We as a nation have this notion that there is only one way to tell and view a story which is only through our own point of view. Our lives and our experiences are individual to us, the more diverse the people, the more diverse the experiences. In this melting pot of ours, there are so many experiences that are different from our own and this causes misconception, stereotypes, judgment and misunderstanding.
The movie The Sum of All Fears is based on a book by Tom Clancy and is a great piece of fiction. Without giving the movie away a group of terrorists try to push the United States and Russia to the brink of nuclear war by playing up their misconceptions, preconceived notions, and their fears about the other.
Allow me to present to you our real version of this story, the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial in the killing of Trevon Martin. We all know the dividing lines to start with. Just like the Russians and the United States in the movie, this real version majorialy deals with African Americans and "White America". There is nothing more "nuclear" here than the state of race in the United States and yes the fear is on both sides.
For African Americans (which I am one of) it is the unjust criminal justice system that sends mainly African American males to prison in a higher proportion than other racial groups, higher unemployment, a higher rate of single parent households mostly led by unmarried women, and by far a higher murder rate of young African American males committed by young African American males. We also have fewer opportunities for justice and it is usually unlikely that a white person will be found guilty of murdering an African American than the converse. When an unfair or what is considered an unjust verdict is made like in this case or the Oscar Grant murder case that happened in my hometown, protest and riots ensue. Now take note that most of these people who riot, made the choice to riot before they arrived at these said protests and the media is there because they as well as everyone else knows that this will happen. After all of the rioting and the civil disobedience is over, we (through the media,) have a conversation about race (like CNN just had this week) and some action happens, but somehow we return to the status quo, because once the passion of anger and outrage passes, we become numb and inactive to more young African American males being killed and we remain silent.
For White America, my best guess (which all I can do since I am not White) is that they perceive most African Americans mainly young African American males as threatening, not intelligent, and lazy. What doesn't help the situation are the assumptions made upon African Americans based of reality and daytime television that African Americans are in and the "hip-hop culture" of baggy pants, 20-24 inch rims (which I especially detest), men wanting to be hustlers, gangstas, wanna be pimps, professional athletes and rappers, and the belief that every African American male is this way. Just to let you know, we all not this way and while this is prevalent in the African American community, we as African Americans have a responsibility to do what I would like to call "family business" to take care of these idiots that give us real men a bad name.
Here's where the fear comes in. When a young man wearing a hoodie can't walk home without the fear of being shot and killed because of fear, stereotypes, and misjudgements that he was grouped into. While I wear a shirt and tie to work almost everyday, like President Barack Obama said, this could have been me while taking a morning jog on a cold day. While these judgments still exist, there are forces that continue to divide us, the media, which points and counterpoints to delirium and the extremists on both sides that have no common sense and want to tear down walls instead of building bridges of understanding.
This ending must be one similar to one portrayed in the movie. Both sides must back down from their fears of the other and in time we just may start to understand each other.
Oh and one final thing, ALL life is precious regardless of skin color. Whether it be in Florida, Chicago, Oakland, Colorado, or Connecticut the families of those departed have lost a child, a brother, a father, or a husband. They suffer with their loss and that pain never goes away. I just hope that your family don't have to endure what the Martin family is right now.
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