Shooting death of brother Trayvon

Letter from America By Ken Mufuka

It is almost a month (27 days) since Brother Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot dead in Sanford, Florida neighborhood by a white vigilante, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is still enjoying his freedom as a US citizen, and were it not for the protests engineered by Brothers Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, Zimmerman would have been permanently off the hook.
The agreed facts are that Trayvon lived in this gated community of 53 000 residents. He was dressed in a hooded sweatshirt (covering his head somewhat), walking to his father’s house while speaking on his cellphone to his girlfriend, with whom he has a baby.
Though a third of the residents are black, the neighbourhood is considered white. A veteran reporter, Michael Muskal, who lives in Florida, came to this conclusion that; “Martin immediately appeared suspicious to a white person on patrol” because of his attire and because he was black. In any case, blacks are not supposed to live in a white neighbourhood.
In an incendiary statement, Jesse Jackson says that blacks are under attack, “targeting, arresting, convicting blacks and ultimately killing us is big business”. Black families are facing record home foreclosures and unemployment . . . the nations’ prisons are brimming with black faces all of which he says is premeditated.
President Barack Obama’s victory has “triggered a tremendous backlash” from racists.
Zimmerman, a Mexican by birth, changed his name, called the police about a black man walking through their neighbourhood. Though the police asked him not to confront Trayvon, Zimmerman would not let the matter pass. He confronted Trayvon, scuffled with him, shot him dead, and reported it to police who corroborated with him in fabricating some information.
A white woman heard the scuffle and gunshot and called the police. No response came and she was told to change her words on a statement. Those blacks are targeted by police, either when searching for marijuana, or speeding on the roads, or committing imaginary infractions, which are then blown-up, is not in question. Even if the police stop cars by numbers rather than by sight, white policemen will stop proportionately more blacks than whites as if they smell the colour of the occupants miles away.
Professor Aisa Hilliard, who spent well over 30 years studying the psychology of racism, came to the conclusion that while racism itself may be outlawed, the assumptions behind it are embedded in the American psyche so deeply that they transmogrify from the apparent to the subconscious. Zimmerman assumed, because of his racist attitude that Trayvon could not possibly be his neighbour. Trayvon walked into the stereo-typical maelstrom      by dressing like a non-compliant person.
Three years ago, I saved Master Kyle Hicks. After two years at Lander, no professor had time to carry on a civilised conversation with him other than give his grades to him without much discussion. When he came to my office, he was dressed in a red shirt, red tie, red trousers, red shoes and red stockings. I kindly informed him that in that non-compliant outfit, no reasonable professor would bother to entertain a learned discussion with him. He wanted to drop out of college.
Once I had convinced him to “dress like a civilised person” and the story appeared in a local newspaper, I was overwhelmed by white professors who volunteered tutorials, clothes, food and financial help. The point we are making is that our brothers of colour very often confirm the worst fears of racists by their non-compliant dress, undisciplined mannerisms and rebellious behaviour. This, however, does not justify Zimmerman’s behaviour. It explains the boogie man belief, embedded      in a South Carolina law of 1769        that describes a Negro as a lawless person, ignorant of all civilised      rules, untrustworthy and dangerous to the existence of family safety and probity.
A brother who walks with his red underwear showing, unkempt Rasta-farian hair and baggy trousers made for a man twice his size, confirm Hilliard’s unspoken systemic assumptions of the worst type of human being.
The situation is complicated. Here is the first scenario. Even if blacks are compliant, the racist mind and system has a way of ferreting out blacks for discrimination. A black professor at Harvard University was dragged out of his house, because a neighbour called the police about “a black man who is acting suspicious.” Surely the professor was compliant in everything American society regards as civilised.
The targeting out of blacks by banks aims at well to do brothers who are compliant in everything and yet they are exposed to usury and ruinous interest rates, intended to destroy them financially.
The other scenario is that there are many white people who have a conscience. This is expressed by adopting a black boy for tutoring and educational sponsorship. Kyle was the beneficiary of that conscientious white population. On graduation, he was offered three jobs as assistant manager of nursing homes at age 23.
President Obama joined in the debate. If he had a son, that son would look like Trayvon, and who knows, anything could happen because of his colour. The US takes the high moral ground in its foreign policy. Its treatment of blacks is atrocious, says Jackson.
Michelle Obama visited a departmental store incognito. A white woman, without asking whether she worked in the store, asked her to climb on a chair and access some goods she wanted.