Chaumtoli HuqI hear you when you say don’t be surprised by the acquittal of George Zimmerman.
With the lingering stench of racism, even the enlightened of us can begin to forget that our criminal legal system is rotten at its core. Desmond Meade, President of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition reminds us of the pungency of Florida’s Jim Crow atmosphere.
We are all lulled by the sweet scent that a trial can bring justice. However, our legal system is limited by its own laws – here, stand your ground – that permitted Zimmerman to chase Martin and then claim self defense when he shot him dead.
So, it is the sudden odor of those laws employed to reinforce powerful ideologies of white supremacy that surprise us and remind us that black bodies still remain a fruit for the crows to pluck.
It is astounding that stand your ground laws exist although studies have shown that such laws increase homicides. When laws do not serve its stated purpose, but rather are applied selectively, then, those laws need to be changed. Marissa Alexander did not get the benefit of the stand your ground defense. She faces 20 years in prison for defending herself against her abusive husband, and yet, Zimmerman is acquitted.
Yes, there have been other sons lost, other individual tragedies of institutionalized racism, that weave together a collective quilt of mourning by mothers who have lost children to violence. This is not only about Trayvon Martin, just as the civil rights movement was not only about Rosa Parks.
But sometimes, an event so starkly reveals the ugly insides of our legal system, that pushes it so far outside of humanity, that such an event catalyzes a much needed conversation around our laws’ relationship to justice. Such an event hopefully propels us to organize into action. Trayvon Martin provides that opportunity to speak up on racial injustice in America. The case should also be a call for a “justice check-up” on our legal system. We must look at the ways in which our legal system reflects a broader pattern of devaluing lives of young men of color.
Each of us will react differently to the verdict based on our life’s experiences and I imagine it will widely range in emotions. In Killing Rage, bell hooks reminds us that sometimes suppressing our anger in the face of injustice can be harmful for social change. Instead, she urges us to channel that rage in a constructive manner for positive change. I hope those reactions to the acquittal will finally fracture the mirage of law and justice and open new spaces for change. Such change will involve repealing stand your ground laws and other laws that seek to criminalize youth of color. But, it should not stop there. Mobilizing for change should put our whole criminal legal system on trial.
For this, we would need to draw from varied social movements – youth, labor, women’s – as we have always done.
Strange Fruit popularized by Billie Holiday, was originally a poem written by labor organizer, teacher, and activist Abel Meeropol. A song written so powerfully about the entrails of racism by a Bronx based Jewish activist reveals not only the possibilities for multi-racial organizing for justice for Trayvon but for a larger mass based movement for social justice.
