Fear of unknown caused Martin’s death
To call Trayvon Martin’s killing an act of racism is an oversimpli cation of an emotionally complex matter of the heart; one which fears racial pro ling and bigotry, whether socially or from within our judicial system. It oversimpli es why young black men in this country feel targeted by police, or by business owners who follow them around expecting them to steal, or by a system that assumes a young black man is dangerous. Blaming racism ignores the hopelessness and fear peddled by race hustlers in our nation, while giving credence to their paranoia and anger at the same time.
The commentaries from the so-called “experts” have been innumerable over the recent days since the George Zimmerman trial ended in Florida, with each successive tendencies to quickly judge, and even dislike, the unknown.
It’s why Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
It wasn’t racism that killed Trayvon that night, although it persists in our society. It wasn’t the declining importance society places on the sanctity of human life, although it is eroding. Nor was it the glori cation of violence and drugs through pop culture, even though we continue providing a marketplace for their movies and music.
It was fear that killed Trayvon on that fateful night. It was fear of the unknown that caused George to carry a loaded weapon on the streets of his neighborhood in his pursuit of the unknown, and it was Trayvon’s fear of him that caused them both to engage one another. It all disastrously resulted in the misjudgment and overreaction of them both.
But that’s how fear works – often causing a response and dealing with the consequences afterward. You see, creating fear is an unconscious process. Our response to that fear goes down a couple of paths at pundit, explaining more passionately than the last, how the jury verdict represented racism and not justice, or vice-versa.
People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
In fact, it seems that one’s degree of satisfaction with the jury verdict is directly proportionate to whether or not the decision vindicates your own beliefs and perceptions. But, as you know, trials don’t serve that purpose. A trial seeks only to ascertain the truth of the matters in issue and to apply the law, accordingly.
It isn’t about whether Florida’s laws are fair and just or to the degree that racism persists in our nation. The jury verdict was about two people who, under different circumstances, would not have made the foolish, immature decisions they did. Two people whose parents, had they been alongside them that night, would have never have allowed them to behave like they did and would have said, “Stay in the car, George, and wait for the police,” or “Keep walking, Trayvon, and go on home.”
Underneath the whitewash of racism in this needless loss of life from that fateful night is just plain old fear. It’s the fear of the unknown. The fear of those who are different, and our unconscious desire to divide the world into “us” and “them.” It’s our hardwired the same time: One is the “take no chances” response, where you have to make a decision right now.
It’s the “ ight or ght” dilemma. The other response path is more thoughtful and academic; it delivers a more accurate interpretation of the fear, but takes more time in doing so – often more time than folks in George’s or Trayvon’s shoes can afford to gamble with – and the results can obviously be deadly.
And as a nation, we need to pray for courage, especially now. As Mufasa explains to Simba in “The Lion King,” courage is doing what is right in spite of being afraid. After all, it is almost impossible to love our neighbors when we’re scared of them.
Fear caused the loss of Trayvon’s life that night. But it is fear, whether based on race, class, religion or economics, that will continue to divide our nation, create despair and cause countless more lives to be lost – unless, and until, we can drown out the noise of the politicians and pundits peddling it.
Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman and attorney. He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in The Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by email at [email protected].
