Are you your skin color?
The acquittal of George Zimmerman in the U.S. and the noted legal case, as a result of Zimmerman shooting the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin to death in 2012, raises so many more questions than it answers and the verdict truly gives me the chills.
I wasn't there that night when Zimmerman found the unarmed Martin "acting suspiciously" and therefore followed the young boy, not vice versa, even though emergency personnel in contact with Zimmerman urged him not to follow the teenager. I did not see with my own eyes how Trayvon Martin behaved when he walked home with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head to cover from the rain, that night in February in Florida. Some might say that I therefore should not speak.
But there is reason for me to speak.
Trayvon Martin was black. Zimmerman is not. Martin lived in the United States. I, currently, live in Sweden. My white skin color does not mean that I don't see the color scale racism that exists and dominates the world, where darker skin generates decreased social and economic benefits. I have felt physically ill when my boyfriend has been stopped and treated disgracefully and ridiculously by the customs on the way back from holidays, while I have been treated with much more respect, although both of us have been acting similarly when passing the passport control, with nothing to declare. The justification of the actions have always been referred to as “random inspections”, even at the time when my boyfriend was the only black guy in a big crowd of white passengers.
I have horrified overheard my former neighbor suspiciously and sharply question an old friend of mine, who happens to have darker skin color than me, with the phrase "what are you doing here!?" when he rang the bell on my door. I have been present when a colored friend has been asked to show off his backpack on the conveyor belt at the grocery store, while I have not been requested to do the same, although my open bag would have been much easier to use for overturning the products from the store shelves in. I have met an unknown man on a street in Marseille who urged me to avoid spending time with my boyfriend. "Beware of him. People like him cannot be trusted,” was the advice I got from the stranger, whom I obviously trusted much less than the man I had lived with for years.
I have been stopped in bar queues. Never when I've been alone or accompanied by light-skinned people. But several times when I have been in the company of colored friends.
So many so obvious situations that no one would ever get the idea to claim that they depend solely on our misconceptions of the situation, incorrect interpretations of racism, etc. if the same person had been there, right then, at the same time as we were.
It is what it is, is what they say when it's not what it should be.
Some say one can never fully understand the feelings racism cause, if one has not been personally exposed to the phenomenon. I say one can never fully understand another person's feelings, even if you share the person's skin color. But, if you share origin you share experiences, some might say. I say origin is individual and not nation-based. We are all brought up carrying different stories with us and bringing different experiences on the road of life. I do feel that nasty feeling of sickness in the stomach when racism shows me its ugly face and therefore I do claim that I do understand the emerging disgust. I take racism personal when it's affecting people I love and care about. And I take it personal when it's affecting people I care about despite not knowing them. I am because we are.
The problem is that racism is so difficult to prove. You can always refer to the misconceptions of the situation, the person's misinterpretation of the experience, that the victim is being paranoid and cynical. If racism was easier to evidence it would result in a significantly increased number of legal cases and following convictions. If innovation is truly in the human interest then the challenge to find ways to prove discrimination would be taken on.
My skin color is officially considered to be white. And white privilege brings disproportionate and excessive benefits in this world's societies. It therefore might seem rather unwise of me to discuss issues that may reduce white privilege. If it were not for the fact that I am not my skin color.
Was Trayvon Martin his skin color?
Are you yours?
I wasn't there that night when Zimmerman found the unarmed Martin "acting suspiciously" and therefore followed the young boy, not vice versa, even though emergency personnel in contact with Zimmerman urged him not to follow the teenager. I did not see with my own eyes how Trayvon Martin behaved when he walked home with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head to cover from the rain, that night in February in Florida. Some might say that I therefore should not speak.
But there is reason for me to speak.
Trayvon Martin was black. Zimmerman is not. Martin lived in the United States. I, currently, live in Sweden. My white skin color does not mean that I don't see the color scale racism that exists and dominates the world, where darker skin generates decreased social and economic benefits. I have felt physically ill when my boyfriend has been stopped and treated disgracefully and ridiculously by the customs on the way back from holidays, while I have been treated with much more respect, although both of us have been acting similarly when passing the passport control, with nothing to declare. The justification of the actions have always been referred to as “random inspections”, even at the time when my boyfriend was the only black guy in a big crowd of white passengers.
I have horrified overheard my former neighbor suspiciously and sharply question an old friend of mine, who happens to have darker skin color than me, with the phrase "what are you doing here!?" when he rang the bell on my door. I have been present when a colored friend has been asked to show off his backpack on the conveyor belt at the grocery store, while I have not been requested to do the same, although my open bag would have been much easier to use for overturning the products from the store shelves in. I have met an unknown man on a street in Marseille who urged me to avoid spending time with my boyfriend. "Beware of him. People like him cannot be trusted,” was the advice I got from the stranger, whom I obviously trusted much less than the man I had lived with for years.
I have been stopped in bar queues. Never when I've been alone or accompanied by light-skinned people. But several times when I have been in the company of colored friends.
So many so obvious situations that no one would ever get the idea to claim that they depend solely on our misconceptions of the situation, incorrect interpretations of racism, etc. if the same person had been there, right then, at the same time as we were.
It is what it is, is what they say when it's not what it should be.
Some say one can never fully understand the feelings racism cause, if one has not been personally exposed to the phenomenon. I say one can never fully understand another person's feelings, even if you share the person's skin color. But, if you share origin you share experiences, some might say. I say origin is individual and not nation-based. We are all brought up carrying different stories with us and bringing different experiences on the road of life. I do feel that nasty feeling of sickness in the stomach when racism shows me its ugly face and therefore I do claim that I do understand the emerging disgust. I take racism personal when it's affecting people I love and care about. And I take it personal when it's affecting people I care about despite not knowing them. I am because we are.
The problem is that racism is so difficult to prove. You can always refer to the misconceptions of the situation, the person's misinterpretation of the experience, that the victim is being paranoid and cynical. If racism was easier to evidence it would result in a significantly increased number of legal cases and following convictions. If innovation is truly in the human interest then the challenge to find ways to prove discrimination would be taken on.
My skin color is officially considered to be white. And white privilege brings disproportionate and excessive benefits in this world's societies. It therefore might seem rather unwise of me to discuss issues that may reduce white privilege. If it were not for the fact that I am not my skin color.
Was Trayvon Martin his skin color?
Are you yours?
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