Howard University Responds To Trayvon Martin’s Death With A “Do I Look Suspicious” Video Campaign

3 thoughts on “Howard University Responds To Trayvon Martin’s Death With A “Do I Look Suspicious” Video Campaign”

1. I appreciate the video, but I find it quite disingenuous that no one talks about the black on black crime which is decimating the young black male population.. no one talks openly about outrage at the 6 year old girl who was murdered by indiscriminant shooting by two rival gangs on the southside of Chicago… and statistically there are significantly MORE murders done by blacks AGAINST blacks than any other race. NO one is nationally outraged that Chicago has reached the 100 plus mark of homicides already this year. I don’t hear the POTUS speaking out about that. Please explain why this is a greater outrage than what is occurring every day in many cities around the country. It is a sad thing that happened, but I find the moral outrage aimed at perhaps the wrong direction. I’m not saying that what happened was right, but it sure seems like a potential lynching against Mr. Zimmerman…and all before a trial has occurred. Wasn’t this behavior detested by blacks years ago?

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   1. Not sure where you live, but in Philly, there are a lot of black and latino christian leaders working hard to address the gun violence that goes on in our city. The reality is that when folks work to fight against gun violence, the media does not pick up on it like it does other stories, because there isn’t as much money in that story. Nonetheless, I never try to put one injustice up against another, as a reason to quiet down and redirect focus. The are both wrong, and they both equally deserve our standing up against them. The Trayvon case has been made a big deal, not only because of this particular death of this young boy, but also because it relates to larger systemic issues that the Black community faces. Issues that interconnect, race, violence, and the justice system.

      As for the comment about lynching, it has actually been the opposite. MOST of the black community have been decrying the fact that this needs to be decided in court rather than by local police offers acting as the judge and jury over Zimmerman’s guilt. There are some fringe groups who have made other comments or taken other actions, but that is not representative of most black people. Also, I do talk about the new black panthers approach in another post, which you should read. No lynching is taking place, lynching was when white american grabbed and killed (primarily) black men on whim or because of racial anxiety, with the purpose of intimidating the black community. That was the whole purpose of the KKK and the White Citizens Council. Such things are not happening now in reverse, so it is a bit insulting to take such serious history and water down and domesticate those terms, which is what happens if we say that Zimmerman is being lynched. I am hoping he is arrested and sees his day in court.

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      1. I’ve recently had a similar experience with white appropriation of the word “lynching.” It was used by a prominent South Jersey politician to describe us, Rutgers-Camden constituents, who protested the takeover of our campus due to political interference. Ironically, this white senator used the term “lynch mob” to refer to a campus led by an African American Chancellor and serving a large population of students of color. Many faculty and students pointed out his offensive use of the term, which, as you say, trivialized our nation’s painful history of racial oppression. Of course, no apology was offered.

         I blogged about it here: http://risforrace.blogspot.com/2012/02/maybe-it-is-about-race.html