This post is part of the BW series “Comin’ Straight Outta Your Monolith”. Normal BW postings resume in April.
A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across a post on Madame Noire that talked about “Black Privilege”. Granted the post was very tongue-in-cheek, it simply was to look at Black stereotypes in a happy, positive way. Such as getting athletic scholarship (nothing too wrong with that buuut I prefer my race to have more braniacs and less pole vaulting) or getting the pass to fly off the handle.
The one entry that bugged me though was number 4: “We wish a [insert expletive here] would, but they don’t”. It reads:
“Decades of Cops and other shows that perpetuate violent stereotypes associated with blackness have instilled a level of fear into a good amount of people in society. And despite the fact that over 90 percent of crime is intra-racial, that fear makes others hesitant to jump into conflict with a sista (or a brotha).”
Yep. That violent stereotype that makes other races “back off us” is responsible for a dead 17 year old right now. I don’t think it’s privilege when the only thing it graces you with is an early grave. At least White privilege allows you to murder a harmless 17 year old and even the police will cover for you despite all the condemning evidence and still folks will say you’re innocent…despite stalking and gunning down someone with a pack of skittles and some iced tea for a weapon.
Thing is, stereotypes can be taken in jest but as far as Black stereotypes goes, we don’t really have much to celebrate. Not everyone likes to feel like they’re in the one race depicted to be evil incarnate. And when that belief is applied, it can be fatal.
Violence is one of the biggest stereotypes that our race has and can create a bevy of reactions. It can create a fear response from other races where they assume we’re going to pop off at any given moment so they steer out the way of us and get concerned when we start to get into their hobbies or fandoms (ask Weeaboo Stories). It also can create suspicion that we are likely to turn violent at any given moment and that in itself can create a fight response in the other race.
As many of you are aware, Trayvon Martin was killed in February when he was returning home from the store bearing only skittles and iced tea when he was tracked and gunned down by George Zimmerman because of the stereotypical assumption that Trayvon was up to no good and would be likely to fight if confronted so he opted to hunt Trayvon and shoot him as he, Trayvon, plead for his life. Still Zimmerman walks free. Though I personally believe if Zimmerman does not get arrested, he’s pretty much a dead man walking, I think that this shows how terrible “harmless” stereotypes are. Post-racial America? Yeah, right.
So this column is going to be mega short. Instead, please sign this petition to have psychopath Zimmerman behind bars because justice must be served and it’s beyond time for this to change. A teenager was killed for simply Walking while Black because of these stereotypes.
This is tiring and this has to stop.
If you have Twitter and would like to give Trayvon Martin’s mother some condolences, here is her twitter. (Thanks Ms. Lilypads)
And oh, look, a dox on Zimmerman (Thanks internets)
Black Witch 
I am so glad that you posted this. If it weren’t for you and Aisha of By the Broomstick, I’d believe the witch community was thoroughly desensitized toward the Trayvon Martin case.
Zimmerman is a hispanic, not white.
Thanks. I didn’t exactly know how to come at the whole thing without sounding all ragey and such but since the Witch community is mostly White, it would make sense sadly to as why Trayvon’s case may not be heard. Especially since a lot of White Pagan blogs rather stay out of potentially sticky topics such as race and unjustified murders.
Actually, I had learned that Zimmerman is half Peruvian, half White but he identifies as White. Though it does not easily pigeonhole him as pure blood European White, I would still classify it as White privilege given that tho to you and I he’s not 100% White, he could pass to someone else less knowing. It’s not a cut and dry Black vs. White this time but leans close to it.
Simply put, the case enrages me, and I’m dismayed about the silence on the part of the Anglo witches because they’re the first to scream discrimination if someone calls them devil worshipers. Not to mention that some of these witches were ready to hang Michael Vick because of his canine enterprises.
If Zimmerman identifies himself as white, then he needs to reread the history of US. Because I have a great respect for you and your blog, I won’t use the terms that I would use in everyday language. I’ll put it this way; let’s say that you have a bunch of dogs, but you need one or two dogs to keep the other dogs from attacking you. You make the one or two dogs think that you accept them because you need them to keep the heat on the other dogs. When you no longer need the dog, you let him know that in your eyes, he’s a dog to be kicked like the rest of the dogs. This is an analogy of the culture that dominates. Zimmerman knows that he is a coward, but he doesn’t seem to understand how the dominant culture shapes the idea of race, and uses that idea to its advantage. In a sense, it is a black and white thing, with one dog wanting very badly to be perceived as white.
Thank you for having this dialogue with me. It’s refreshing to have an honest exchange with a witch who is ready to go there.
Alors, again, I’m not surprised. There’s a whole unpacking of race and gender right there. Though Paganism is a little better than the mainstream religions when it comes to race and gender – especially gender – still those notions can bubble up. And then there’s the fact that a lot of Pagans are animal lovers but still you can tell when there’s some race injected into the rage if the writing shows it.
Yeah, Zimmerman’s pretty much caught up in the White’s man perspective and has no clue how he is perceived by others because to him, it’s just a non-issue. He has been sidelined – hm, not sidelined, but I think the better word is “blindsided” – by the stereotypes and all the other terrible things he learned and had reinforced about Blacks and it came out through his 9 mil. A lot of how different races learn about Blacks is through the White perspective and what they learn makes us sound less human and more simply evil in whatever way, like gremlins.
This case makes me very upset as well. It happens very often, yes, but this is just outstanding how it proves in clear cut manner how dysfunctional and biased the justice system in. That and proves totally clearly how we are definitely not living in a post-racial America because if that were the case, Zimmerman would have been arrested already and even commited to a psych ward for his paranoia.
And I did take note of the twitter, I shall simply give it a shout for others to know about and post it on this column. I also found a dox on Zimmerman and will be linking to that as well.
Not to be a pest, but I just found out about Sybrina Fulton’s twitter URL. Will you please tweet her a message of support and love? My heart is still heavy with grief over this.
https://twitter.com/#!/SybrinaFulton
Hi thankks for sharing this
Yeppers