Geraldo Rivera, You Ignorant Slut

While surfing the net the other day I Geraldo Rivera opened my eyes to what this Trayvon Martin situation is really all about. It’s not just about race or gun rights; this thing is about fear.

America’s greatest handicap has always been our fear of what we don’t understand. The fear that the Native American’s “heathen” customs would somehow corrupt the Puritans is how our country justified the near genocide of that race. The fear that the South could become more prosperous than the North and fear that freed slaves would seek revenge for their treatment justified the fighting of the Civil war. The Cold War was based ENTIRELY on fear; Russia and the US just taking turns trying to scare one another into submission. And for the last decade Americans and the government have used fear to justify distrust of Muslims, the Economy, Climate change; you name it.

Now, we have Geraldo Rivera (an acclaimed journalist who’s been at it for 30 years) using fear to justify the murder of Trayvon Martin. Geraldo suggested on FOX News that Trayvon’s parents deserve some of the blame for allowing the kid to wear a hoody. According to Geraldo, the fact that a lot of gangbangers/dangerous persons wear hoodies, justifies George Zimmerman’s reaction.

This is the same bullshit explanation folks used after 9/11 to justify racially profiling Arab and Muslim people as Terrorists. Being Muslim or Arab are NOT warning signs that a person might be a terrorist; there are terrorists of ALL different races, so what people were doing was justifying their prejudices with fear. Folks argued that those Arab and Muslim people should not “dress like terrorists if they don’t want to be considered as so.”

Look at the statement; read it out loud. It’s appalling. To suggest that an entire group of people should change their customs (the way the dress, how they speak, how they carry themselves) simply to diminish the amount of fear felt by others is just plain ridiculous and selfish. Instead of doing the one thing a person can definitely do themselves (ignore your prejudices and keep an open mind), folks want an entire group of people to make changes just so one can feel “safe.”

This is the issue that Geraldo brought out in me; this idea that others are the problem instead of one’s self. According to Geraldo, the fact that Trayvon was wearing a hoody makes him a suspicious person; NOT because only criminals wear hoodies, but because of the stereotype that black males who wear hoodies are up to no good or are dangerous. THAT IS PREJUDICE; instead of relying on proof of criminal behavior, Geraldo is suggesting that Zimmerman’s ignorant fear should be excused based on the presumption that Trayvon was up to no good. That is inexcusable.

It’s as inexcusable as blaming a rape victim for dressing too “slutty” or a child who’s been abducted for “wandering off” or “talking to strangers.” Victims of injustice are not to blame for said injustices; Trayvon Martin shouldn’t have to take his hoody off for people to not think he’s a criminal, Muslims should not have to leave their turbans at home so people don’t suspect they’re terrorists, and women shouldn’t have to dress conservatively to keep creeps from assaulting them; it’s the other way around. People need to confront their own prejudice so as NOT to live in fear of what they don’t understand. George Zimmerman could have just followed Trayvon out of the neighborhood; kept an eye on him to make sure he didn’t commit a crime. Instead, his fear over took him and the guy reacted to his prejudice.

THIS is what is wrong with our country and has been the obstacle keeping the US from truly progressing over the last ten years. We’ve let fear dictate our lives; instead of being open to new ways of thinking, we stifle our understanding by demonizing things instead of people. Trayvon COULD have been a thug, but the idea that he IS just because he’s wearing a hoody is down right idiotic; it’s backwards logic. Just because gangsters wear hoodies doesn’t mean everyone who wears a hoody is a criminal. It’s these types of generalizations coupled with the intensity of ignorant fear that has polarized our nation on every issue. Instead of seeking understanding, we just seek to justify our own ignorance and fear.

                                                                                  Leroy Mitchell