The Extraordinary Lack of Empathy in the Case of Trayvon Martin

[OneGrassRoot]

Last edited Sat Jul 20, 2013, 05:29 PM - Edit history (4)

I've seen this graphic shared quite a bit in my social media circles in the last few days, with white friends and family members asking why white people who are victims of crimes committed by black people don't get the same media attention and comments by the President.

The answer, in short, is because there is no comparison. In the other horrific instances, such as the case of young Marley Lion, an investigation began immediately, and the alleged perpetrators apprehended, charged and jailed. The system worked. There is room for outrage in all instances of violent crime, but when a proper investigation (see below) takes place, resulting in finding and arresting those responsible, being outraged that your loved one's death was essentially ignored isn't one of the outcries.

In the case of Trayvon Martin, even though empathy has been in my awareness from the start -- because I am someone who takes the time to try to put myself in the shoes of another -- I haven't totally immersed myself in the details of the hypothetical: What if what happened to Trayvon Martin that evening happened to my child?

I haven't wanted to because to imagine that is too emotionally difficult. I do know what it's like to lose a child -- through no fault, no one was responsible -- and to willingly attempt to walk myself through what Trayvon Martin's parents experienced (understanding that I will never come close to understanding what they truly experienced and feel) is something I've avoided.

The negative, angry reaction from a significant segment of the US population to President Obama's remarks yesterday regarding racial issues shows many things, but the first thing which comes to mind is the extraordinary empathy deficit he spoke of many years ago. The lack of empathy I see in many places...the lack of willingness to even ATTEMPT to empathize...made me take the time to imagine this hell.

And I come away devastated and heartbroken.

Which is precisely where so many within the black community have been this past week...


MY FULL BLOG POST HERE

[uppityperson]

1. This puts it well. The difference was the police action/inaction.

http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/TheBattery/archives/2013/07/16/naacp-leaders-respond-to-marley-liontrayvon-martin-comparison

On the one hand, they were two young men who were minding their own business when it occurred. On the other hand, I think the problem in the Trayvon case is that the aftermath was different. In the case of Marley Lion, there was an immediate search for the killer, fairly rapid apprehension, rapid action. With Trayvon Martin ... the police were aware of the killing, but there was no charge until there was national pressure. I think the reason the Trayvon Martin case made national news was the level of inaction in Florida.

[OneGrassRoot]

2. Yes, thank you. n/t

[Igel]

5. Some of it.

But the morning after TM was shot my kids were talking about it.

They didn't know much about it, but some of the students had already judged the guilt or innocence of the people involved. It was an "issue" and as information dribbled out it spread quickly in the school.

GZ's arrest (or lack thereof) wasn't at issue. What was at issue was it was another white adult gunning down another black teenager. A number of kids assumed the white guy was guilty and the black teenager was gunned down because of his race. A number of kids said they knew squat and to wait for the trial.

This was the subject of much debate. But the lines are pretty much what you see in the media. A great majority of AA students were on the "white guy's guilty" side, white students were less than half as likely to agree and very likely would have said to wait.

Now, school was out when the second kid was killed in 6/12. If it had been brought up it would have been by white racists as counterpoint to the TM killing.

If it's any consolation, some research was done--in Ohio, TN, somewhere in that area, IIRC--that looked at ethnic responses to reports of shootings. I want to say 3, 4 years ago--when I was interested in teaching but not yet in the classroom. It was ed research, so you may want to get out the salt shaker. Anyway, if a class was told of a shooting across town or elsewhere in the state ethnicity mattered. If the kid was white, nobody cared. Test scores, anxiety measures were pretty flat. If a Latino was killed, there was a wobble in Latino test scores, but pretty much not many cared. If a black kid was killed, there was a definite dip in blacks' test scores and an increase in anxiety according to various instruments. This dip in achievement and spike in anxiety lasted more than one day and was easily detectable a week later, although this was possibly because the kids in question didn't focus and learn what they were expected have learned.

All kinds of reasons were adduced to make sense of this, but none were grounded in much fact or anything but speculation.

[uppityperson]

6. For many of us, the treatment of Zimmy, lack of evidence gathering and charging, WAS a big issue.

Not "just" another shooting of a black teen by a white man, but the way it was handled afterward. THAT WAS a BIG issue.

[kestrel91316]

3. One of my cousins posted a similar thing on FB that was a ranting pass-along screed by some

anonymous RWer about how that baby got shot in the face and killed by two black youth recently during a robbery. They actually tried to claim a lack of justice in that case comparable to the lack of justice for Trayvon because the incident was not ruled a hate crime, so the kids couldn't get the death penalty. Poor little baby's case was supposedly being ignored while Trayvon got all the attention (but it was covered plenty in the news).

Yeah, minors not getting the DP is equivalent to not getting punished at all.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. Yep, saw that one, too.

I'm actually really curious about little Antonio Santiago's horrific case and how that plays out.

I bend myself into a pretzel trying to see these things through the lens of those with racist tendencies (and flat-out racists, with whom I'm very familiar and grew up around), trying to see any correlate, but there just isn't any.

Here's a link regarding the latest in the case of Antonio, for those who aren't familiar:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57594017-504083/antonio-santiago-update-gunshot-residue-found-on-slain-ga-babys-parents-report-says/

[Skittles]

7. there are plenty of DUers lacking empathy

they hide under the RULE OF LAW bullshit (you STILL have to believe Zimmerman's ridiculous story) but they do NOT fool me