The Dorsal Fin of Racism.

The Trayvon Martin incident has quickly become viral and unfortunately sensationlized. It has given rise to opinions both ignorant and thoughtful, all around. Racism in America is alive and well. Racism for the last decade has been the dorsal fin of a shark weaving sharply through our culture and the Trayvon Martin incident is the big ugly razor toothed creature leaping out of the water. And guess what? It's way larger and more fearsome than many of us likely assumed it to be.

I will preface the remaining text of this entry by saying I have no intention of surmising the outcome of this debacle or pinning blame on either party. I am a professional at neither and resolve the abide by neutrality until the final verdict. For all its warts I still believe in the justice system.

What I will underline instead is the looming creature beneath the water's surface. The dorsal fin of racism was not telling. This is a much larger and more fearsome beast than the fin would portend. The waters have teemed with racism for so very long. Very many friends and acquaintances have lived with racist dispositions and few of them truly realize it.

It is seldom worthwhile to challenge the views of a racist person because a person who could be so mentally rigid as to form a set preconception about an entire race is not likely to give ground in a single dialogue. In the past I have observed that racist people often do not feel they are wrong or that they are thinking wrong thoughts. In some way, whether through subtle cultural indoctrination or some righteous reasoning, they feel justified.

When I was less mature and less thoughtful I had occasional racist thoughts. Sitting in neutrality I can admit that. These were deeply ingrained ideas I assimilated from growing up in white Georgia with nary a soul to challenge my thoughts. No one ever stepped up to challenge my ways of thinking. I owe my rational revolution to books and an incessant yearning to constantly challenge my stance on important matters in my life. To this day my values are amorphous, every changing and ephemeral, because of this constant inclination to challenge myself.

If you are reading this, I would encourage you to do the same. Standing pat in the same footholds you dug out two decades yore is not at all healthy, and if you value being 'right' over employing compassion, you will have vastly fewer friends showing up for your funeral when it is all said and done.

If you are white and you are reading this, I want you to visualize the following scenarios:

You are walking down the sidewalk. Alongside you traffic is at a standstill. As you walk by cars, people cut their eyes at you nervously and lock their doors.

You are eating lunch outside in a cafe, and a group of people are seated near you talking uninhibitedly. You notice a few of them glance at you and they begin speaking in hushed tones.

You purchase a drink and food at a convenience store. You do not wish for a bag or a receipt, and as you walk out of the store people are glaring at you as if you have stolen the goods, because you do not have a bag or receipt in your hand.

You are walking down the street, and you notice no one will look you in the eye. They look others in the eye - others who are not the same color as you - but not you.

You speak to a stranger in the mall, and they seem surprised at your ability to generate polysyllabic phrases and enunciate clearly.

Stop visualizing. In the above scenarios you are a black male. I hope that sinks in, if only a little. If you are a white male you must understand that life is very different and in many cases more difficult as a black male. For further examples and a more eloquent perspective on this exercise, I encourage you to read the following link: Trayvon Martin's Killing 'A Parent's Greatest Fear'

This blog entry is entirely necessary because racism is far from dead. The most disheartening aspect of this incident is that much of the vehemence from the arguments of BOTH sides of the coin is fueled by veiled racism. This is an opportunity for the shark of racism to reveal slightly more than just its dorsal fin and not get harpooned for it.

We as humans are equipped with the capacity to understand matters deeply and yet we remain stuck on racism. We cannot seem to move past it. I do not wish death on very many things, but racism is one of them. I do not care how you feel about saggy pants or flat bill caps. I don't care how you feel about rap music or gold chains. They are just as much a culture as cowboy boots or rock n' roll. Perhaps the most bothersome part of white culture lament is that anything black culture gets quietly condemned among the whites. Pants sagging below the belt line are simply that - no more, no less. They sit on a plane below the conventional white guy plane of pants-wearing. Holy shit. Crazy, right?

Get over it. Stop judging and start understanding. Realize there is a long and tortuous (though sometimes joyful) tale of how we got to the point, and visualize a means of getting past it. Until we can perceive a time without racism, we will never be able to live it.