You’ve heard it said that the first casualty of war is truth. The same can be said for many high profile stories when they hit the media.
In the case of Trayvon Martin, the Florida teenager shot to death by George Zimmerman, the facts remain uncertain, but that has not stopped any number of interest groups, individuals and even vigilantes (the New Black Panther Party) from adopting their own truths.
Jesse Jackson quickly pronounced Martin’s death a defining moment in civil rights, much like the murder of Emmett Till. Martin’s death is a tragedy, and one that may turn out to be a racially motivated murder, but suburban Orlando in 2012 is a far cry from segregated Mississippi of 1955, when Till was tortured and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman.
But race-baiting demands hyperbole. Chanting “Let’s-wait-for-justice!” never serves as a rallying cry. As for the media, an individual tragedy is easier to report, and perhaps even more compelling, than deeper and more culturally significant stories about why black youths are targets.
Writer and commentator Juan Williams, who is black, points out in a column in the Wall Street Journal that nearly half of all murder victims in this country are black, and most of those victims are killed by other blacks.
“Where is the march for them?” asks Williams.
“Where is the march against drug dealers who prey on young black people? Where is the march against bad schools, with their 50 percent dropout rate for black teenage boys? Those failed schools are certainly guilty of creating the shameful 40 percent unemployment rate for black teens,” Williams writes.
The hoodie, like the one Trayvon Martin was wearing when he was shot, has become a popular symbol for many protesting the boy’s death, and what they believe is police inaction. Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush even wore one on the floor of the House of Representatives (resulting in his expulsion for violating the House dress code) and said, “Just because someone wears a hoodie does not make them a hoodlum.”
True enough, but as Juan Williams points out, the “gangsta” look and attitude perpetuated by the popular culture, including rappers and comedians, encourages others to look derisively at youth who follow those examples.
“All minority parents fear that children who embrace ‘gangsta’ fashion, tattoos and thug attitude will be prejudged as criminals,” Williams said.
But there is also fear in communities of young men who look, dress and act in ways that fit the cultural stereotype of a hood. How are the rest of us supposed to know whether the kids are a real threat or just faux gangstas who order online from cluburban.com?
President Obama, when weighing in on the Martin shooting, said if he had a son he would look like Trayvon. It was a touching, and I believe heartfelt comment that personalized the tragedy for many Americans.
Now everyone knows the face of Trayvon Martin. As Williams points out, however, the greater calamity is the overall condition thousands of young blacks in this country, whose names we do not know and whose lives will end as quickly and as tragically as Trayvon’s did.