I am NOT Trayvon Martin

In the wake of the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin in Florida, many people have been searching for ways to express their anger, outrage, confusion and sadness.  Just in case you are totally out of touch with all forms of communication (in which case you are probably not reading this), Trayvon was a 17-year-old African-American young man who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a (supposed) member of a neighborhood watch group in a gated community in Florida.  Zimmerman, who is white, called police to report a "suspicious" black man walking through the neighborhood.  He then went on (against the police dispatcher's instruction) to confront Trayvon, who was carrying only a bag of candy and a can of tea, and ultimately shot him to death.  Zimmerman claims the shooting was in self-defense, and no arrest was made.

My point in this post is not to argue the case.  The Justice Department is now involved, and will, I hope, get to the bottom of what happened that night.  Nor do I want to debate the pros and cons of the "stand your ground" law, although I think that discussion is absolutely necessary.  Before this incident took place I was unaware of this concept, much less that a similar law exists in my state of Indiana.

No, my concern is the reaction to this case.  People are understandably shocked and outraged that in 2012, a young man has been killed for what appear to be racially-motivated reasons.  He was black.  He was young.  He was male.  He was wearing a "hoodie."  Therefore, in George Zimmerman's mind, he was up to no good.

Protests are springing up all over the country (and even outside the country) to decry the handling of this case by the local police.  In an attempt to show solidarity with Trayvon's family and with the cause of justice, people of every race, every age and both genders are donning hoodies and declaring:  "I am Trayvon Martin."

Well, let me state unequivocally that I am NOT Trayvon Martin.

For one thing, I'm too old.  If you saw me limping down the sidewalk in your neighborhood (probably needing to use a walker), you would feel not threatened, but sympathetic.  You might rightly conclude that I am a pudgy middle-aged person trying to lose some weight before she finally commits to having knee-replacement surgery.

Secondly, I'm a woman.  Correctly or not, that means that I'm not seen as a threat to a man.  In this case being female would be an advantage.  If George Zimmerman confronted me, even if I were wearing a hoodie, it would probably be to ask if I needed help finding an address.

But the most important reason that I am not Trayvon Martin is that I AM NOT BLACK.

Because I am white, I can go into a store and not have the employees assume that I am there to shoplift.  Because I am white, I do not have to worry about being pulled over for driving through a white neighborhood.  I do not hear car doors lock as I pass by, nor do I see elderly white women grasping their purses more tightly when they see me.

Being white in America is an advantage.  I did not ask for it.  I do not want it (or rather, I want everyone to have it).  In fact, it makes me angry.  But there it is - I cannot deny the reality of it.

Back in 2007, Michelle Obama was asked if she was more concerned about her husband's safety now that he was running for President.  Without hesitation, she replied, "As a black man, Barack could be shot walking to the gas station."

This kind of talk makes many white people uncomfortable.  We want to believe that racism is part of the past.  We want to blame people like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson for bringing up race and stirring up unnecessary conflict.  We want to believe that now that we have passed the historical milestone of electing a black man as President, we have entered a "post-racial" era in which everyone is judged, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, "by the content of their character."  But that is a naive and ultimately dangerous conclusion.

Ask any black person.  They will tell you that the day after Barack Obama was elected President, they were still being followed around by that store clerk.

Being black in America is a disadvantage.  And being young, male and black can be a deadly combination.

This is not about whether anyone is consciously racist.  It is about the racial attitudes that permeate our society and that influence, on a subconscious level, the judgments we make about others - especially about those who do not look like us.

The fact that these attitudes are subconscious and subtle does not mean they cannot be changed.  But you can't change what you do not acknowledge.  So I encourage my white brothers and sisters to think about the advantages you enjoy because of your skin color. (Most of them boil down to being given the benefit of the doubt; or in legal terms, to being presumed innocent.)  And do not be thwarted in this effort by feelings of guilt.  You did not ask for this advantage - it was given to you.  The only way to change this dynamic is to bring these attitudes up to the conscious level and confront them. 

I am NOT Trayvon Martin.  And the sooner that I and other white people realize that fact, the closer we will be to resolving the problem of race in America.