The jury's problematic decision on Saturday night to acquit George Zimmerman, a security guard who became notorious for taking the life of an unarmed black boy in Florida, inevitably and predictably evoked strong emotions of anger, hurt, disappointment and sorrow, particularly among people of African descent across the globe.
The proliferation of comments on social networks indicates that racial profiling, racial discrimination and racially-biased legal systems will not be tolerated by this new generation of youth. Despite the negative historical stereotypes surrounding the black male there is a present collective consciousness that the black man is not always a perpetrator but often times a victim.
In the Caribbean, the black male is often perceived as a perpetrator of gruesome crimes like sexual abuse, rape, domestic abuse, robbery and murder. He is stereotyped as a criminal, a gang member, a gangster. But the black Caribbean male is also a victim; he is a victim of problematic constructions of masculinity, negative stereotypes, marginalisation and inequality. He is a victim of systems, institutions and government establishments in the Caribbean which shirk their responsibility and place blame on the black man.
We are certainly heartbroken because of the legal system which failed Trayvon Martin in the United States, but we must also be heartbroken as a consequence of systems and institutions in the Caribbean which on a daily basis fail the black male.
Fay White
Maracas Valley