "strapping young bucks") are always a growth spurt away from becoming a "giant negro" such as Willie Horton or a "superpredator."
One of our unique privileges in the United States is that we are forced into adulthood early; black people are spared the luxury of a purely innocent childhood. At an early age, we are made aware of the realities of race, "niggerized," and forced to understand what it means to be a problem.
These are necessary life and survival skills in America, even one that is post civil rights, and where a black man is President. This reality holds for both black girls and black boys. However, it is especially true for the latter, lest they end up dead like Trayvon Martin.
These are necessary life and survival skills in America, even one that is post civil rights, and where a black man is President. This reality holds for both black girls and black boys. However, it is especially true for the latter, lest they end up dead like Trayvon Martin.
In her essential book Playing in the Dark, Toni Morrison suggested that Whiteness as a color, abstraction, symbol (and indeed a "race" of people), has not been associated with purity, justness, and comfort by most people around the world.
Given the facts of European colonialism, imperialism, the Transatlantic slave trade, and other assorted barbarisms, white people have wrought terror and destruction around the globe. In practice, the "White Man's Burden" was a cruel contradiction in terms. Morrison's deconstruction of Whiteness, and how its owners have created a self-validating and benign sense of self, is spot on in many ways. But however trenchant her analysis may be, Morrison overlooks our unique and singular ability to frighten white people.
In the minds of white people (even those white people who are armed with guns), blacks have the magical ability to transform harmless objects into deadly weapons. So afraid they are of this power, that white police (and others) actually believe that candy bars, house keys, wallets, cell phones, and other objects are capable of lethal force when held in our hands.
So deep is our power to scare white people, that many of them have developed a subconscious association that links together black people, apes, and gorillas. These white folks are so terrified of black people that they are significantly more likely to give black defendants the death sentence during criminal trials. Historically, white people have been so afraid and fearful of black people, that even when they outnumber us fifty to one, such numerical superiority was not sufficient to guarantee their sense of safety or security.
Black people are also uppity troublemakers. We make a habit of going where we are not wanted, and of appearing in the most surprising places. During our centuries of bondage, black people absconded, killed overseers, and searched out their kin. The South would witness hundreds of slave rebellions during which African Americans fought a white supremacist military state and the overwhelming force it possessed. Blacks fought and served in America's wars, dying by the tens of thousands, even when the country treated us as second class citizens.
As more evidence of our willful natures, African Americans earned jobs and positions in industries, universities, colleges, and offices where the vast majority of rank and file whites resented and resisted our presence. In the year 2012, some black people have the authority to tell white people what to do on a daily basis; one black man was even arrogant enough to run for the Presidency of the United States of America and to win. What nerve!
As more evidence of our willful natures, African Americans earned jobs and positions in industries, universities, colleges, and offices where the vast majority of rank and file whites resented and resisted our presence. In the year 2012, some black people have the authority to tell white people what to do on a daily basis; one black man was even arrogant enough to run for the Presidency of the United States of America and to win. What nerve!
Blacks migrated by the millions from the South to escape Jim and Jane Crow, leaving everything behind, in order to seek out freedom and opportunity elsewhere. We dared to achieve and succeed. Black people had to be at least twice as good to get half as far as the average white person.
How can a people with that level of hardheadedness, drive, and determination not scare those Americans who were born into racial privilege?
Much of the fear of black people, and black men in particular, comes from the fact that Whiteness, and white American culture in particular, are very much a story of absence and emptiness.
Black people have given whites a gift: what is a sense of cohesion, community, and meaning. There would be no "white people" if there were no "blacks." As Ralph Ellison famously observed, the first word the European immigrant learned upon arrival in America was "nigger." This gave him or her an automatic foot in the door of white American belonging.
Those Europeans, and especially those who we now know as "white ethnics," had to come to America and take slaves, kill the red man, and exploit the yellow man, in order to no longer be called Irish, Norwegian, German, Dutch, Polish, Italian, or Greek. This is the odd and synthetic mix of loathing, fear, and need that creates the ties which bind together White racial identity. To be "white" is to be anything but "black." Most importantly, Whiteness is a identity defined in juxtaposition to blackness.
What would America be like without us?
It would certainly be a less culturally vibrant, interesting, and democratic place. But in our absence, Whiteness would have to create new "black" people. Why? white people would eventually realize that being "White" is a lie, and all of the prejudices, stereotypes, and insecurities that are transferred onto black people would have to be processed elsewhere so that the collective White psyche could remain intact.
Empathy matters. As we think through why black people are existentially and perpetually scary to many white folks, we should also take an accounting of the White Soul. Could this fear be a manifestation of something pathological and unhinged? Could there be something amiss in the heart of Whiteness?
White people have witnessed many radical changes in the racial order of this country. Black people went from being property to citizens; from the periphery of America, to the center of its life and culture. Because of demographic changes, white people will no longer be the majority group in America by the year 2050. There is even a black man and his family living in the White House.
One of the great ironies of the post racial era, is that a white America which spent many years denying the very existence of racism against people of colr, has now discovered it for themselves, as conservatives and Right-wing reactionaries boohoo and fret over "reverse discrimination" and how "white people" are "oppressed" in the year 2012.
One of the great ironies of the post racial era, is that a white America which spent many years denying the very existence of racism against people of colr, has now discovered it for themselves, as conservatives and Right-wing reactionaries boohoo and fret over "reverse discrimination" and how "white people" are "oppressed" in the year 2012.
Could it be that many white folks are scared of black people because at a root level there is anxiety about karmic justice, that as Brother Malcolm suggested, the proverbial chickens could potentially come home to roost?
Most white folks are good and decent. A notable few have been allies to people of color in our struggle to make America a more fair and inclusive country for all of its citizens. But in total, white Americans have demonstrated quite a bit of naivete and innocence about matters of race. For example, at the height of the Civil Rights Movement public opinion data suggested that most white Americans believed that black people were treated equally and fairly in America. In their eyes, there was apparently no "race problem." Decades later those numbers are little changed.
This is not necessarily a function of malice or bias. It is simply the privileged and cultivated ignorance of life that comes with being on the other side of the color line. Given our special insight, people of color must be patient with our white brothers and sisters on these matters.
In the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin killing, black people need to be especially careful of the feelings, anxieties, and fears of white folks. Many of them appear willing to work with us on this issue; we must be sure not to antagonize them, or ask too many difficult questions.
Because black Americans are the conscience of a nation, we must also ensure that George Zimmerman's rights and liberties are respected. We must always be role models on matters of justice and fairness.
The murder of Trayvon Martin has pushed the national conversation on race one step forward. White folks have been kind enough to share their deepest fears and worries about black men. As a reciprocal act, black men need to acknowledge our profound power as we imagine ourselves from the point of view offered by the white gaze.
The murder of Trayvon Martin has pushed the national conversation on race one step forward. White folks have been kind enough to share their deepest fears and worries about black men. As a reciprocal act, black men need to acknowledge our profound power as we imagine ourselves from the point of view offered by the white gaze.
Dress up. Smile. Grin. Show some teeth. And don't wear a hoodie. If we do these simple things, white folks and their anxieties will be soothed. Black people, and black men in particular, are privileged and blessed. We are the most envied and imitated people in the world. With this privilege comes a special burden.
Let's acknowledge how we scare and frighten white people. Once we take this step it will be possible to move forward as a country, and all of us can find peace in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin's murder.
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Kerry Lauerman
Joan Walsh
Salon.com
Comments
You're so right that if there weren't black people someone else would serve as "the other." See Mexicans in California, Irish & Italian people in early Boston & New York, etc. - too many etc. - for examples.
WTF is wrong with us?
Now I have a black man and brown children in may family - and I love them dearly and would gladly give my 70 year old life to protect them.
It has not been an easy journey. You make me think - on a quiet Monday afternoon in a deepest red Florida county.
Thanks for this. It too belongs on the cover.
r
Lezlie
Am I scared of black people? Some. Scared of white people? Some.
I am scared of lack of conscience when it arises in any group, but no group is immune from the scaqry sociopathy that threads through our culture.
@Sheila and Joan. Thanks too. Circulate it, tell the folks who are the powers that be here on Salon, let fate decide.
I hope what we are seeing now is just a last dying gasp of the lingering remnants of white stupidity and southern resentment. It's only a matter of time until it dies off, because it's got to be a ghost of the past, not a sign of the future.
Having a black man in the White House has stirred the nasty cockroaches from their hiding places. There are people who long for the day of unchallenged white privilege, when the dumbest white loser could get a better job than the smartest black man. And now that the most powerful job in the country belongs to a black man their brainless zombie heads are exploding.
On a lighter note, some happy images.
Truth plainly spoken.
Call me a cynic (though i prefer 'realist') but "peace in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin's murder" is not as likely as the possibility that this murder will fall off the front pages & be forgotten... till it happens again, and again and...
sadly, it seems we learn some truths the hard/painful way.
Just to put a twist in the discussion, I recently quit my day job because of a new manager who is an out-and-out racist, against we foreigners (who as a rule are white). Just ten years ago, a native speaker of English who happened to be dark skinned could not get hired in Beijing because the school believed (and to some extent true) that the "students will complain."
Chinese students have walked out of class when they see they have a dark skinned teacher. A friend of mine, a foreign manager, informed my school six years ago, that all the resume's she looked at came on white paper, but she hired qualified teachers not color. She's from Belgium. She threatened to quit if they ever challegned one of her hires again. They haven't.
We have an African American teacher from Detroit, he's pushing 50 but looks 35. He is the coolest teacher on campus, but he arranges and pays for his own visa (to control his destiny one must control your visa here).
Young Chinese students are total hip hop fans and basketball freaks (I don't even count attendance when the Final Four is on TV) and they want to go to college in America, and they chose universities based on their basketball more than their baccalaureate.
Everything in China, where traditionally "white is most beautiful" down to the dogs (you never see a black dog in China) is changing a mach speed, even their racist attitudes.
Word is, the school is going to fire "Dragon Woman" who refused a foreign teacher to be allowed to work in her "all Chinese office" she told him to move to another room to work because that office was "all Chinese." She didn't want a teacher who could speak Chinese listening to what the staff was planning for the other teachers (more horror).
My school got a wake up call yesterday. One of the teachers who left over this issue sued the school. It doesn't happen very often, but my school had to pay him a very large chunk of change, and that is why they are going to fire Dragon woman, not because she was racist, but because she cost them money.
Certainly racism isn't inherent or genetic. Perhaps there is a natural level of xenophobia in all people or cultures and this exists throughout the world, but without more, it is limited in scope and is easily overcome through cultural/religious teachings and interpersonal contact.
White racism is unique in world history. There are very high levels of ethnocentrism and racial exceptionalism in the world, of course, especially in East Asia. That said, nothing comes close to what I have experienced in my studies of Western Civilization.
That said, the rise of the ideology of White Supremacy is inherently linked to the rise of colonialism, imperialism and capitalism, namely, the creation of a global, transnational system of exploitation supported by military supremacy and an obedient, non-protesting, non-left, and ultra right wing white working/laboring class (which is taught to buy into the lies spread by the White Aristocracy).
Marxists are said to over-simplify the primacy of economics and class. Yet many, even Critical Race Theorists, say that the ideology of White Supremacy and its attempt to demonize African-Americans have their roots and can trace their genealogy to this economic system, if you will. And, further, that the perpetuation of this economic system of exploitation is inextricably bound to the perpetuation of ethnic division and intolerance.
If whites, blacks, Hispanics and all the ethnicities in America keep fighting each other, especially among the working classes, they will never united to fight the Establishment, and will never unite to fight for their shared humanity and the shared human rights and economic rights that are their shared and universal birthright.
Chauncey- Through history blacks have murdered,enslaved,raped pillaged other blacks in Africa and beyond-it continues to this day.
Through history whites have committed atrocoties as well.
The fear might be that black males make up 6 % of the population and commit a disproportionate amount of the violent crimes in this country.
You actually seem to "white-wash" history and make it seem as if this Amazingly talented people is kept down and persecuted by the white man to keep them from overtaking the world.
Yet, when a great man like Clarence Thomas or Thomas Sowell comes along, they are demonized as Uncle Tom's not celebrated for their achievements.
Victims of the man and the self-loathing whities (OS is loaded with them) so want to be hip and cool.
I know some great people who happen to be black-I do not fear or desire to be in their presence any more or less than the next and in my opinion that is the right track. I think MLK made a speech about that desired end.
^^^this^^^
It feels extraordinarily difficult to listen to the horrors that were and continue to be practiced on black Americans, and to accept that now bred in their bones is anger against me. These images you post are hideous, and the white people are beyond ugly to my eyes, yet I feel obligated to look at them, over and over, for as long as you need to show and tell. Maybe that will be always. There things so horrible that people can never get over them.
Those white devils are good for some EP's.
Keep spreading the love -- I feel the World getting better with each of your angry posts.
Yes, whites are fearful of their impending comeuppance, rather than embrace the chance to see a whole new world, they/we would gathet hide from the Truth that all black men deserve to be acknowledged first as a fellow human being, a soul, a mind, a dignity, an honor, a life.
You do good things Chauncey.
Again, thanks for stating the unfortunate truth. Many avoid THAT, won't confront reality at whatever cost to society, certainly won't say out loud what we all on some deeper level recognize to be forthright TRUTH.
The FUNDAMENTAL truth that bigotry is on the rise, that it's gaining acceptance and momentum in the guise of dyslexic "South Will Rise Again" emotionally driven hysteria, motivated by the stunted mentality of morose, intellectually impeded "Good Old Boys".
So these often buried yet deeply recognized truths are not often given voice, aren't exposed to the more complete light of exposed public attention, aren't given over to the transparency of honest conversation in the "Polite" medium of thoughtful discourse.
And the behavior motivated by such stunted lack of recognition, by the above mentioned (intellectually deprived) "Good Old Boy Willful Ignorance" can become painfully obvious if neglected for long enough, as we've seen with killings outside of abortion clinics.
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01tiller.html?pagewanted=all
Or the case of Trayvon Martin, OF COURSE.
.R.
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A lone white man in his 30s sits on a park bench near a childrens playground. You as a mother ...would you be more or less concerned looking at this man vs say if the person was a young lady...
If a woman walks to her car in a dark garage, and you are a man, do you try to keep your distance regardless of your color, of course, its common sense, and understandable. People do the math in their heads, its not always fair, but its based on something. If I say school shooter, do you look for a young black boy or girl, or a scrawny sad sack looking white boy, tell me, lets be honest. You know what you thought, and why, most ..almost all school shooters are white boys, its not racist to say this.
The problem is we've been sold a lie by the family..they posted misleading pictures of him as a young child. His friends and family also have suspiciously not been forthcoming with any recent pictures of this boy, its just rather perplexing, even if his own facebook page is blocked, friends family and even aquaintences should have a group picture from the last year on some of their own pages, but nothing, its like they are working together to airbrush the kids image...
If you want to look at rape statistics, black men raping white women, I dont think the numbers will be good for your case.
What if, for some reason, we do have a "primordial belief" stored in our "collective conscious", a racial memory of a hierarchy much like a rainbow -- that the colors are fixed in a certain order, but our strong preference for or attraction to one or the other is not dictated by this ordering.
What if our sole goal, our only purpose is to evolve to understand that just as all colors make up the rainbow, all races make up that group of souls known as humankind? Each of the races has their gift, a vibrancy and place in our imaginations. Generally, we do not say, "Purple is the lowest color because it is the darkest". Purple is just purple in all its wonderful and various shades and hues -- we prefer it or we don't.
If we are born with some instinctual preference toward people like ourselves, which psychologists have noted is an innate bias, perhaps our goal as spiritual beings is to overcome this inherent bias? To remember and then know that we are part of the SAME rainbow, that creation of the One God known as humankind.
I have no difficulty in deciding which group expresses the more heightened version of intelligent life.
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/26/the-daily-caller-obtains-trayvon-martins-tweets/
This is my world.
I recently went school play in rural LA near Baton Rouge. An old friend is a teacher and I thought I would the person up.
Not knowing where I was going for sure I ended up literally on the wrong side of the tracks. The street name was the same on one side of the track than the other. So I took my best guess and was wrong. After 3 blocks of being on the wrong side I ran into a end of road with a right turn only (track on my left).
And Oh my god, it was a black neighborhood at night with 3 black guy hanging out in the street. Oh horror. What to do now. Pull my gun certainly. Well unfortunately I don't carry my gun 99.9% of the time.
Did I keep driving to make two more lefts and get the hell out? No. I stopped and and asked directions of those scary people. I must me an idiot. And guess what. They actually answered me. Amazing.
They asked which school and told me I was on the wrong side of the track. Given my bad night eyesight (just had cataract surgery to fix that) I almost hit the stop sign as I backed up.
They yelled to stop me. That was nice of them. They also were sort if laughing a bit at the stupid old guy (or was it the stupid white guy? hmmm) that cant back a car up.
I said to them I cant see with a damn at night. they said we got you and directed my back up safely.
Now this cant happen in your world. In your world I am scared they will steal my nice SUV or whatever. I would not EVER actually stop my car and talk to these guys.
I recently took a black man at 5:30 in the morning in my car to give him a ride. He did not ask. I could tell he was out of his home town on foot and trying hard to gt to the bus so he could get to the employment office. I only overheard this conversation. What did I do. I approached him and offer the ride. Again, no gun in my car. I could have been killed!!
Just yesterday morning at 4:00am a black guy was asking directions in a convenient store. He said he was looking for a construction site to start work. The clerk gave him horrible directions. He would have never found it.
I hurried to catch up with him before he pulled away. I asked if he knew the area at all. He said no. When I came to find out the place he was looking for it was clear he was only a couple miles away. I was on my to hospital for testing 50 miles away. But I could see this was another traveling person probably showing up for the first day on the job (Monday morning). I made sure he was not late. I simply altered my route a bit costing me 5 minutes and gaining him getting where he needed to get.
I am sure that fMRI scan would have showed my fear factor. After all it is built in. Why was I NOT scared Chauncey?
I grew up in this bigoted state!! How did I escape this. I would like to think I am enlightened but I am not. I am a NORMAL human being. Behaviors scare me. Skin color does not. Economic class does not. A down an out guy looking for a job that happens to be black does not scare me. 3 kids in the street do not scare me. And you know what, If I get harmed for not being scared, so be it. I can live with dying acting like a human to my brother. Lots of worse ways to go out.
Sometimes I wonder if racism is worse up north than it is in the south. I do nt see it here in rural LA and I been visiting here for the last 8 months. Reality is simply not the way you
present it.
In the hospital yesterday a black family were waiting on the family member in surgery. But 2 white were with than also.
Whites waiting with a back family out of concern.
The world you describe does not exist for me. And I am where it is supposed to be the worse.
You know what I have noticed. There are some issues in proper New Orleans. But not out here in the country.
We are just friendly.
Maybe it is because I grew up with this. It is normal not scary. Why can't you see the hope rather than the constant bashing? It is offensive because I am the stereotypical person you target with your comments. And you are WRONG!!!
Now, personally, about the hoodie...I think they're stupid, except for teenagers. I've always thought it was silly for grownups to wear sports jerseys and hoodies as everyday clothing. Adult men (white, black, whatever) now do this well into their forties and fifties. When does one start wearing grownup clothes? Adults look like idiots when they wear this stuff out in public.
Rated.
Can I get an
"AMEN"?
RATED!
Thanks for heads-up Chaunc !
Of course that might require action by that great protector of human life and rights--Eric Holder. So don't bother to wait for it.
But I have one bone to pick with you: What about the brown man and brown woman? Hispanics/Latinos have been in this country from day one. Most of us have American Indian heritage and Spanish heritage, and the Spanish arrived and colonized North America (including the United States) before everyone else. (Yes, and maimed, murdered and raped in the name of religion, gold, power and land grabbing, just like everyone else, too).
Hispanics/Latinos have always experienced, and are still experiencing, a lot of bigotry because of new immigration from Mexico, which is right across that infamous, invisible border. And we get it from all sides: from whites, blacks, Asians, Russians, Italians, and even, ironically, from recent Latin American immigrants who try to distance themselves from those of us who have lived here for generations, as if we caused the racial problem in this country in the first place. We didn't set up this system. We're just as much victims of it as everyone else, and I mean everyone else.
What on earth does the author mean by 'white people?
Are we really going to play this faux-identity politics game? Because it is one that we can never be victorious in.
I'm a 'white person'. And what? This simple fact gives you NO MORE information about who I am as a human being, and you, I am afraid to say, are perpetuating racial stereotyping and homogeneity by insisting that individual human behaviours are not mutually exclusive to race.
I am, quite frankly, disgusted by your claims.
Also, white police officers tell me that they hate using knight sticks because they are convinced that if they do a picture of them will be on the evening and it's the same with black vs white violence. Remember the LA riots... and remember how many time the media showed black violence vs white violence. So sometimes we get our pictures taken and give the media some excuse to show us at our worst--I'm not sure who's to blame since we've all seen similar pictures from LA, Chicago and everywhere in between, but I do know those people are out to make money and they don't care how they do it.
Fighting for independence in africa is one thing kicking a white truck driver where they can get a picture of you to sell is another.
As far as trayvon... he was stupid enough to get high and extra stupid to pick a fight with a guy who had a gun--he scared zimmerman and zimmerman shot him. Simple.