Trayvon Martin's death calls for serious conversation about race and guns.
The most important issue isn't "bad people." It's flawed culture.
The question isn't "who sinned, this man or his parents?" It's "who's this demonic power," this force that makes us think things we'd rather not think and do things we'd normally not do?
White racism, associating black skin with inferiority and danger, is one of the most pernicious demons we face as Americans.
It isn't "natural." It was created to justify morally unjustifiable slavery. Without African slaves, there would have been no tobacco industry, no sugar, coffee, rum, cotton or garment industries, no 17th through 19th century American economy. Those who benefited told themselves slavery was "good for the slaves" who were "naturally inferior," dangerous to society and to themselves if not controlled and "cared for."
Racism survived the Civil War because it justified the social-economic legacy of slavery, the dismantling of Reconstruction and the enforcement of legal segregation. It lingers in a softer form today because it gives an unthreatening rationale for striking disparities of wealth, incarceration, education, employment, health and housing that persist in America.
Vestiges of white racism affect everyday experiences.
I had a friend in seminary, one of the least intimidating people I've ever known. Despite my long hair, long beard and grubby jeans, I never was stopped by a cop or asked by another student or spouse to show my ID when I walked across campus at night. My friend was stopped and questioned frequently.
I'm white. He's black. I "belonged" there. He was treated as if he didn't. He was "suspicious." He literally had to keep proving his right to be there. Our experiences were not unique.
Black people in America typically experience racism as a relentless, pervasive, systemic reality. White people tend to experience it as isolated events -- a racist joke from an embarrassing uncle, a shocking comment, a blatant act of discrimination. It's no surprise that when black people talk about systemic racism, many white people don't get it or feel like they're being accused.
But white racism is systemic. It affects us all.
Malcolm Gladwell's book, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking," stems from an experience with unconscious racial profiling. Gladwell is the very light-skinned child of a white father and black mother. He looks "white." He normally kept his hair short, but let it grow into a kind of "Afro." He started getting more speeding tickets, was more frequently pulled out of line in airport security and searched. Once, he was walking down a familiar street when a police van veered onto the sidewalk. Officers surrounded him. He fit the profile of a rapist, they said. They showed him the sketch and description of a man who was much taller and heavier, about 15 years younger than Gladwell. Other than the Afro, the man looked nothing at all like him! When he pointed this out, they took a closer look and agreed.
Gladwell didn't think the cops were hard-core racists. Something deeper was at work here than conscious racism.
The answer, he found, lies in basic survival. Our brains respond instantly to danger by identifying stereotypical patterns. Psychologists call it "adaptive unconscious." Though we often describe it as "intuition" and contrast it with "reason," it's in fact the brain's super-rational power instantly to match behavior, movement, and facial cues to patterns set by genetic and cultural transmission and personal experience. So we react immediately, before danger rises to the level of conscious awareness.
The problem is that our "gut reactions" are shaped in part by a culture still tarnished by centuries of white racism.
Gladwell describes a computerized test that measures unconscious racial associations.The idea is that we make connections more quickly between pairs of ideas that are already related in our minds than we do between pairs that are unfamiliar. Researchers measure both how people answer and how quickly they answer, down to a fragment of a second.
The test has been taken online by millions of people.
By large majorities, more than 80-percent overall, participants are more likely to have negative implicit associations for black people and positive associations for whites. About half of the 50,000 African Americans who had taken the test when the book was written showed pro-white, anti-black associations! Gladwell, appalled by his own response times, took the test repeatedly, always with the same result. His response times showed a pro-white bias.
White racism is not a "white problem" or a "black problem." It affects us all. It's a systemic problem.
It's a special problem when concealed weapons enter the equation.
Police officers and soldiers get extensive, intensive weapons training to help them control "gut reactions," instant reflexes in dangerous situations.
But states don't require much training at all for private citizens who carry concealed weapons outside the home.
Some require no training. Some require no permit! Most require a half-day course that covers basic gun safety and teaches -- as the ads highlight -- how to avoid legal liability when you shoot somebody.
These laws up the ante, heighten the danger, increase the chance of a tragic reflex. Since our reflex responses are shaped at an unconscious level by racist stereotypes, this is a formula for disaster.
I grieve for Trayvon, for his family and friends.
I grieve for George, for his "gut feeling" that this young man was "suspicious," for his failure to heed the dispatcher's advice, for the fear that made him grab his gun and follow Trayvon, for the reflex response that made him kill.
And I'm angry at lobbyists and politicians who exploit our fears, who pass laws that encourage decent people with little training to play police -- not to defend their homes, but to take their guns into public spaces and "stand their ground."
The tragedy of Trayvon and George is the failure of American political culture. It's cynical, it's dangerous, and we've got to change it.
Elliott Negin: ALEC's Other 'Deadly Force' Campaign to Kill Climate Initiatives
If I would have had a gun on me I would not have flagged the kid down because there is too much risk of losing the right to carry.
30 some years ago I saw a half dozen black guys beating the snot out of a white guy in a major city. I was carrying, but I had no idea what the circumstances were. The poorly dressed white guy may have just burned them on a drug deal. I stopped my bike 20 feet in front of the fight and alerted a dim-witted officer to the incdent. He looked up and said, "I'll get over there as soon as I finish writing this traffic ticket"
This reassured me that it was best not to jump in.
One of the points stressed at Front Sight and other self-defense training centers is that if you shoot someone in self-defense you will face strict legal scrutiny and will almost certainly be sued by the perp or his family. "It's going to cost you tens-of-thousands in legal fees."
Why do people always seem to feel the need to wrap reality in justification and excuses? With apologies, Doctor, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with almost every word you wrote after "Trayvon Martin's death calls for..."
"And I'm angry at lobbyists and politicians who exploit our fears, who pass laws that encourage decent people with little training to play police -- not to defend their homes, but to take their guns into public spaces and "stand their ground."
The tragedy of Trayvon and George is the failure of American political culture. It's cynical, it's dangerous, and we've got to change it."
You were doing OK until you got to this part:
"Police officers and soldiers get extensive, intensive weapons training to help them control "gut reactions," instant reflexes in dangerous situations.
But states don't require much training at all for private citizens who carry concealed weapons outside the home.
Some require no training. Some require no permit! Most require a half-day course that covers basic gun safety and teaches -- as the ads highlight -- how to avoid legal liability when you shoot somebody.
These laws up the ante, heighten the danger, increase the chance of a tragic reflex. Since our reflex responses are shaped at an unconscious level by racist stereotypes, this is a formula for disaster."
Statistics gathered in recent decades simply don't justify your predicted "formula for disaster." Statistics indicate that CCW permitted persons are among some of the most law abiding, trouble free citizens in the nation.
I also take issue with: "And I'm angry at lobbyists and politicians who exploit our fears, who pass laws that encourage decent people with little training to play police -- not to defend their homes, but to take their guns into public spaces and "stand their ground.""
I'm a tad "angry" at people who think that my life is less worth protecting in public.
Is your life worth more at home than it is at the local convenience store? Please explain.
Public protection currently is supported by citizens through agreement for tax funded police and military forces. Should we call 911? or Should every citizen white, black, hispanic push to become CCW certified? Do people tend to support rights to self defense, because of prior situations in which police and military forces were not available immediately, or engaged in behavior similar to the case of Kelly vs Paschall?
Should we call 9-1-1?
Yes. Absolutely. A good response time will have an officer on scene in 3-5 minutes. 3-5 minutes can be a loooooong wait when the feces hits the wind moving device.
Should everyone push to become CCW certified?
Absolutely not. It's a personal choice and a HUGE responsibility.
Why do people support rights of self defense and/or decide to CCW?
I can't answer as I would be presuming to speak for others. I would assume there are a myriad of reasons that guide different people's choices to carry.
However, trying hard to complete the "test", I grew frustrated and couldn't help myself and stopped pressing all those K's and D's for Mitt Romney and Herman Cain. What was the point of that section and does my inability to finish it indicate ADD or latent racism?
2.) Plus; my cheap camera tells the date and time a picture was taken. It can easily be proven when the picture was taken.
3.) All that blood and no stitches??? Where are the x-rays showing the noes has ever been broken???.
We shouldn't be looking at what one man did, we should be looking at the culture that produces these situations time and again. It's not just about race, it's about putting guns in people's hands who clearly aren't emotionally responsible enough to handle them.
If you thought I was referring to one particular person, you should read a little slower and type a little less.
The First step is to take advantage of high profile incidents.
The Second step is to marginalize legal gun use and historic precedent.
The Third step is to make some guns seem more dangerous than others, even if they are not.
The Fourth step is to register every sale.
The Fifth step is a robust “Shall Issue” permitting process.
The Final step is to encourage and incentivize the forfeiture of arms.
I wish she were somewhere else. Far from other houses.
She is incredibly paranoid. I would not be surprised at all to see her house covered in police tape and hear that she flipped out and shot someone for chasing their pet dog across her lawn. She has sent girl scouts packing at gun point.
If she has to be here, I'd rather she be unarmed. Her fear is so strong that it has, in my opinion, completely compromised her judgement. She calls the police at least once a month about something or other.
She's sort of a female Zimmerman.