This is what I tell people concerning Social Media in general though:
My Facebook is meant for entertainment. I don't debate, nor create a forum for debate. I don't condemn, nor create a forum for condemnation.
If someone else wants to do that with theirs, then that's totally fine, but I personally have made a decision to not engage in those things.
Well, anyways, I really feel as though these outbreaks are due to a lot of misconceptions and a failure to understand someone else's perspective. There is obviously a racial barrier still existent in our country that has shown itself evident in these two events:
1. President Obama's re-election
2. The George Zimmerman Case
I'm going to be honest and say that I have seen the true colors of a LOT of people: black and white with these two events alone.
- People were so adamant about voting "biblical values" when they themselves were not acting biblical.
- People were causing rage and losing friendships with people because of differences of opinion and perspective.
I personally was not upset about the Zimmerman verdict. At first, I was more so insensitive and frustrated of the reactions of practically the entire country. Primarily black people. I mean, cases like this happens all the time (black and white). Since I study media, I have come to understand that it's all about mind control. The media literally tells people what to think and feel and how to act. Especially when people don't know how to do their research.
I was frustrated because there are no outrages about black on black crimes. There are so many times when a black person is guilty, gets sentenced and people know the man was guilty. Then they go "Free my man (or other words) Boosie!" I'm serious. I was frustrated because I started to crave skittles but had to refrain from buying them because I felt as though someone would've assumed I was protesting or something.
So either way, I'm like "how are we going to expect people to take us seriously, when we do things like this?"
I tend to keep an open mind and objective approach to news. I mean, the ONLY people that know exactly what happened in the events leading up to Martin's death is George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin. Martin could have very well threatened Zimmerman's life. Or he could have very well been innocent. None of us know. Either way, the family of both Martin's and Zimmerman's are changed. Forever.
I'm not going to even go with the legal side of things and my opinion on the verdict. I'm not a lawyer and I'm not going to pretend to be. I don't think that anyone of us should pretend that we are either.
As someone who has taken the time to get to know many people of many different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, I have come to understand that everyone has a different perspective of situations like these. A different perspective of life in general. Over the years, I have learned that you don't ask a Puerto Rican if they're Mexican. I've learned that you don't ask a Korean if they're Chinese or what "part" of Korea they are from. I've learned that a white person can be African. I've learned that I ONLY want an Indian or Arabian person making my sandwich at Subway, only a Chinese person for Chinese food. Or a Dominican person blow out my hair (that maybe a poor humorous attempt). Maybe some of you don't know these things, and don't understand the tension that comes with the misconceptions. A lot of the tension comes from the fact that there is a lack of understanding of a another's person's perspective. A lack of proper communication. A lack of discipline. A lack of attempting to understand.
These two events have seem to surface into a black-white issue where:
White people don't understand why it's a big deal
Black people don't effectively communicate why it's a big deal
Then there's a bunch of ridicule going on and people acting uncivilized and rude to people when they simply do not understand!
So, why are these things a big deal?
I am one of those people that can say that I have been very fortunate to have the upbringing that I have had.
I have 3 siblings. That are all from the same mother and father
My parents are still together after 20 years
I am less than a year away from obtaining a Bachelor's degree.
Me and a few cousins on my dad's side are neck and neck. But I will be one of the first (if not the first) to ever get that on his side.
I have never lived in the ghettoI have rarely dealt with racial attacks/slurs
But I can't say that for every person. Just to mention my "black" friends alone, that number is very small. Statistically in America alone, that number is almost non-existent. So I personally cannot relate to a large number of black people in America.
I have a lot of friends of various races and I personally like to keep it like that. But I'm asked sometimes by my friends about why these two issues are necessarily a big deal. While I personally am not emotionally affected by them like most people of my race are, I can't deny the fact of the matter that they do affect people. (Again, I will mention that my upbringing is rare.)
My parents grew up in a place where police officers badly beat black people.. just because they were black. My parents are 40.
My grandparents grew up during the time period of Martin Luther King Jr. During the time where white people killed black people. Just because they were black. Where they couldn't use the same bathroom, eat in the same restaurants, you name it. My grandmother is 60.
It was the time period where even Christians felt as though it was okay to do those cruel things. Yet now we have big pushes for pro-life which in some regard is a little ironic. Yes, things are changing, people are starting to realize more truth, but we still have progress to make. As people as a whole, not just race.
I could go on up my family tree.. but my generation through my family line has probably had little to no racial encounters. However, I do know several people my age who have dealt with it. Racism still exists to this day. While slavery ended in 1863 there have been so many legal difficulties for black people up until the 1960s. So you're talking about over 300 years of a struggle, compared to the past 50 years of progress.
- Having a black president is a big deal because for generations black people have felt inferior. To have a black president was something that people have been told for generations would NEVER happen. I'm not making this a political issue, you can agree or disagree with his policies all you want. That's not a topic of discussion right now.
- Having Zimmerman not being guilty was a big deal because there were times when the government have framed black men. Or have made more efforts for a man in the legal system that isn't black to be free than someone that was.
Because of the issues of racial treatment of the generations before mine, I can say that black people have developed a case of racism themselves. To be honest, black people today can be just as racist towards a white person, as a white person can be towards a black person today. I hear it often and have personally been guilty of it myself "don't do that, that's what white people do" or "why do you act so white" or maybe "white people are so nasty." The list goes on.
To put this in a more widely relatable perspective. Think about someone that is scared to swim. They go with their friends and they don't understand why that person is afraid of water. Sometimes they tease and ridicule that person without fully understanding why they are scared. After a while and over the course of their friendship, everyone will eventually come to understand that the person is scared of water because they have had a near death encounter with water. You wouldn't have understood that until the relationship is there.
That's how things are with black people in America. Things are like that for other races in other countries as well. I can't personally speak for them because I don't understand the perspective to a deep degree. After having generations after generations of bondage, there are just specific things that mean more to black people than most. It's just a matter of breaking through that barrier and trying to understand.
(I also believe that there is a significant amount of issues that are simply a spiritual battle. But, that is a slightly different topic.)
To those that think otherwise, there are black people that genuinely work hard for what they have. Whether it's a lot, or a little. I hear a lot of people dog welfare and food stamps like the only people that get them are being lazy. That's not true at all. I know people that have had to utilize them that work hard and just need the extra help. It's biblical. We are supposed to help those that are in need.
But there are people that abuse these things as well. I cannot deny that fact either. And to be honest, they will handle the consequences for that in due time. But to be honest, there are people of every race that do the same exact things.
When it comes to black people, in my generation, I will say that the majority of deaths involving black people are usually done by black people themselves. I can't deny that either. I also believe that when it comes to the next progress of black people as a whole, we do need to make a personal change.
Racism is not going to end while racism is still being fed.
Yes, people should demand respect regardless of what their race is. But people should also make sure that they are willing to give it back, even when they are not being respected. That's how we are to be judged by the content of our character. Everyone should understand what is offensive to someone and what isn't. Racism is a learned behavior. A person cannot be born racist.
To those of you that are black, I do understand the hurt that exists when you're doing right and are being still being treated unfairly just because of the color of skin. I understand how hurt some people may be with something like this case because, if you look through history the government has shown disfavor for black people. For generations. My generation is the first in this country that hasn't had to deal with a fraction of the generations before.
A white person, or simply someone that isn't black, of my generation is frustrated. Frustrations come from just simply not understanding. But then the frustrations come from lack of proper communication. Frustrations come from what seems to be a double standard. Are we (black people) holding a double standard? Understand the frustration, work through the frustration and help them understand exactly why things are the way that they are. Not in hatred, not in disrespect, and not in disunity.
We shouldn't react in hatred towards people. While we should not ignore the fact that racism exists, we should not continue to embrace racism. As a black person, a white person, a hispanic person, etc. We should not teach our children to hate people of another race. Or to feel inferior or superior. We should not allow someone to suffer for something that the generations before them have done. We should strive to break the stereotypes. We should strive to understand another person's perspective.
Our past should not negate our future. Not every person of a race is the same as every other person of their own race. But at the same time, don't act like a negative stereotype and get mad when someone treats you like that stereotype. While we wait for people to catch on to treating us with the respect that we deserve, we as a whole should begin to act like those very people worthy of that respect. It starts in our homes, in our mindset, in our actions.
I have learned this in one of my classes a couple of years ago. Jesus' family line was cursed. If you were to study through the genealogy of Christ, you would understand that very chapter in Matthew going through his family history is offensive to Jews, Israelis in general. Jesus was a descendant of some pretty messed up cultures. Who knows the very tension that people felt against him when they knew where He came from. Just from his background alone. But think about how He reacted towards them.
"Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
