While trying to find another topic for my last blog post, I
stumbled across a few articles acknowledging how the father of Trayvon Martin had
been in New York recently as a guest speaker at Nassau Community College. In
the article, reported this past Thursday, it had a small clipping consisting of
a few quotes from both a professor at the college and Tracy Martin that really
capture issues prevalent to this case.
In Mr. Martin’s speech he stated, “We’re here advocating
against senseless gun violence, senseless violence period. Whether it’s black on black, white on black,
it doesn’t matter. We’re just advocating against senseless crimes. Because it’s
good that we understand each other’s culture, and I don’t think we’ll fully
understand each other’s culture until we discuss it with each other.” I like
how Mr. Martin acknowledges that we as a nation really need to have these
conversations to foster a better, more satisfying environment for everyone.
Just like the talk that happened in November at Rhodes about racial issues here
on campus, it also needs to happen more effectively everywhere.
Also in the clip, Trent Webb, a professor as Nassau
Community College stated, “The whole idea of racial politics in this country, stop-and-frisk
and the controversial stand-your-ground laws are all things we deal with here
in New York City, and there was something really interesting and inspiring
about what transpired after the tragedy of Trayvon Martin.”
The article also mentioned how Tracy Martin really wants his
son to be remembered as this century’s Emmett Till, as well as have his death
reawaken the nation’s civil rights movement. While I am not trying to stir
anything, I find this matter to be incredibly controversial especially how reading
the comments section of the article was baffling.
In a poll response to the article:
67% LOL
17% Cool
0% What
0% Meh
17% Sad
0% Rage
While I have no idea how many responders there were, this response
bothered me because of what is being advocated. The professor from the college
made a good point mentioning the racial politics of this country and how major
cities such as New York City deal with issues of racial profiling. These issues
are still so prevalent today that the comments are making the situation less important
by desensitizing the subject. How can society move forward if it is not being
taken seriously? Back to Tracy Martin, can the case of Trayvon Martin be
related to Emmett Till, or is making this parallel completely insignificant?
Sources:
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