Photo courtesy of Krista Kennell/Zuma Press/Corbis at The Guardian
On Saturday, George Zimmerman was acquitted in killing Trayvon Martin.
There have been protests because of outrage and grief, even though to most the verdict came as no surprise. After some time, vocalizing your anger can only get you so far. You feel obligated to do something, and there is certainly strength in coming together to achieve a greater purpose.
"We are all Trayvon Martin."
But to claim so is to turn him into an idea, rather than a person. We have every right to feel disappointed, frustrated, or upset. But for most of us, to say we understand the plight of Trayvon Martin is to cheapen the very experience we are protesting.
To pretend for a moment that I can understand what it's like to be a black male growing up in America would be tremendously naive, insensitive, and misguided. As a person of color, I might better understand the implications of Zimmerman's verdict than my white peers: both the consequences of institutionalized racism and the deep-seated microaggressions built into all of us. But I will never understand what it's like to be black.
To say, "We are all Trayvon Martin" is to ignore the privilege that we are not. We are alive. We were not dubbed threatening because of our race and then killed as a result.
In that regard, perhaps the Tumblr post that has been finding its way around the internet touched on the right idea: We are all George Zimmerman - at least in the sense that we are a part of a society where George Zimmermans can thrive. If white and non-black people wish to help, we must be self critical before we are self righteous. And we certainly have no right to be self congratulatory, no matter how "aware" of our privilege we may be.
This is not to say we shouldn't feel anger, or sadness, or frustration about the case. We can, and should, let ourselves feel the weight of this tragedy: not just for the verdict, but for the loss of a seventeen year old boy's life.
Trayvon Martin was not worthless. His life had value.
Sometimes, injustice fuels our anger: It makes us want to fight. But sometimes injustice makes us tired. To be a person of color in moments like these is to be reminded that we are still considered less than, and that there is much to be done.
Here at Within Color we are keeping Trayvon Martin in our thoughts and sending all our best wishes to his family.
