Americans are to be applauded for coming together to decry the senseless and heinous murder of young Trayon Martin. This is a case where there was no justification for the murder of 17-year old Trayon, no justification for allowing the self-appointed vigilante, George Zimmerman, to walk the streets for so long without an arrest, and certainly no justification for the Sanford, Florida police chief, Bill Lee’s staunch and defiant defense of Zimmerman where the evidence showed, witnesses stated, and the whole world could clearly see Zimmerman was dead-wrong. There is a saying -"Three strikes and you're out." The actions of those entrusted and charged with protecting and serving the Sanford community show us that these folks are completely out-of-touch with even the most rudimentary sense of discernment, justice, and concern for the welfare of the public.
The Million Hoodie March is a commendable movement. It is in-step with the natural evolution of peace demonstrations. As opposed to a disruptive or destructive message, the American public chose to don hoodies as a means of protesting this outrageous miscarriage of justice. Some sent Skittles to police-chief Lee who eventually had a 'crisis of consciousness' that resulted in him stepping-down temporarily. There is simply no way he could satisfactorily respond to questions that are being raised about his professionalism and character, in light of the gross mismanagement of the people in his charge and this case in particular.
Tragedy has a way of unifying the human family in our resolve to see change for the better. Still, I could not help but think that something is missing from this and other movements whose aim is to expose the injustice suffered by the community at the hands of its leadership. If a problem keeps presenting itself perhaps the solution employed is inadequate for satisfactorily handling the problem. Every few months, some innocent teen is gunned-down at the hands of a 'peace officer'. We speak-out. We march. We protest. Then, it happens again. This has been a recurring cycle for many, many generations.
So, are there some 'next steps' that could be employed in ending this cycle of tragic shooting deaths that are the result of the senseless abuse of power? Certainly! I would humbly submit that the embrace of such would constitute an evolution in our social interaction as a species. Before determining the choices available to us, I think it necessary to take a careful look at where we are. What characterizes who we are, our behavior, and what could be termed 'the current level of our collective consciousness' with respect to guns and gun violence?
What does our allowing the continued manufacture of weapons and ammunition that are eventually used to kill other members of the human family say about us? What does the fact that we continue to celebrate the promotion of violence in our media say about us? What does our prevailing attitude about 'getting them' before they get us say about us? When and from where have we adopted this attitude about other members of the human race – that their lives are expendable? Do we not all feel pain when it is inflicted or the hurt and sorrow that accompanies the tragic loss of loved ones?
Given his prejudice, hatred, and distrust of African-Americans, George Zimmerman should never have accepted or been allowed to maintain a position as ‘peace officer’ in that neighborhood. Still, if we look at the history of our species on this planet, we clearly see that conflict of a tribal, ethnic, and racial nature has plagued us for thousands of years. It should not come as a shock to us that Zimmerman had not evolved beyond that behavior himself when we can plainly see that humanity has not evolved beyond it. Simple observation is proof that pigeons are more prone to fight other types of birds than to fight with their own. Most dogs are more likely to attack dogs of other breeds than to attack their own. So, is it sensible to be more outraged that George Zimmerman (who is not black) killed a black man than we would at the killing of black men, women, and children at the hands of other black men day-in and day-out?
Why are black Americans killing one another at such alarming rates? Further, why is there no outcry in the black community commensurate with the heinousness of crimes within and throughout our own community? I think this is a valid question in light of the fact that hundreds-of-thousands of people (many African- Americans) rallied for justice for Trayvon. Where is the rally for a cleaner, more peaceful, more productive black community? Again, I understand. Fear and love are motivators. Something about this handsome young man touched us. And, where we don’t see the faces of the thousands of silent victims who fall to gun-violence each year, this event became a national news story. So, none of this is to state that the community should have been less vocal about Trayvon, but we could stand to be more vocal about black-on-black and black-on-anybody-else crime too. Killing is wrong – period.
Let's re-focus for a minute. As Americans, there was no collective outcry against the injustice suffered by the Afghani families at the hands of the American soldier who went on a rampage killing fifteen people - mostly women and children early in March 2012. We seem to have an 'us versus them' mentality, where we could care less about what happens to them because they are not us. So, the death of ‘them’ is tolerable. I think we can all agree that as a collective, we don’t ‘feel’ for one another in the way that we should. Post 9/11/2001, we were all on high alert. There were fears that planes could fall from the sky at any moment. We needed to protect those we loved. So, we budgeted for TSA agents and air marshals. Flash-forward to today, millions of Americans are groped and mishandled in airports daily. Yet, we allow non-commuter planes to criss-cross our skies daily forming X's and O's, dumping chemical stews only a chemist could appreciate. The dominating emotions are fear and love. These emotions drive us, even to take action against ourselves. Where no one is stoking the flames of ‘fear’ or pulling on our heart-strings, we often find a way to live with anything that has become the status quo.
To be American is to exist with quite a few very, obviously contradictory realities. More Trayvon Martins die at the hands of people who resemble Trayvon Martin than people who look like George Zimmerman. And, we focus more energy on seeking justice where one or two individuals are concerned than on solving the problems that plague the collective. An ad featured on Baltimore's mass transit system reads "Only a punk would hurt a dog." In response, I could not help but think - only a fool would hurt another human. So, again, we have to take a sobering look at just how evolved we actually are in contrast to how evolved we might claim to be. At the root of George Zimmerman's corruption is the fact that he considered himself to be better than Trayvon. He placed a far greater value on his life than on Trayon's life. At the core of police chief Lee’s corruption was that he placed more value on Zimmerman's right to liberty than on Trayon's right to see justice served. At the core of America and our world's corruption is that we allow for invidious cultural and class-distinctions.
So, the first step toward a solution is to realize that we have not yet evolved enough to perceive the oneness of the human family. Certain persons may have evolved individually, but as a collective we seem to be running on that old operating system. Well, the second step toward an evolution in our collective consciousness is to realize the need to stop lending our support to ideas that are counter to our human 'right to life'. This is challenging, because humans have as part of our nature ‘animal instincts.’ Part of what it means to be human is to accept the ideas of ‘fight’ and ‘flight’. The question is – can we evolve beyond these concepts to embrace something better?
Where there is suffering and gross injustice, we must cry-out. Still, greater sacrifices are demanded of us if we are to turn the tide and realize a day where there is no violence on our planet. Humorist and humanitarian, Dick Gregory, is just one example of someone who has dedicated his life to making that greater sacrifice. Not only does he speak out, he sits-in, fasts, and uses the popularity he gained a comedian, civil rights activist, and cultural critic to give more toward the evolution of human consciousness.
Now, whether we inherit a 'violence gene' at birth is uncertain. Still, have you ever noticed that young children seem to realize that we have a relationship with money and guns from birth? A year-old baby will toss the bottle and the rattle from the high-chair. However, you will notice that the same baby keeps a death-grip hold on all dollar bills. Many toddlers, boys especially, will realize early on that playing 'cops and robbers' and getting the bad guys is just something we do.
So, whether it is genetic inheritance or a combination of that and other factors, we have to admit - violence is simply something we do. And, that is an absolutely sad thing, because the Americans who say "I am Trayvon Martin" realize that where Trayvon Martin died yesterday, another Trayvon will lose his life today, and the next will die tomorrow. I mean - it is only a matter of time before an over-zealous cop shoots some kid in the back, a deranged, gun-wielding lunatic shoots up some school, or some over-stressed, exasperated parent kills the children. So, rest in peace, Trayvon Martin. It is bitter-sweet that your short life has to be another call to consciousness for the rest of us. Perhaps, we are one day closer to the moment where we embrace this ultimate challenge we face in our evolution as a species – that of allowing others the same right to life that we hold dear.
James Will Power. Copyright. 2012. James Power is a writer and metaphysics lecturer. He can be reached via e-mail at: jameswillpower@gmail.com
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