My 20 something, tiny, blue eyed, blonde daughter taught in the South Bronx

[noiretextatique]

47. you are right...it doesn't help when irrational fears are fed by a constant barrage of propaganda

however, people do have the choice to listen to something else; they have the free will to grow beyond what they are taught and fed constantly. there are plenty of people who chose to change during the civil rights movement....and before it and after it. and there are others who choose not to evolve, and i agree with you: there are forces in society that fuel fear and hatred. hell...i could be a radical black muslim separatist if i chose that path. but i did not. i chose to let go of fear and hatred and judge each person not on the basis of skin color, but on the content of his/her character. a big part of the problem is we, americans, cannot confront the obvious: we have a horribly racist past, which continues to color the present. so it is understandable that some people still harbor racist feelings...totally understandable. but, we, as a people, prefer to pretend that racism is a thing of the past, or a figment of the imagination of people of color, or a thing that exists only in certain places. obama's presidency has really brought the peculiar american problem of racism to the forefront. unfortunately, Trayvon Martin is yet another victim of this thing we really don't want to face and own...and put an end to. racism is an illness that has affected us all, and until we accept that, we will continue to have people like zimmerman and others who believe having non-white skin = a license to interrogate, stalk and murder. i have no empathy for people who choose to live and breathe hatred and fear.