Disembodied Racism and the Search for Racist Intent: The Trayvon Martin Case

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7 Responses

  1. Jacqueline Roebuck Sakho says:

    This project breaths life in the Conardian framework around “macrojustice” (Conard 1971). Well done.

  2. Elinor Bowles says:

    This article is significant in that it places the murder of Trayvon Martin within the dynamic of racism as it exists in this country — as distinct from John McWhorter’s article in the current The New Republic, which says: “…the main obstacle to any true healing (of racism is) the ugly relationship between blacks and the police.” This is patently absurd. What is real is Tim Berard’s implication that racism is part of the socio-psychological dynamic of the U.S. This reality has been intensified by the election of President Barack Obama combined with the anticipated demographic change around 2050, when people of color will become the majority of the U.S. population. “Take Back Our Country” is not a slogan limited to the 2012 defeat of Obama. It is a deep psychological battle cry to reclaim the ownership and control of the U.S. by its white “founders.” Whites are experiencing an existential crisis. Black people were never intended to be equals in this country, not even by those whites who advocated and fought for black emancipation and freedom. And with time, even given seeming advances by blacks, the struggle has heightened and the psychological and physical threats to blacks grow greater with each day.

    • kelly says:

      Elinor I’m wondering about how you propose we should move forward? What s the next step in your analysis? I am asking as a white skinned person completely against the dominant culture in favor of creating mutli-cultural alliances to get real social and economic justice for all of us. Kelly akaangelkelly at yahoo dot com

  3. Nathaniel Granger, Jr. says:

    As a racialized society, every American is influenced to some degree by racism and, more often than not, to a larger degree. We are particularly affected by the type of racism exemplified in the Trayvon Martin case known as institutional racism, which is defined as any policy, practice, procedure, or structure in business, industry, government, courts, churches, municipalities, schools, and so forth; by which decisions and actions are made that unfairly subordinate persons of color while allowing other groups to profit from the outcomes. Examples of these include racial profiling, segregated churches and neighborhoods, discriminatory hiring and promotion practices, and educational curricula that ignore and distort the history of minorities. Institutional racism is often masked in policies of standard operating procedures (SOPs) that are applied equally to everyone, but which have outcomes that disadvantage certain groups while advantaging other (Sue, 2010; Granger, 2011). We really need not speculate as to what would happen had the assailant George Zimmerman been a 28-year-old African American man and Trayvon Martin were a 17-year-old White teenager. I dare not say, Zimmerman would not have to “be in hiding as a result of threats” as reported in the New York Times; at a minimum he would be in custody without bond waiting trial, which upon conviction, at a minimum be given life in prison. That’s of course if the hands were turned. Hence, Institutional Racism.

    Dr. Nathaniel Granger, Jr.

  4. Segundo says:

    Racism is alive and well in the USA. Institutional racism, especially in areas like the criminal justice system and employment, continues to have severe consequences for African Americans, in particular. Explore related topics at http://www.blackpolitics.org

  1. 29th March 2012

    […] Disembodied Racism and the Search for Racist Intent: The Trayvon Martin Case […]

  2. 9th October 2012

    […] coverage of it, we can recommend Jeff Dowd’s rich post on our TSP Community Page Sociology Lens, “Disembodied Racism and the Search for Racist Intent.” #JusticeforTrayvonMartin © Shantrelle P. Lewis : Adrian Viajero […]

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