Let’s talk a nice, light topic for a Friday afternoon: RACISM. Why racism? Because I heard something today that pissed me off. Here’s how it started. I’m driving to work listening to The Diane Rehm Show on NPR because she’s my girl and I have the same interests as those of my 70-year-old grandma. Today the panel was discussing the Michael Dunn case in Florida. If you haven’t heard of it then you’ve probably heard of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin case. If you haven’t heard of that than climb out from your swamp hole and join the real world. Here’s a summary of what happened in the most recent case: “Dunn, who is white, killed 17-year-old Jordan Davis in November 2012 after having an argument with him over loud music in a convenience store parking lot where Davis sat in an SUV with three young friends. Dunn fired 10 shots, including three at the SUV as it was fleeing” (The Huffington Post). The jury, who maybe misinterpreted the meaning of “a white man shooting after a fleeing car occupied by three black kids,” did not reach a verdict on the top charge of murder which resulted in a mistrial for that charge. The NPR panel discussed the Stand Your Ground law and the similarity to the Zimmerman case. I do not have enough authority to really comment on the integrity of the trial or the legal actions involved but I can look at the situation and all I can say is….really!? According to CNN, Dunn’s defense was that Davis had a weapon, either a gun or a lead pipe even though police reports indicated that the teens were unarmed. While I understand the importance of discussing these cases in a manor that gives equal consideration to both parties, I find it so infuriating to listen to any calm, unbiased dialogue about something that is so clearly an issue seeped in blatant racism. Davis and his friends were listening to loud music, sure, that might be annoying, but does that motivate murder? For most normal people, no. This was something much more deeply rooted. During the end of a slow lunch shift as a few of my coworkers and I stood around trying to look busy whenever a manager passed, two of my companions started what I can only call “Arab-bashing.” I can’t say I haven’t been in this uncomfortable position before. It may not always be about Arabs, other times it’s been about Asians, gay people, Indians, whomever…but I’m ashamed to say that I usually say nothing or just walk away. One coworker, will call him R, literally says, “Of all the races, I hate Middle Easterns the most.” Today I walked away again but I did say something first. I told them that my boyfriend is Arab. This wasn’t a lie, my guy is from Lebanon and he also happens to be awesome. I walked away to go refill somebody’s water cup and I was surprised to find R waiting for me when I got back. He wanted to explain himself. He said that the way Arabs tips is what pisses him off. When I replied that the few don’t represent the masses he went on a rant about how we give all of the money to Pakistan and then they shoot us. I really did just walk away this time. It made me sad to realize something about racism and, more directly, the Dunn case. The older a person gets and the longer they are isolated from the “other” the less likely it is that anyone can ever bring them back from the brink. Dunn’s actions weren’t an instinctual, defensive reaction. He attacked because something as simple as loud music triggered his anger at a perception of an entire race. Loud music = obnoxious black kids = thugs = everything wrong about America. It offended him in a deep part of his personality that has been conditioned by years of exposure to inaccurate ideas. How can the average person combat that in every day encounters? Am I right to walk away? When I engaged I was talked over. I could probably point out every flawed bit of information that R was spitting out but it wouldn’t change his mind in the slightest. It may seem like a huge jump from a few racist jokes muttered between coworkers to premeditated murder but it’s a progression that can happen. We can separate ourselves from the things that offend us and never attempt to understand. I’m happy I spoke up. But I also feel frustrated. I can see it from R’s perspective. He’s not well-educated and he most likely never will be. I doubt he’s left the state of Virginia more than a handful of times in his entire life. I get why he believes in the things he says, however wrong they are. But I can’t forgive him for it and I don’t want to go along like they don’t bother me. If I don’t speak up, I may not be pulling the trigger or telling the joke, but the damage is still done.
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