Crime

OP-ED: After the “Murder” of Trayvon Martin, Healing Will be Difficult

Published

12 years ago

July 29, 2013

“Too Many White-Americans Still Don’t Understand”

During the Zimmerman Trial, it was revealed that Trayvon Martin called Zimmerman a “cracker” and many white-Americans were shocked. In the 1970s, my father, who is the grandson of a slave, often called white men “crackers.” Back then, I wondered why my dad said this word with such pain in his voice. When my dad was dying in the year 2003, I asked him why he called white men “crackers.” He answered: “…because white slave masters were crackin’ that whip and f***in’ our mothers. That’s why we also call them mother f***ers.” How can white-America produce dreadful situations that create horrible words, such as “nigger” and “cracker,” then criticize African-Americans for using these words? White-America’s unending racial hypocrisy stinks to high heavens.

Despite these devastating truths, many white-Americans callously say African-Americans need to move beyond slavery, racism and “get over it.” I’ve got news for them; most African-Americans would love to move on. But too many ill-effects of past racism remain. Too much racial clutter continues to exist within present-day $y$tems. Too many race realities continue to prevent African-Americans from moving on. As we attempt to heal, too many white-American actions and $y$temic conditions keep ripping-off the scab of racism.

Despite these truths, many white-Americans can’t seem to understand why some African-Americans continue to speak in terms of race. When white-on-black racism completely goes away, white-Americans can rightfully protest that African-Americans overly-focus on racism. Until then, too many white-Americans are the ones who need to “get over it” in at least two ways. They need to realize African-Americans have justified reasons to focus on race. And, white-Americans need to get over their lingering racist thoughts and actions.

After thousands of years of discrimination, black slavery, and continued (though-decreasing) racism, various sources report: “Between the years 2000 and 2011, white-American hate groups rose from 602 to 1,018.” May 2006: “Racial discrimination still plagues U.S. mortgage market.” May 2007: “African-Americans are charged higher car loan rates.” June 2007: “Race disparity in medical care persists.” July 2013: “NYC principal called black teachers ‘nappy-headed,’ then fired them.” Please stop me at any time. Add continuing cases of “economic redlining”; “racial biases in law enforcement”; on and on and the racism scab constantly gets ripped-off. Racial wounds can’t heal under these conditions.

Throughout July 2013, various white-Americans complained that Trayvon demonstrations too-often turn into “protests against capitalism.” Too many white-Americans disregard the fact that racism is married to class within capitalism. Too many white-Americans overlook studies such as “Are Emily and Brendan More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?” which, in 2001, found that “job applicants with white-sounding names are 50-percent more-likely to get called for an interview than applicants with African-American-sounding names.”

It’s difficult enough surviving and coping under capitalism, while capitalism plus racism can be unbearable.

Enough African-Americans clearly see that capitali$m perpetuates many socio-economic inequalities that were produced by past $lavery and oppression. But then, when some disenfranchised African-Americans react by turning to crime or drugs, too many white-Americans unfairly blame only this behavior for socio-economic inequalities that are habitually-generated by past and present-day raci$m.

After all this, for Zimmerman to racially-profile Trayvon, follow him, incite Trayvon’s “justifiable” anger, then “murder” Trayvon during a fight that Zimmerman promoted: this can’t be “justifiable” homicide. Zimmerman had no right to “murder.”

But after Zimmerman’s acquittal, too many white-Americans support Zimmerman’s ambition to become a police officer. This nonsense should surprise no one. After the original O.J. Simpson trial, Fox News hired N-bomb-dropping cop, Mark Fuhrman. White-America’s continued denial of obvious racial truths is offensive. This too must change for African-Americans to heal and move on.

Anthony Vaughn is the Author of “The Last Testament of Racism in America” and “The Way to FIX Our World”. He can be contacted at w.anthony@mail.org

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Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of May 21 – 27, 2025

Published

4 hours ago

May 25, 2025

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Bo Tefu

California Assembly Passes Bill to Strengthen Penalties for Soliciting Minors

The revised version of Assembly Bill 379, authored by Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), now allows prosecutors to file felony charges against adults who solicit sex from a 16 or 17-year-old, provided the accused is three or more years older than the minor. If the offender is within three years of the minor, the charge would remain a misdemeanor.

Published

6 days ago

May 19, 2025

Oakland Post

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By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

The California State Assembly has agreed to amend a controversial bill that would increase penalties for adults who solicit sex from minors ages 16 or 17, following a wave of criticism from Republicans and concerns raised by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“From a prosecutor’s standpoint, this bill strengthens California law and gives us the felony hammer to prosecute the creeps that are preying on teenagers,” Krell said in a statement supporting the amended bill.

The new amendments also include provisions for a state grant program aimed at improving the prosecution of human trafficking and sex trafficking cases, as well as a support fund for survivors partially funded by increased fines on businesses that enable or fail to address human trafficking.

The bill faced significant opposition last week after the Assembly removed a provision that would have treated solicitation of 16 and 17-year-olds as a felony for all offenders.

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BOOK REVIEW: The Afterlife of Malcolm X

Betty Shabazz didn’t like to go to her husband’s speeches, but on that February night in 1965, he asked her to come with their daughters to the Audubon Ballroom in New York. Did Malcolm X sense that something bad would happen on that night? Surely. He was fully aware of the possibility, knowing that he’d been “a marked man” for months because of his very public break with the Nation of Islam.

Published

7 days ago

May 18, 2025

Oakland Post

Book Cover of the Afterlife of Malcolm X. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer

Author: by Mark Whitaker, c.2025, Simon & Schuster, $30.99, 448 pages

Who will remember you in fifty years’ time?

A handful of friends – at least those who are still around – might recall you. Your offspring, grandkids, and greats, maybe people who stumble upon your tombstone. Think about it: who will remember you in 2075? And then read “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” by Mark Whitaker and learn about a legacy that still resonates a half-century later.

As the news of his murder spread around New York and around the world, his followers and admirers reacted in many ways. His friend, journalist Peter Goldman, was “hardly shocked” because he also knew that Malcolm’s life was in danger, but the arrest of three men accused of the crime didn’t add up. It ultimately became Goldman’s “obsession.”

Malcolm’s co-writer for The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Alex Haley, quietly finished the book he started with Malcolm, and a small upstart publishing house snatched it up. A diverse group of magazines got in line to run articles about Malcolm X’s life, finally sensing that White America “’needed his voice even more than Blacks did.’”

But though Malcolm X was gone, he continued to leave an impact.

He didn’t live long enough to see the official founding of the Black Panther Party, but he was influential on its beginning. He never knew of the first Kwanzaa, or the triumphs of a convert named Muhammad Ali.

Malcolm left his mark on music. He influenced at least three major athletes.

He was a “touchstone” for a president …

While it’s true that “The Afterlife of Malcolm X” is an eye-opening book, one that works as a great companion to the autobiography, it’s also a fact that it’s somewhat scattered. Is it a look at Malcolm’s life, his legacy, or is it a “murder mystery”?

Turns out, it’s all three, but the storylines are not smooth. There are twists and tangents and that may take some getting used-to. Just when you’re immersed, even absorbed in this book, to the point where you forget about your surroundings, author Mark Whitaker abruptly moves to a different part of the story. It may be jarring.

And yet, it’s a big part of this book, and it’s essential for readers to know the investigation’s outcome and what we know today. It doesn’t change Malcolm X’s legacy, but it adds another frame around it.

If you’ve read the autobiography, if you haven’t thought about Malcolm X in a while, or if you think you know all there is to know, then you owe it to yourself to find “The Afterlife of Malcolm X.”

For you, this is a book you won’t easily forget.