Petty prejudices....

This past couple of weeks there's been a LOT of hoopla over the Zimmerman case, and the previous blog was a commentary on the facts of the case, peppered with some of my own views.  Honestly, I had been on the fence when the whole thing happened.  When it first happened, I didn't understand what the kid was doing in a gated community.  Likewise, I didn't understand why Zimmerman didn't cease following the boy when told not to.  Of course, we didn't know that there had been several break-ins in the neighborhood.  They didn't initially tell us about the gated community.  The pictures of Zimmerman's face being smashed in were not released for several days after and many thought they were hoaxes, partially because of the timing and partially because--well, people are prejudice.  So this isn't about the Zimmerman case.  This is about prejudice.  Every single one of us suffers from some form of prejudice.  The definitions are as follows:

While we all accept #1 as the classic definition, the truth is #2 is far more accurate.  There's not a single one of us on this planet that can say that we don't have some sort of "preconceived opinion...favorable or unfavorable".   More importantly, #2 doesn't limit it to a preconceived notion "without knowledge, thought, or reason".  Often, our preconceived opinions, favorable or not, are based on experiences, teaching--whether thoughtful or reasoned out or not, or just sheer observation.  Doesn't mean that our preconceived notions are right or wrong, just that we already have them. 

We must start looking at our preconceived notions, our prejudices, and recognize that it just doesn't apply to black and white--African Americans and caucasian Americans, but across the board.  A hispanic man (someone called it brown the other day) is not a reason to blame "white" America.  Just doesn't make sense.  Is there prejudice still?  Absolutely, but that knife cuts both ways.   Several "whites" I know posted that Zimmerman belonged in jail.  They "know" he was guilty and that our country still tosses the "black" man under the bus compared to the "white" man.  Well, first, think about the fact that the President of the United States, for the first time in our great nation's history, is NOT "white".  Consider that Zimmerman isn't "white".  The black-white argument is moot, especially in this case.  Yet, so many "whites" are out there running around crying about prejudice.  Yes, they should be crying about prejudices.  Consider that they have all assumed the "black" kid had to be the victim.  None of them, even after a jury found Zimmerman innocent and the facts have basically been released to the public, even considered that they could've been wrong.  Their "preconceived opinions" of his guilt already solidified in stone.  Are we supposed to be a country where anyone, black, white, brown, purple, orange or otherwise, is guilty until proven innocent? 

Not only that, isn't it time we moved away from it being OK to make someone the victim sheerly on their color?  The OJ Simpson case?  What a travesty.  Nicole Simpson's killer has even bragged in public that he got away with murder, because we really didn't want to believe a famous, all star, black athlete would commit such a heinous crime.  But it wasn't his fame or all star athletic ability that was tooted off in front of a jury and the world.  It was the sob story that he was a profiled black man.  Poor OJ.  Instead of ignoring the color of the man and dealing with the crimes, he had to be innocent, framed, and victimized by the legal system.  We now know he was just a jilted lover with anger issues, severe anger issues.  I know, we all know, that the legal system has not always been fair to the black, African-American, community.  It's very well documented, and in the 1990s, there was a lot of history--particularly from the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s--that was dealt with in order to prove that the United States of America was making strides towards equality.  Bringing Medger Evans killer to justice and other trials were an important turning point.  Yet, these strides seem to have simply swung the pendulum the opposite way.  Now, a brown man can be accused of acting as a "white" man, and the "white" community is eating the pendulum.  Perhaps that might sound fair, what comes around goes around afterall, but the reality is that we as a nation should have no tolerance for that behavior.  It's not "reverse prejudice" as some whites would imply or the far right media would call it.  It's just good old fashioned shitty prejudice. 

Neither blacks, nor whites--or anyone else for that matter--should be letting race decide their opinion on anything.  All hispanics are not illegal aliens trying to steal jobs from good Americans.  All blacks are not ghetto thugs.  All whites are not "crackers".  Americans have made great strides in equalizing out the racial inequities.  It's not all the way there, but we didn't round up all of the Arab Americans and put them in concentration camps after 9/11.  Yes, there are still more black men in prison than white men, but that also has to do with environment.  It's hard for any child to grow up as a productive member of society when living in a poor part of any city.  Hope just isn't there and many of the community turn to gangs and other illegal organizations just to feel like "family".  That's not a color thing.  South Boston has turned out some pretty tough gangsters--"white" gangsters.  The prejudice that it must be all black is as niave as saying that Mexico doesn't have a cartel problem.  Race isn't the reason that anyone becomes a productive citizen or not. 

Unfortunately, prejudice is still alive and well in the USA.  Not like it was before, not even close.  But let's not try to dial the clock back to "punish" anyone of today.  Society needs to start recognizing it's not the color of the skin that determines a person's innocence or guilt.  It's the facts.  No color, no race, no preconceived notions.  Just facts.  Until then, we will be a nation divided over one of the most petty reasons conceivable.