Like the rest of the nation, I've been pondering the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. This case, and the ongoing question of whether Zimmerman was motivated by race during that ill-fated encounter with Trayvon Martin in February 2012, has brought the complexity of race in America (back) to the forefront.
When it comes to race, this nation seems to take a step forward and then two steps back. The nation elected, and then reelected an African-American president. But now stands sharply divided along racial lines in how we view the Zimmerman verdict. When President Barack Obama was elected in '08, there was a lot of media hype about the U.S. having magically become a "post-racial" society overnight. I didn't buy into that wishful thinking for one moment.
From my perspective, it seems inconceivable that an armed adult could fatally shoot an unarmed minor and face no legal consequences - regardless of race.
Although I grew up in an interracial family with three white stepparents and four biracial siblings, went to a predominantly white private school during my formative years and have always had friends of different races, I'm confused by many of the racial issues that have been raised by the George Zimmerman case.
There is a long-held stereotype that "one drop of black blood makes you black." This phrase has primarily been applied to biracial people who have one black parent and one white parent, yet are automatically considered to be "black."
In Zimmerman's case, does one drop of white blood make you white? His mother is Hispanic and his father is white. So does Zimmerman identify as white? (Of course, Hispanics can be of any race, which further complicates the question.)
If Zimmerman had his mother's Hispanic surname, would he have been perceived by the nearly all-white jury as "exotic," "other" and, therefore, dangerous?
The media is often quick to lump "black" and "brown" people into the same "underprivileged" category. So is Zimmerman not "brown"? Does he get some kind of special "hall pass" from "brown-ness" because his father's white? I have biracial and light-skinned African-American relatives who are Zimmerman's shade - and even lighter!
And what if Zimmerman were a dark-skinned Latino like, say, Sammy Sosa? Would we all be seeing this case differently?
The irony is that there are many areas of the country in which Zimmerman himself would be profiled. If the so-called neighborhood watch volunteer encountered the border police in Texas or Arizona, would he be perceived as just another law-abiding white American, or would he be asked to show proof of citizenship?
This case has certainly raised more questions than it has answered.
As the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington approaches, I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King would say about all this. One thing he might do is encourage people to not only pray for the Martin family, but for the Zimmerman family as well: Pray that if Zimmerman did act with racial animus when he shot Trayvon Martin, that he see the error of his ways, have a genuine change of heart and maybe even become an advocate himself for healing and unity.
Since the Zimmerman verdict, I've been moved to see peaceful protest rallies attended by people of all colors. If there's any good that has come out of this whole ordeal, it's that it has (re)opened the conversation about race in America.
