Trayvon Martin and Making Whiteness Visible (The acknowledgement of "white privilege")

Time Magazine ^ | July 17, 2013 | Eric Liu

[2ndDivisionVet]

If there is one hopeful note amid all the anguish and recrimination from the acquittal of George Zimmerman, it’s that growing numbers of white people have come to appreciate whiteness for what it is: an unearned set of privileges. And as a result of that dawning awareness, it’s become possible to imagine a day when that structure of privilege is dismantled — by white people.

Recall that immediately after the killing of Trayvon Martin, people of every race took to the Internet to declare “I am Trayvon Martin.” They wore hoodies. They proclaimed solidarity. That was a well-meaning and earnest attempt to express empathy, but it also obscured the core issue, which is that Martin died not because he was wearing a hoodie but because he was wearing a hoodie while black. Blackness was the fatal variable.

And so now, postverdict, a more realistic meme has taken root. On Tumblr and Facebook and elsewhere there is a new viral phenomenon: “We are not Trayvon Martin” (emphasis mine). Huge numbers of white Americans are posting testimonials and images to declare that it is precisely because they are not black that they have never had to confront the awful choices Martin faced when Zimmerman began to pursue him.

This isn’t about empathy or the posture of equivalency that empathy can tempt us to assume. It’s about owning up to the unequal privilege of being nonblack and saying, in essence, “I am George Zimmerman.” And because I am George Zimmerman, I get to have my fears trump reality. I get get-out-of-jail-free cards. I get a presumption of innocent victimhood, no matter what my own acts or attitudes....

[2ndDivisionVet]

I can't speak for any of you, but I've had just about enough of this.

[SMARTY]

Remind me again how long Affirmative Action has been in place in this country?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

If there is one hopeful note amid all the anguish and recrimination from the acquittal of George Zimmerman, it’s that growing numbers of white people have come to appreciate whiteness for what it is: an unearned set of privileges.

There is a lot more "black privilege" these.

Being black means you never have to take responsibility for anything. All your problems are caused by "white privilege."

[Graybeard58]

The liberals want you to be ashamed of being white. Piss on the lot of them.

[Red in Blue PA]

This is a message to all whites who are “ashamed” of being white. Please punch yourself in the head to prove it. Otherwise, its all talk.

[RoosterRedux]

I earn my White privilege by working hard and acting like a good citizen. A Black person can have the same privilege.

That said, a White person seems to lose his White privilege when he becomes a thug...same for a Black person.

[massgopguy]

Eric Liu is Asian. So he can STFU about “White Privilege.

[Mr. K]

Zimmerman is HISPANIC

not White-Hispanic, any more than Obama is White-black

[henkster]

I have too. This is pure B/S.

When my son graduated high school in 2007, he and his friends were talking about how to get into good colleges and get financial aid. One of them actually say “put down on the application that you are black.” They laughed, because all humor has its basis in truth.

Tell me about “unearned privileges” again.

[2ndDivisionVet]

George Zimmerman’s Black Ancestry is Revealed
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2876811/posts

George Zimmerman: the black, Hispanic, Peruvian, kind-hearted non-white, not-racist poster boy
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2876692/posts

George Zimmerman Has ‘Black Roots’
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2876518/posts

[GrandJediMasterYoda]

I’m still looking for this racism they keep talking about it. Just where is it exactly?

Zimmerman is hispanic so I assume it was racist for him not to accept his “ass whupping”?

Because there were a rash of burglaries in the area is was racist of him to call the cops because someone was acting suspiciously?

Oh I get it, because Zimmerman said “I think he’s black” when referring to Martin even though “think” means he wasn’t sure, that means it’s racist.

[TigersEye]

I'm not George Zimmerman either. Attack me and I will empty my magazine.

I won't care how old you are, what color you are or what sex you are. :-)

[Wiser now]

So have I. “White privilege” is nothing more than the result of living a moral life with wisdom.
The immorality rampant in the black community today was never imposed on it by whites.
So long as blacks blame “whitey”, they will stay where they are.
“Whitey” and placing the blame outside themselves is racist to the core.

[Mr. K]

I knew all that- but the media keep talking about this WHITE MAN zimmerman

[Cowboy Bob]

It's unfair that some people qualify for Mensa, but others do not. Maybe Congress should pass a law opening Mensa membership to everyone! /sarc

[Gamecock]

Four of my last five bosses have been black women.

Tell me again about my white privilege.

[Procyon]

Failure to self-hate is a hate crime.

[longtermmemmory]

the problem with time is not that it is not read anymore in the USA.

The problem is that OUTSIDE the USA, the unwashed idiocracy of the rest of the world like its anti-american stance.

[a.c.t.32]

Hey Eric Liu - Trayvon Martin died because he was visciously assaulting somebody, not because he was wearing a hoodie or because he was black

[Impala64ssa]

Let the White Trayvon symps in the celebrity world set an example. Michael Moore lives in Torch Lake, MI which is 95%+ White and owns some of the most valuable real estate along the Great Lakes. Let him and all his White fellow travellers give up their mansions, and, like “SHARE THE LAND, MAN” and move into the ‘hoods in more modest surroundings like the people they pretend to give a sh*t about.