In 1955, Emmett Till, a fourteen-year-old African
American boy, was brutally murdered by a group of white men who beat him, shot
him, and threw his body into the Tallahatchie River. The men defended their
actions by claiming that Till had 'disrespected a white woman.' In 2012,
Trayvon Martin, a seventeen-year-old African American boy, was brutally
murdered by a member of the neighborhood watch of a gated community. The
neighborhood watch coordinator defended his actions by claiming that Martin had 'behaved suspiciously.' Both Till and Martin spurred the nation in an impassioned
rally to reconstruct cultural divisions and put an end to racial oppression. Why
then, in our current and “post-racial” society, was Martin killed just last
year?
It is easy to see why Martin has been
referred to as “the Emmett Till of our generation.” And, though the motives behind
the Martin case are still currently in dispute, this comparison has some value;
it is true that both of these deaths occurred as a result of racial divisions
(regardless of what happened after, Martin would not have been shot had
Zimmerman not initially followed him). However, some individuals believe that
this comparison does the Civil Rights Movement an injustice. On a CNN
news article covering the event, one person commented, “Please do not compare
crimes of humanity where groups of beings repeatedly beat one another to a one
shot, possible mistake on an aggressor.” And another stated, “[Till’s] death
was a result of hatred… Trayvon Martin’s death was an unfortunate mistake, but
a mistake nonetheless… We crossed that bridge a long time ago…”
Personally, I think these comments are
inane. In regards to the first one, Martin was still shot and killed, despite
the fact that he was unarmed. Zimmerman chose to point the gun at him and pull
the trigger. Is murder not a "crime against humanity," regardless of what scale? And, regardless of whether not the final shot was truly an act of self-defense, it was no mistake that Zimmerman followed Martin unnecessarily in the first place. To
the second, while I cannot say whether or not Zimmerman acted out of hatred, I
think referring to Martin’s death as a simple, “unfortunate mistake” is
extremely disingenuous. This individual also claimed that we as a society “crossed
that bridge long ago,” referring to the master narrative-approved notion that
racism is obsolete. Therefore, it would be unthinkable to consider that Zimmerman could act out of racial
hate. Clearly, as many posts on this blog have shown us, that is entirely
false. Racial tension is still prevalent, and African Americans still do not receive the
same rights that privileged whites do.
What do you
think? Is Martin’s death comparable to Till’s? If not, why? If so, why is
history still repeating itself over half a century later?
I definitely agree that Martin's death is comparable to Till's. This comparison does not do the Civil Rights Movement an injustice, but rather proves its relevancy to race relations and society today. The successes of the Civil Rights Movement cannot be ignored; however, naive statements like, "We crossed that bridge a long time ago," perpetuate the master narrative and belittle the movement's importance. While accusing Zimmerman of acting solely out of racial hate may be extreme, completely disregarding race as a factor in Martin's death is ridiculous. Martin's murder shows us that the issues surrounding the Civil Rights Movement are still very relevant today.
ReplyDeleteMartin's death is comparable to Till's in the sense that it is a racial issue of hate prevalent in the United States. You would think that our society has progressed; however, when we don't know our history, it is doomed to repeat itself. Obviously, Zimmerman housed racial ambivalence and stereotypes of African Americans. Like many other whites, there is still a sense of superiority to Africans Americans due to the system of white supremacy. Although we have come a long way, we still have quite a bit to progress as a nation.
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on to address those comments on the article. Both generally agree with the master narrative approved version of history. It would boggle some peoples minds to realize that racism still exists. Especially if you read the comments on any controversial article or blog post. However, what makes this tragedy more complex is that Zimmerman is not the "white" killer anymore. If I remember correctly, he is of hispanic heritage. It is still true that Zimmerman used racial profiling to kill Trayvon Martin, but what does it mean now that he is not the same 'white' killer as before? Does it change the issue at all? I do not think that Zimmerman's race has any importance on his act of murder, but it does raise interesting questions about how profound our racial stereotypes extend.
ReplyDeleteI agree as well that the killings are similar. From my memory of the media coverage and public response in the aftermath of Martin's death, there was outrage that a black person in the twenty first century could be murdered on the basis that he looked suspicious considering that this was exactly what happened in the twentieth century whenever white people justified their actions for killing blacks. Even if Zimmerman is of hispanic heritage as long as he grew up in the United States, I think it is likely that he inherited aspects of racism ingrained in western culture. If Zimmerman is hispanic it also points out that racism is certainly not limited between whites and blacks only. People of color have stereotypes for each other too.
ReplyDeleteI would not say that history is repeating itself over half a century later, however I do think that Martin's death is comparable to Till's. Both were unnecessary murders heavily tied to racism and racial profiling. We seem to be fine with admitting fault relating to things in the past, but not when it comes to the present. Almost everyone will agree that Till’s death was due to racial issues, however not everyone will admit that Martin’s death was as well. Although we have come a long way since initial racial segregation, things are still not perfect. There will always be more work to do.
ReplyDeleteMartin's death is comparable to Till's and I think that the worst part is that in both instances there are those who say the killings were justified. I don't think that we should say history has repeated itself but that history unfortunately has always been repeating itself. Things like this continue to happen all over the United States without much uproar. Every time that a cop or civilian kills a young black boy it's like declaring open season on all of us. Linked fate is real and Treyon Martin and Steven Askew are proof.
ReplyDelete