Consequences of Racial Stereotyping

Consequences of Racial Stereotyping -Uday Dandavate The killing of a black teenager, Trayvon Martin, in Florida has brought into focus the racial tensions in American society. Chris Serino, lead investigator in the case, told FBI agents that he believed Zimmermans action in shooting down a black young boy were not based on Trayvon Martin's race, but instead on his attire. Serino implied that the fear of being attacked by a hoodie-borne thug prompted Zimmerman to shoot and kill Trayvon Martin. Justifying George Zimmermans use of brutal force by citing perceptions tied to the hoodie Trayvon was wearing calls for a serious consideration to subconscious racial profiling and stereotyping. This case has brought the issue of racial profiling into the public domain especially in the background of the Stand your Ground law in Florida that allows an individual the right to use reasonable force (meaning the right to shoot another person) to defend himself/herself without any requirement to evade or retreat from a dangerous situation. President Barak Obama delivered a very poignant speech after the Zimmerman verdict. In expressing the reality of an average African-American child born to an African-American family, Obama lamented, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. He added, There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me at least before I was a senator. There are very few African Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.

Obama further explained, Now, this isn't to say that the African-American community is nave about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system; that theyre disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. There are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. Is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them? Its not to make excuses for that fact although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context. They understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history. (Extracts from the Presidents comments.) The Zimmerman verdict has opened fresh wounds for those who face discrimination on a daily basis. It has also challenged the idea that by electing a black president for two terms, the American society has managed a fundamental shift in race relations. Mass protests are already taking place against Floridas Stand your Ground law that allows a citizen to kill in self-defense. On the other hand, the Zimmerman verdict provides a perfect opportunity to understand the plight of the youth trapped in perceptions. It is important to understand that the American judicial process gives rights to a panel of jury members drawn from the local community to address the evidence and determine if the accused is guilty or not. In Zimmermans case, though, his lawyers did not evoke the Stand your Ground law in his defense; the influence of this law on the jurys decision-making process was hard to deny. In fact, in an interview on CNNs Anderson Cooper 360 Monday night, an anonymous juror said the panel that found George Zimmerman not guilty considered Floridas Stand Your Ground law in its deliberations. "Stand your Ground" governs U.S. federal case law in which the right of self-defense is asserted against a charge of criminal homicide. The Supreme Court of the United

States ruled in Beard v. U.S. (158 U.S. 550 [1895]) that a man who was on his premises when he came under attack and . . . did not provoke the assault, and had at the time reasonable grounds to believe, and in good faith believed, that the deceased intended to take his life or do him great bodily harm . . . was not obliged to retreat nor to consider whether he could safely retreat, but was entitled to stand his ground. In a country where the right to bear arms has become a matter of passionate national debate, the Florida verdict has posed a challenge to the supporters of the right to bear arms by exposing the fact that stereotypes are indeed working against the African-American community. Regardless of whether George Zimmermans impulse in shooting Martin was driven by racist motivation, it is clear that racial profiling of impending danger was a trigger for his actions and grounds on which the jury acquitted Zimmerman. The racial divisions in American society have become clear from the reactions to the jury verdict. A Washington Post/ABC News survey found 41 percent of respondents in favor and 41 percent against the jury's ruling, with a sharp difference between African Americans and whites. The poll showed 86 percent of African Americans opposed the verdict, while 51 percent of whites agreed with the verdict. A Pew Research Center survey showed 86 percent of African Americans disagreed with the verdict while 49 percent of whites were in favor. The verdict in Florida and its aftermath will have a long-term impact on the future of the movement for social justice. It calls for re-examining the stereotypes we harbor in our subconscious and for realizing possible consequences of letting those stereotypes guide our impulses. Both the supporters and opponents of the jury verdict agree on one point the unfortunate consequences for Martin were not of his asking. His family suffered consequences of racial profiling. In a world torn apart by violence, racial profiling is a minds natural instinct for safety. Regardless of whether it is racial profiling of a Sikh man in Phoenix after 9/11, or of travellers

with Muslim names at airports worldwide, there is a need to develop sophisticated approaches to sensing danger beyond common stereotypes. Progress will not be achieved by only gaining professional education. Productivity and efficiency measures of a modern society will not serve us well if we do not acquire empathy and responsibility for overcoming racial stereotypes.