the news:
Trayvon Martin, a young black 17-year old male in Florida was wearing a hood walking out of an all white neighbourhood when he was shot by George Zimmerman in cold blood. His choice of weapon: Skittles and a can of ice-tea
Shaima Alawadi, a 32-year old Iraqi mother of 5 in California was brutally beaten inside of her home with a iron tire, alongside her unconscious body read a note from the perpetrator that said, “go back to your own country”
the reason:
racism.
so, i've been doing a lot of thinking and processing, and lamenting over the last few weeks and trying to figure out how to make sense of the news of trayvon and shaima's deaths.
the thing is: i can't. they don't make sense. they do (racism + extremely racist rhetoric and backlash, especially since obama's election + terrible new laws and government policies --> death by hate crime). i know why these two (and so many other) people died, but it still doesn't make sense.
as a white person, i have no idea what it's like for white people to just see me and make assumptions about who i am and what my life is (or is not) worth based on their perception of my race. as a white person, other white people see a person, not a white person. i don't look suspicious in a hoodie (even if i try) or a hijab (i do look a bit out of place in one, though).
as a queer woman, i know what it's like for people to look at me and check my chest to make sure i'm a woman. as a queer woman, i know what it's like for people to judge me based on my haircut and gender presentation rather than who i am. as a queer person, i know what it's like to have to listen to homophobic and heterosexist comments from people i know and from people i don't. as a queer woman, i know what it's like to hear sexist comments and not know how to challenge, stand up to, or stop them.
as a white person who is trying to be anti-racist, i know what it's like to hear from another white person a racist comment and not know exactly how to challenge the racism without making the person defensive, but trying anyway (and not always doing very well at it). as a white person who is trying to be anti-racist, i know the difficulty i still have in talking about race and naming racism as racism.
as a human being, a child of god, my heart breaks when i hear of violence perpetrated against others, myself, and the whole of creation. as a human being, a child of god, i affirm with martin king that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." when there is injustice somewhere, there is no justice anywhere. my bubble, my part of the world, is not a bubble of justice if your bubble involves injustice.
as emily, white, queer, able-bodied, lutheran, woman who is trying to be anti-racist, i know i am a sinner and cannot save myself. as emily, white, queer, able-bodied, lutheran, woman who is trying to be anti-racist, i know i am a saint and have to hold onto my hope and trust in a god who saves us all.
what happened to shaima and trayvon was xenophobic. it was racist. it was wrong. the way i dress, the way you dress, the way anyone dresses is not an excuse or justifiable reason to use violence. in fact, there is NO reason to use violence. it is wrong. trayvon's death was a hate crime. shaima's death was a hate crime.
i can't make sense of their deaths because they don't make sense. and yet, i know why they happened. in all of our public and political discourse in this country, we have forgotten what it means to be human. we as a country have forgotten that women are people, not just baby-makers or ovaries. we as a country have forgotten that people of color are people, not criminals or animals. we as a country have forgotten that those who come to the united states now are people, not "illegals" and not unlike our ancestors (where in the last few centuries or the last few millenia).
we have, as a country, made our laws about gun safety consistently worse and worse (hence the "stand your ground" law in florida being used to justify why the man who killed trayvon has not been arrested or charged). our criminal justice system is anything but just and certainly not "colorblind." the rates of incarceration and the legal penalties for crimes are racist.
we as a country are not concerned about making things right after a crime (healing and restoring the communities and people who have been hurt by the crime), but instead we as a country are concerned about making people pay (punishing those who commit the crime with the "injured" or affected party being the united states government) with no concern for the communities and individuals affected.
shaima and trayvon's deaths should provoke not only national discourse about racism, islamophobia, and xenophobia, but also gun laws and criminal (in)justice in this country. the only lobbyists regarding gun laws are the ones connected to the nra!
we need to be the lobbyists who will tell our elected representatives that we want stricter gun control laws, less weapons, no more extended magazines (as were used by jared loughner, the man who shot rep. giffords in arizona). the only way for us to change laws is to become the lobbyists ourselves. for too long we as a country have trusted our elected representatives to do what is in the best interests of our country and of the world. nothing will change and they will not do that unless we pressure them.
call your representatives. go to their rallies. write to them. email them. meet with them. protest them. tell them your story. vote! it is the only hope we have of changing things through the government. they will not change unless we press them to.
the only way we have of ending racism, islamophobia, and xenophobia is to talk about it. nothing will change (for the better...things might change for the worse) if we don't talk. we need to talk to each other and to others. we need to share our stories and be human with each other. without that, we have no hope. this past week, i was honored to be a part of my seminary community's acknowledgment of the sin of racism and the impact it continues to have not only in coastal states, but right here in our neighborhood of chicago. it was my proudest moment to wear a collar with my hoodie and to be together in solidarity mourning and searching for hope.
in, with, and under all of this, my hope and my trust is in a god who creates everything out of chaos and nothing-ness. my hope and my trust is in a god who brings good news to the oppressed, binds up the brokenhearted, proclaims liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners. my hope and my trust is in a god who, when the oppressive powers of the world hang god on a tree to kill him, responds with resurrection.
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