Zimmerman/Martin
I am not going to say a lot about the George Zimmerman verdict. I think this is one of those instances in which white people need to STFU and spend their time & energy in supporting roles. Like, this is not a time to make this about me, my ideas, my feelings, etc. Instead, it’s a time for me to support, affirm, and amplify the power of the political emotions (rage, grief) and arguments expressed by my friends and colleagues’ of color. Let them occupy center stage on this one. To that end:
Here is Roxanne Gay’s “syllabus” of things to read relevant to the verdict.
Here from Brittney Cooper, here from Gary Younge, and here from Keguro Macharia are more articles. Those are just a start.
The only other thing I’ll say is that I do not regularly enough appreciate what a gift my students of color are. Society could have disposed of them, but they made their way into my classroom (which is no assurance of their ongoing safety), and I am exceedingly lucky to have them as my students. Most of them are exceptionally fabulous (NY, DS, SC, EK, AW, XH, NB, AA, DR, TT, KW, LG, BB, CL, AA, y’all know who you are:) ).
if you want to understand the pernicious effect that white supremacy has had on the world, watch a documentary called 500 years later. as i said before, racism is a white (European) problem, cooked up with the complicit help of the brilliant minds of the 17th century enlightenment. it was the scientific community, through their eugenics abomination, that codified white supremacy and white privilege in the body politics and in the white (European)mindset of entitlement; white women are still white. i had so many sisters tell me that these women were mothers and that they would empathize with and unarmed boy being shot through the heart. those women on the jury saw what america has always saw since the African male was first brought to these shores… something to be feared. is there any hope for white (European)america? i don’t know. the only thing i know is that they are a dwindling population headed the way of the neanderthals. they better start travelling the road towards love, before we rush to get on the highway towards hate.