I don’t remember how I became aware of the Southern Poverty Law Center, but I just remember that founder Morris Dees seemed like the hero in a John Grisham novel to me. Maybe it was that Grisham is from Mississippi and SPLC is based in Alabama. SPLC has always been a beacon of hope for racial justice in the south as Dees has stayed the course for more than 40 years.
I’ve supported SPLC off and on for years and love that in addition to its legal case load, it is dedicated to teaching tolerance. And it broadened its docket beyond racial issues long ago. For example, it’s current cases include representing prisoners at East Mississippi Correctional Facility who are living in sub-human conditions, a child born with an intersex condition and doctors performed surgery to make the child female, depriving the child of deciding for him/herself when older; immigrants on Alabama’s “black list,” and the LGBT community against a Jewish organization offering conversion therapy.
As you can imagine, SPLC had something to say about yesterday’s verdict declaring George Zimmerman not guilty in the death against Trayvon Martin for reasons of self defense.
In Racial bias reverberates in our society like the primordial Big Bang. Jesse Jackson made the point in a dramatic way when he acknowledged that he feels a sense of relief when the footsteps he hears behind him in the dead of night turn out to belong to white feet. Social scientists who study our hidden biases make the same point in a more sober way with statistics that demonstrate that we are more likely to associate black people with negative words and imagery than we are white people. It's an association that devalues the humanity of black people, particularly black youth like Trayvon Martin.
George Zimmerman probably saw race the night of February 26, 2012, just like so many of us probably would have. Had he not, Trayvon probably would be alive today.
The jury has spoken. Now, we must speak out against the racial bias that still infects our society and distorts our perception of the world. And we must do something about it.
“Racial bias reverberates in our society like the primordial Big Bang. Jesse Jackson made the point in a dramatic way when he acknowledged that he feels a sense of relief when the footsteps he hears behind him in the dead of night turn out to belong to white feet. Social scientists who study our hidden biases make the same point in a more sober way with statistics that demonstrate that we are more likely to associate black people with negative words and imagery than we are white people. It's an association that devalues the humanity of black people, particularly black youth like Trayvon Martin.
George Zimmerman probably saw race the night of February 26, 2012, just like so many of us probably would have. Had he not, Trayvon probably would be alive today.
The jury has spoken. Now, we must speak out against the racial bias that still infects our society and distorts our perception of the world. And we must do something about it.”
JULY 14: Southern Poverty Law Center
Click here to get “Causes and Effects” delivered every day to your email inbox (the subscription link now works) or enter your email in the top right corner.
No comments:
Post a Comment