T.J. McCormack believes that if we truly want a post-racist society, both the left and the right need to drop the rhetoric, up the compassion, and meet somewhere in the middle.
Reprinted from Fox Opinion, with permission from the author.
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There is something different about this one…
The killing of Trayvon Martin is a hideous travesty which represents an opportunity for our country to make a huge stride towards being a post-racial society.
While it’s the terribly familiar scenario of a young black man dying a horrific violent death for doing nothing wrong, there really is something different about this one, and for many of us it may be the most innocuous detail of the story.
Maybe in this case it’s what Trayvon didn’t do, and what he was carrying which sets this one apart.. He wasn’t running, he wasn’t menacing, he wasn’t disobeying law enforcement, he wasn’t reaching for anything. Trayvon was in fact carrying only Skittles and an iced tea for him and his brother.
That seems to be resonating with the country, it is with me. Trayvon was carrying snacks and trying to catch the second half of the All Star game. Skittles and iced tea. Basketball game. He had a brother. A Sunday afternoon. So, so wrong.
It wasn’t mistaken identity, it wasn’t gang turf-related, he wasn’t holding a toy gun or anything that looked like a gun.
Additionally, there’s not the usual gray area that comes with police involvement: No stressful overtime, no suspect refusing to comply, no itchy trigger-fingered rookies. This was a vigilante police wannabe who wouldn’t qualify to be a mall cop playing Wyatt Earp.
What makes this different is that it is nearly impossible for anyone to come to any other conclusion than Trayvon Martin was killed because he was black. By the grace of God, this will be the critical mass turning point we need to finally cross over to a post racial America. That can only happen if the left and right in America resist their pretensions, fears and knee jerk reflexes, and do what is right and just.
Conservative leaders need to be brave enough to call this murder exactly what it is and get behind Attorney General Eric Holder and the Justice Department.
There can be no passivity or gentle words.
Republican leadership must drop their faces and show the heart and compassion which thrives within most conservative Americans. From Speaker Boehner down to local Sanford and Florida officials, Republicans need to proactively offer the Department of Justice and the Obama administration their support and resources.
Zimmerman must be arrested and the police and city council held accountable.
It is incumbent upon the left and black leaders to use this moment to actually move forward, and not as an opportunity to line their social justice organizations’ coffers or get face time on TV.
This tragedy must not be used for posturing which only serves to hold America back and perpetuate the anger already there. This is not about voting blocks and entitlements. This is about realizing Dr. King’s dream and not obstructing it for the sake of political power.
This should be the touchstone moment for race in America.
So far, with little exception, the right in America has been disappointing, remaining largely silent or displaying awful timing, like John Thune (R-S.D.), introducing concealed weapon legislation this week in the Senate.
Boehner has been silent, as has Senate GOP leadership.
Florida Republican Allen West has officially endorsed the DOJ investigation.
GOP presidential hopefuls Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have offered tepid comments.
The right gets a D grade on this.
Sadly the left has thus far been par for the course: Democrat strategist Karen Finney has blamed Rush Limbaugh, Santorum and Newt for creating the environment which led to the killing.
Louis Farrakhan has predicted retaliation soon.
Al Sharpton is at his sabre-rattling bull-horned best.
For these knee-jerk reactions, the left gets a D-.
But there is still time to get this right. The right can get tough and get behind Eric Holder. The left can dial it down and remove the angry political and violent rhetoric, and make their message about the victim.
Trayvon Martin might not have died in vain. He could be a martyr for a better America. Let’s see if the left and right are capable of meeting in the middle…That would make this one very different.
About T.J. McCormack
Sharpton and Faraklan are as noisy as they are irrelevant, as they lack the ability to impact policy. It’s heartening to see West get behind Eric Holder the investigation. It’s a step in the right direction. Hopefully both sides can take a step towards the middle. We get through this together, or not at all.
JFB
I’m not sure where you have gotten all your “facts” for this story but there’s a big black hole in your story. There isn’t any proof that he was killed because he was black. That’s your opinion.
It is an OPINION piece…
So, no, he wasn’t killed by a neo-Nazi who simply killed him because he’s black. However, the situation that led to his murder was because of his race. We don’t know ALL ofthe facts but it’s safe to say the reported “fucking c**ns” comment WHILE ON THE PHONE with the dispatchers. That was recorded. Race indeed had quite a bit to do with what happened.
The problem that I find with this piece is that it seems to imply that both sides are responsible for a lack of resolution to this country’s problem with racism.
I can state from my experience as a gay man that the other side is largely disinterested in finding any common ground when it comes to gay rights. I discern a similar attitude from the other side about racism. Practitioners of both homophobia and racism seem to exhibit a strong sense of denialism.
If you want to talk about knee-jerk responses, homophobes and racists tend to rush to the “I’m not a bigot” defense without any reflection whatsoever.
What might actually be frustration over inaction and perpetuation of a dangerous but fixable problem might look like “saber rattling” to those who may not live their lives in perpetual danger. But for some of us, it’s a human response to the tradition of excuses, blaming the victim, and do-nothing-ism that always seem to arise from avoidable tragedies like Trayvon Martin’s death. There may seem to be “something different about this one” but there’s not anything different about this one. It’s yet another example of the suspicious death of a minority that will likely result in nothing changing – regardless of what happens with Zimmerman.
Please tell me how we can find common ground with those who have drawn a firm line in the sand and REFUSE to own up to their role in the polarization, dehumanization, and rampant victimization of unpopular groups. But don’t make a false equivalency. There is a difference between fuming over a senseless death and refusing to take responsibility for creating a cultural view that permits the wiggle room where senseless deaths are sometimes sensible.
Gary, I find it interesting that you sold choose the sabre rattling reference. Of course the rattler I cite is Al Sharpton. It’s also interesting you should be talking about your experience as a gay man. Finally, you talk about homophobe racists…Please go to this link and experience the all-of-the-above disgusting words of the ever-vile Rev Al: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/03/13/Al%20Sharpton%20Slut-Gate Scroll down and find the quotes where he seems to set a record for use of the word “nigger”. He threw in a little anti-Semitism for measure. It is stunning that the left has not rendered him persona non grata. If we are ever to mve forward, Sharpton must be removed from the Mount Rushmore of the race issue.
Well T.J. I find it interesting that you choose to sift through my carefully thought out post to find things to nitpick about. I also find it interesting that you presume to think I need to be educated about Al Sharpton. I find your response incredibly insulting and condescending. You speak as if you hold the key to solving the race problem in America when your side IS the problem. Finally, your reply links to the site of Andrew Breitbart, a man notorious for spreading hateful, distorted, and polarizing misinformation that plays a large role in our polarized community. That his site continues to spread his toxic hatred even beyond his death is informative, as is your linking to the site amidst your plea to “move forward”.
Well looks like I’ve got another opportunity to totally self-promote again: http://goodmenproject.com/guy-talk/tolerating-intolerance/
Which, the only reason I’m pointing to my article is to say that sometimes you gotta give a little in order to see real change. Sometimes the way to move forward is to move beyond laying blame. In this case, it’s perhaps more important that anyone who held similar views as Zimmerman eventually reject those views, than that they ever actually admit that they helped contribute to the cultural dynamic that lead to this horrible event. i.e. is it more important for a racist to admit s/he’s a racist, or for him/her to no longer be a racist?
That is my rational, mature, unemotional response. On a more personal and visceral level I totally agree with what you’re saying here, Gary.
Heather, if I understand you correctly, I think you may be misunderstanding what I mean. I don’t think it’s possible to no longer be a racist without first admitting – or at least internally recognizing – that one is in fact a racist. We can’t control our own impulses and prejudgments if we don’t recognize we have them. Also, looking at the larger problem of the social framework that contributes to harmful misconceptions of others: we have to also tackle the systemic problem of racism, homophobia, sexism etc.
I admit to having certain prejudgments about conservative Christians. Having been violated in so many ways by members of that group, it’s hard not to lump them all together. But the difference is that I recognize and I try to self-correct. That self-correction is difficult without first admitting there is a social tendency toward discrimination and that one cannot correct one’s personal tendency to discriminate without an internal dialogue – and hopefully an external one as well; because again we still have the systemic problem to deal with. People don’t become racists and homophobes in vacuums. There are factors that shape and enable such attitudes.
The problem I have with the above piece is that – in my view – it pretends to have the solution but ultimately dilutes the seriousness of the instigators by saying “well both sides do it.” We can’t cure the sickness if we can’t find the cause of the sickness. I mean the real cause, not the kind that only leads to comfort without action.
“I don’t think it’s possible to no longer be a racist without first admitting – or at least internally recognizing – that one is in fact a racist.”
Ah yes, I completely agree with this. I thought you were more calling for that recognition to be more public, or saying that recognition should be the focus. So yeah looks like we just had a little bit of a misunderstanding, there.
That’s the whole issue right there. People can’t disassociate individual actions from the group. All gays, blacks, Christians, Muslims, men, women, etc. are like this…Is this genetic or what? Because most people I know have some form of this ailment. I missed out on the 40 inch vertical leap gene, but I got the non-hate gene. I think I got the better of the deal.
Whoa whoa whoa whoa! Gary, I genuinely think our back and forth has fallen victim to the tendency the written word has to be misunderstood as there is no inflection or body language to modify the words…I had not one condescending thought or feeling as I wrote my reply to you. As I re-read it, I can absolutely see where you could have picked up a hint of insult.
That being (genuinely) said, whatever your opinion of the late Breitbart, the Sharpton compilation they did was 100% actual verbatim quotation backed up by audio. A fact is a fact, regardless of where it is published.
Finally, you chose to ignore what I feel is the crux of my point which was that a hateful, racist, homophobe, anti-Semite has NO place in any legitimate conversation about healing.
My plea move forward is sincere.
As far as facts being facts, and this is going back to Breitbart, facts can often be presented without context. It may be a fact that Sharpton said those things, but what was the context? Breitbart was notorious for posting things out of context (Shirley Sherrod is a good example). His website continues that tradition. And believe me, I know a lot more than I can reasonably fit in a message.
As for your view that Sharpton has no no place in a conversation about healing, that logic would shut out the vast majority of the population. Most of this country has some sort of prejudice, whether it’s racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, or you name it. The only way to move forward is if EVERYONE is in the conversation – especially the perpetrators.
We cannot move forward until we can acknowledge that we are a society sick with prejudice, learn what causes it, and figure out how we can eradicate not only prejudice but what leads to prejudice in the first place. That can’t be done until, for starters, we recognize that people like Al Sharpton – despite whatever their faults may be – have a legitimate right to be angry about acts of racism, especially when it leads to murder. Al Sharpton is in the movement not just by being black but by his activism. He can’t be shut out of a debate that involves himself.
If we were going to play that game, I would say that because you write for Fox News, which is known for misinformation, that you can’t be trusted and shouldn’t be part of the conversation. But since I think Fox News is part of the problem (though I’m sure you would disagree), it must be part of the conversation. That includes everybody over there, even, I hate to say, Geraldo Rivera. Believe me, I had some choice words for his blame the hoodie commentary.
So even though you claim your plea to move forward is sincere, moving forward still requires examination, diagnosis, and treatment. While Al Sharpton has made mistakes, I would not exclude him from the effort. If nothing else, he has demonstrated an immense sense of social justice and has a lot to bring to the table.
I am glad that this case is being investigated by many responsible higher up levels of law enforcement. However, ask yourself this: How stupid do you think Zimmerman and the local cops really are? Do you really think Z. would use racial slurs on a 911 tape? By all accounts, the tape is kinda fuzzy now but Z. had no reason to expect that in advance. A semi-intelligent person would never say anything self incriminating like that to a police owned tape recorder. The Sanford PD had plenty of time to review and rethink the case as pressure mounted nation wide. They had to have known their shoulders were going to be looked over on this one. Are they so incredibilty stupid that they would manage this case as wrongly as you state all the while knowing that it was going up to the States AG, Grand Jury, and the US DOJ as a package that will make them looks like fools forever? Just why would sign up for that? Why they would all torch their careers to protect Zimmerman?
If the Sanford PD are not that stupid it means they know things that explain their actions reasonably well and they expect will come out.
I applaud Congressman West and hopefully Herman Cain can join in and shame the party I mostly align with into taking a stand on this. Unless there are really significant facts not yet released, local law enforcement tried to sweep this under the rug, thanks to DoJ for stepping in here. I’m sick of the right not calling out this sort of thing. I expect folks on the left with a career and livelihood invested in race politics to be true to their interest. The republican legislature and the gun lobby need to have the spine to speak up when it’s for the good of all Americans. That from someone who expects to vote GOP this November. The memory of that young American deserves better than this.
Rick
There are significant facts that the mainstream media are ignoring. There may be more that under reported.
In virtually any state, regardless of having stand your ground laws or not, it is lawful self defense to use force if you are faced with physical aggression that is potentially life threatening. There is at least one witness(a black person) who went on the record as saying that Martin attacked Z and knocked him down as Z. was walking away. And that Z. was the one calling for help and who had no way to retreat.
If that stands, there is not going be any proscecution of Z. It makes no difference that
1. Z was told by a 911 operator to stay in his car. There is no authority in that he must obey.
2. Martin was a “child” of 17. He was apparently 6ft 2in. It matters even less if Martin closed the distance and knocked Z. down first.
3. Z. followed Martin for a while. It is not illegal to follow someone.
4. Martin was talking to his GF beforehand.
5. Much of anything else.
Lots of folks are getting set up for a disappointment, imho.
Here’s the thing, though…regardless of whether it was self defence or not, Zimmerman should have been arrested. Like, okay, let’s pretend for a moment that we discover that Martin had attacked Zimmerman or something…a teenager still ended up dead. Zimmerman should still have been arrested and charged with manslaughter.
I have little faith that the whole story is coming out either, that’s why I qualified my original statement. In both the big tragedies in the recent news, the original perpetrators were angry white guys. Only when that favored narrative proved inaccurate did our unbiased journalists actually report the facts. Either way, I agree with Heather, a minor was killed and by all appearances the shooter got a pass. There was sufficient (even if questionable) evidence to retain him in custody, if the facts in the case are really that weak then he’d be released quickly. Regardless of the facts, now he’s going to be charged under the federal hate crimes laws just to satisfy the media and political machine.