Compassion Speaks: After Trayvon, What?

by M. Doretta Cornell, RDC

Much is being written about the verdict in Florida, but I would like to address two of the concerns I see in the aftermath.

My First Concern
President Obama addressed the first very movingly the other night: the experience of African American men and boys being followed or recoiled from, regardless of what they are doing at the time.  The outpouring of stories from around our country needs to be heeded.  Whatever Mr. Zimmerman believed he was doing, the parallels between the death of Trayvon Martin and the experiences of African American men of all ages, social classes, and professions are clear.

Unless we all attend to these experiences and to the very strong feelings they evoke, the problems will continue.

Locally, we hear similar outcries about the killing of several African American men by police.  Whatever the truth about motivation in each case, we all must address – and redress – the perception of racial profiling.  We cannot expect a jury’s decision to suddenly erase that perception, especially in the face of African American men’s ongoing daily experiences.

Where Does It Come From?
Like many, for much of my life I was not particularly aware of the bias African Americans face today.  I thought it that had been pretty much solved in the Civil Rights Era.  Then one day my college English class read an essay by an African American man – a college professor or journalist, as I remember – about being followed while walking home on a cold evening.  A young woman in the class declared that the essayist must be overreacting to an isolated occurrence.

Immediately, the young men in class protested.  I took a poll – every single non-white young man in the class had been stopped by police for no reason apparent to them.  Not one white student had been stopped similarly (the one who had been stopped admitted to speeding).   I was appalled!

What Can We Do?
How can we address this?  One way is by becoming aware of our own responses and examining ourselves for the history behind them.  Another is to listen carefully to what our friends and acquaintances are saying.  As we do this, we must adjust our language and actions. We must also do what we can to be sure that policies and practices of our public officials become more responsive to the experiences of our neighbors – our brothers and sisters.

Hope – Right Here at Home!
One very hopeful movement in Westchester – centered right here in White Plains – comes from the Westchester Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Institute.  Each February, the Institute invites middle school students to a day of activities based on Dr. King’s principles of nonviolence and his dream of a Beloved Community in which all are “judged by the content of their character,” rather than by skin color.

For the past few years, the Institute has invited local policemen and women to meet with the young people.  Together they listened to each other’s experiences and began to explore ways to address situations that might otherwise turn violent.  We need more programs of this type, to begin the work  of undoing racism, and perception of it.

My Second Concern
The second concern is what seems to be a growing dependence on guns.  I was horrified after the tragedy at Newton when the NRA declared that the solution to school violence was to arm every teacher!  The presence of armed vigilantes legally patrolling their neighborhoods in Florida and elsewhere is equally appalling.  

This seems to me an admission that our democratic society and the entire enterprise of government by Constitution and law is a failure.  If guns are our only protection, we are reverting  to the pre-law Wild West, where vigilante “justice” ruled.  Mr. Zimmerman’s refusal to obey the directions by police to remain in his car seems to me an example of that: trained help was on the way, but he insisted on taking the matter into his untrained hands, with appallingly tragic results.

Getting to the Roots
Beneath both of these – racial bias and dependence on guns – lies fear: “they” are a threat to me, even if I do not see any indication of threatening action.  I fear there is no recourse except to strike out violently, just in case “they” might be thinking about doing something to me.

The United States of America was built on far more courageous stuff than this!  We must, both in compassion and in simple common sense, start to rebuild our social fabric, to learn to know each other and slowly, solidly, build communities of trust and civility.  We must re-educate ourselves so we can approach each other in ways that de-escalate tensions, instead of inflaming them.  This is difficult when every newscast and overwhelming percentages of movies, television, shows, video games and other media all center around violence as the means to settle difficulties.  But our future depends on it.

The Wild West may look inviting on “Bonanza” reruns, but the reality is much starker and much bloodier.  What sort of America do you choose?