Talk about a smoking gun. If earlier Facebook pictures of Trayvon being your average wannabe-gangsta teen didn't send chills down your spine, this video will give you near-epileptic fits and an urge to confront and possibly shoot a Negro of your very own.
Trayvon Martin's death, the initial response of law enforcement and the courts to his death and the outcry that was needed to bring Zimmerman to something approximating justice should speak volumes as evidence that we are not, contrary to popular belief, a "post-racial" society.
Abagond lays out a few reasons why most of mainstream American society, including well-meaning liberals who purport themselves as open-minded and inclusive of all cultures, still hold on to the belief that racism is well and truly dead and that any unfortunate incident with racial undertones is likely to be "mere misunderstandings" that have been "blown out of proportion." It's an interesting read, to say the least. Abagond also lays out how calling out racism has turned into a much bigger crime than the actual racism itself.
Until something's done about the institutional and structural components that allow racism to maintain its existence and until more Americans acknowledge racism without diving into a rather paternalistic and/or defensive response over it, there's not much hope in changing things for the better.
I won't promise to stay on Zimmerman's trial like white-on-bleached-and-processed-rice, but I will keep abreast of any major developments.
