Growing up and residing in many racially/culturally diverse cities, as well as some towns that were seriously lacking a varied representation of ethnicity, I have an extremely diverse set of friends. I’ve lived in communities that were predominantly Black, but I also know the feeling of being the only Black kid in an entire class – and sometimes the entire grade – which has given me the unique ability to develop meaningful friendships with people of all races. With that being said, I know that all white people are not racist and I know that there are many white people who feel saddened and dismayed by the entire Trayvon Martin incident. In fact, I know white folks who agree with the verdict, but ultimately care more about supporting Trayvon’s parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, than arguing over the merits of the stand your ground law. But, as much as I think I know Caucasians, there is one thing that I will never understand about some of them: Why do whites get angry when Blacks lament about racism and injustice?
The interesting thing about George Zimmerman being found not guilty is how the verdict left many Black people all around the world. Feel free to correct me if you think I’m off-base with this, but the major reactions most Blacks had to the verdict were feelings of hopelessness, frustration, confusion, and a general numbness (I definitely experienced that myself). Right after Zimmerman skipped out of the courtroom and his defense team was finished giving each other high-fives, it felt like the Black community went into immediate mourning, and not so much for just Trayvon Martin, his family, the past atrocities we’ve suffered, or our present day inequality – but more so for the future. A future in which we truly can’t guarantee the safety or protection from society or the law respectively, for our sons, godsons, nephews, cousins, or any young Black child growing up. The one reaction everyone tried to predict, which I saw limited signs of, was ANGER.
Everyone prepared for millions of dollars of property damage and days of absolute carnage to occur as a result of Black folks going INSANE over the verdict, but I saw little signs of that anger in our community. After Rodney King, we were enraged. After Oscar Grant we were enraged. But, surprisingly, after this trial some white folks showed the anger that the media thought Blacks – and I honestly want to know why?!
Truthfully, I have nothing against white people so when I wrote my articles about Trayvon and posted them online, it was more about Black people mobilizing to support Jordan Davis’ upcoming case or making sure that Black people STOP trying to conflate our interest with Trayvon’s injustice to some assumed disinterest in the crimes of our own community. I NEVER wrote any “FUCK-THESE-CRACKA-ASS-CRACKAS!” bullshit because that’s simply not in my heart, and prejudicial rage would have been pointless in that moment, especially when that’s what led to Zimmerman deciding to enact vigilante “justice” in the first place.
But as I went around sharing my opinion on Trayvon, I was met with comments like THIS:
And that comment typifies the responses that I and many other people I know have been receiving on and offline. But why? Why is it that whenever Black people bring up inequality and discrimination, some white folks react with absolute vitriolic fury?
Look, I’m not a Plies fan by any stretch of the imagination seeing as how I feel most of his music is the soundtrack to dudes impregnating their third baby-mama before ducking another child-support case nine-months later, but he does have one song that is nothing but the unadulterated truth called “Why U Hate,” where he raps:
“My people ain’t mad, yo’ people hate us though
But we the one who struggling, so why y’all hate us for?
The police want us bad, the judge hate us more
The jury think we guilty, before we come through the door”
And like Plies, I want to know where the ANGER is coming from? Here are some incidents that made we really wonder about the answer to this question:
Since the trial was ended, I’ve seen some white people go on expletive-laced tirades aimed at Black folks who are merely expressing feelings of resentment at a system we deem to be unfair. I especially love when these very same people complain about how divisive Black people are making issues of race, as if racism was pretty much eradicated before Black people “bitched” about Trayvon’s death. Interesting how those same white folks were very silent in wake of the racialized attacks on Barack Obama during both presidential campaigns, the rise of the Tea Party who allowed supporters to carry signs such as “Let’s cap and trade Obama back to Africa,” and the labeling of survivors of Hurricane Katrina as looters by many major media outlets. Where was the outrage over divisiveness then?
Then, at a peaceful protest in Wichita for the arrest of A.J. Bohannon, who police took into custody for walking around a mall in a Black hoodie with a sign around his neck that read: “If I don’t stand for something then I will fall for anything #RIPTrayvon Martin,” two white men decided to attempt to incite a riot by wearing shirts with the word NIGGER on them.
And finally, while 73-year-old Lester Chamber was on stage at the Hayward-Russell City Blues Festival in Hayward, Calif., he decided to dedicate Curtis Mayfields‘ song “People Get Ready” to Trayvon Martin, which prompted a young white lady named Dinalynn Andrews Potter to emerge from the crowd, walk briskly down the aisle, hop on stage and then ATTACK the elderly man. After being treated for his injuries, it was revealed Lester had bruised ribs, soreness, and nerve damage – and Dinalynn was arrested on “suspicion of battery.” I mean damn, even when they deliver an unprovoked ass-whooping caught on camera and in front of many witnesses, you can get arrested on suspicion of battery. Yet they’re MAD?
But to end this post, I’m not going to state that racist white people need to change their behavior and learn how to treat their fellow men with more respect because we are all equal as human beings. I’m not going to insist that they check their privilege and realize that Black folks, and all minorities for that matter, face daily systemic racism. But instead I’m going to ask that angry prejudiced white folks stay mad. The worst thing they could do is blend into the crowd of decent Caucasians and make their hatred more difficult to spot.
LAB
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.
[Main image on homepage: Shutterstock]
