Let Trayvon Martin bring us together
Trayvon Martin’s killing hurts. The fact that a young black man can be shot in a gated community under the guise of self-defense by a neighborhood watch captain who sought the confrontation is a travesty.
Justice may not be served in Florida where the incident happened, but we cannot allow Trayvon’s death to be for naught. Something good must come as a result of his killing. We must construct a society where simply being young and black does not constitute being dangerous and suspicious.
We must conquer the fear and racism that grips our society: racism that the civil rights movement has been unable to end, and fear that has been propagated by an ever increasingly violence driven media.
These two elements are the only way that I can make sense of the situation, and we can each do something to overcome our irrational beliefs in the overall evil of our fellow men.
I challenge each of us to find who we fear the most and go to serve them.
If I fear immigrants, I can volunteer at the English Skills Learning Center, Lutheran Social Services or with Communidades Unidas. If I fear the poor or homeless, I can volunteer at the Fourth Street Clinic or at The Road Home.
In order for us to create a better society, we have to stop fearing our neighbors and start getting to know them, and in any city, our neighbors are not just the people that live next door.
Find a safe way to meet the people you fear, and I guarantee that you will learn that they are just like you even when they appear to be different.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links updated Feb. 2016.
Justice may not be served in Florida where the incident happened, but we cannot allow Trayvon’s death to be for naught. Something good must come as a result of his killing. We must construct a society where simply being young and black does not constitute being dangerous and suspicious.
We must conquer the fear and racism that grips our society: racism that the civil rights movement has been unable to end, and fear that has been propagated by an ever increasingly violence driven media.
These two elements are the only way that I can make sense of the situation, and we can each do something to overcome our irrational beliefs in the overall evil of our fellow men.
I challenge each of us to find who we fear the most and go to serve them.
If I fear immigrants, I can volunteer at the English Skills Learning Center, Lutheran Social Services or with Communidades Unidas. If I fear the poor or homeless, I can volunteer at the Fourth Street Clinic or at The Road Home.
In order for us to create a better society, we have to stop fearing our neighbors and start getting to know them, and in any city, our neighbors are not just the people that live next door.
Find a safe way to meet the people you fear, and I guarantee that you will learn that they are just like you even when they appear to be different.
This article was originally published at examiner.com. Links updated Feb. 2016.