Michael Dunn, Zimmerman & Michael Giles: Why Race Still Matters

The Michael Dunn case, George Zimmerman case, and Michael Giles case can be regarded as highly different, and yet in many ways they are the same. All were in Florida, all involved self-defense, all occurred recently, and all involved a gun. Michael Dunn, a white older male, didn’t get convicted of murdering an unarmed teenager “aggressively” listening to loud music. George Zimmerman, a half white half Hispanic male, didn’t get convicted of murder for shooting and killing an unarmed teenager. But Michael Giles, a black veteran, got sentenced to 25 years for shooting a man who admittedly attacked Giles first (apparently because “bullet fragments” also hit two others). When looking at the necessary tangible of each case and the character of each person it should make anyone cringe.

I admit, I was angry at what I perceived to be a lack of justice in our justice system, but then I started to think: our justice system is nothing but a reflection of our cultural norms and the people in it. Looking at these cases made me look deeper into our current societal norms. Why is it ok for minorities to make fun of the majority on race issues, but not the other way around? Why isn’t the average American aware that it can argued that the first legal slave was own by a black man? Why is it that “whites” in America feel they are more racially prejudiced against than blacks?

I then did a little more research and found some more interesting facts: a white male with a felony has a slightly better chance at being employed than a black male with no felony and equal credentials. Think about that. This isn’t even the first study of its kind either, there was another study showed a person with a black sounding name has a far less chance of being called back for a job interview than a person with a white sounding name.

How about the fact that people with lighter skin is automatically associated with higher education, which effects basic social interactions with the average person. Taken together, these stunning facts are just a few more in a long list of similar findings that should compel any and everyone to seriously consider the deeply seated impact of race in America. It’s become so politically toxic that even mentioning historical facts or current racial issues can bring up hostilities. People literally are not talking about it with each other any more, we are just talking at each other.

Most people want to believe race doesn’t matter as long everyone just acts good, but the fact is it does matter. There are even so studies actually show why not looking at race is racist in itself, seeing others peoples’ differences is important to understanding them and gives better understanding on why their perspective matters. We cannot just over look facts because we want to pretend to live in a utopia. Race is a problem and no one wants to talk about and we will never talk about it if we don’t admit it.

Understanding and recognizing there is an issue is the first step to finding solutions.There needs to be a shift in understanding in how we see each others’ differences. Even the term race itself is a misnomer since all humans are a part of the human race, we may have different ethnicities but our race is the same. We are inherently equal and it doesn’t matter what culture you come from or what you look like, everyone’s customs and physical traits are just as beautiful as anyone else, but it doesn’t mean these people are treated equally.

The most important thing everyone can do is not reject what you don’t understand but try to understand it. There is no way a person in the minority can accurately convey and intimate their experience enough to where someone of the majority can understand the full gravity or difference of their experience, in the same way a man can never fully grasp the experience a woman goes through in a culture ran by men.

Many times when someone from the majority hears a person from the minority cry racism or discrimination, they are quick to rebuke it because they usually don’t experience racism unless it comes from the minorities. Their frustration is understandable, but not productive or helpful. The converse is also true: a minority usually faces racism to different degree and type than someone of the majority. Even if both sides are wrong some of the times, it’s still important to know why each person feels that way and not just cast it off.

The most important thing for both sides is to be compassionate and rational, and never under any circumstances blame a whole ethnicity for something a group of people may have done. Even if your experience with a specific ethnicity may have been one-sided, you must understand that their actions is not innate but learned behavior from which all humans are capable of committing the same things they may have done regardless of their appearances. At the same time, many positive attributes, which are supported by data, are forgotten en lieu of negative (often factually false) stereotypes.

So how do we have this discussion, how do we move forward and change this paradigm? It’s actually quite simple: you do it in your everyday life, when a conversation comes up and you see someone of another ethnicity or race complain or is asking questions. Do not resort to a knee jerk reaction and tell them how ignorant they are, or ignore them and label them bigots. Educate them on some facts and why its important to not only understand our differences but embrace them and how it makes us have a higher love capacity and helps us grow as a people. Listen to them and explain that differences does not make one better or worst than the other. Explain to them why your view is just as valid as their view. Explain to them how race superiority has negatively effected everyone but some got it worst than others in recent years and it takes time for recovery.

When dealing with an opposing view it is important to be just as compassionate, sincere and honest as you want them to be when listening to you. And similarly, if you have questions about some things you may not understand, ask someone who you trust will give you an honest and loving answer. Talk about what you don’t understand, ask the questions you always thought about but never asked because you didn’t want to offend anyone: its the only way you can get the answers you seek and more importantly its the only way to properly understand each other without making up our own answers which most assuredly will not be as accurate an understanding of what the other person actually feels or experiences. Some things either side just can’t get, and in those cases the greater thing to do is just be compassionate and sympathetic. If we can have an open and honest conversation in our daily life about this and teach our kids the same thing, then a paradigm shift WILL happen. You just have to willing to do it.