Sep 29, 2016
Thank you for sharing your voice. I love D'onofrio too! There will never be another Bobby. The climate of our culture can explain many things, from your apprehension amidst the other movie goers and possibly the apprehension a white person may feel amidst black people. A large part of it, for me, is that the more we experience and expose ourselves to other cultures and customs, and the less we allow media alone to define it for us, the more we can experience each other as the individuals we are.
Its been scary to me, the mother of an animated black son and the sister of several animated black brothers, since Treyvon Martin. The very reality that black males are implicitly assumed to be criminal and fatally dangerous (not just amongst whites but americans in general) makes them much more of an acceptable target of the fatal 'defense' that so many citizens and cops are condoned for using.
I easily picture my son as Treyvon, strolling along, talking on the cell, wondering why some weird man is following him in his truck. I picture my son changing direction to avoid this man and noticing that he is now parked and glaring in his direction. I picture my son going behind buildings where the truck cannot and then turning to find this man now STILL on foot right behind him. I picture him finally being tired of avoidance (standing his ground) and asking the man what his problem is. I also picture him fighting for his life at the slightest physical provocation and revelation that this man has a gun. I cant picture understanding why my son could be shot by this armed stalker and this man bare no responsibility for it, because , of all reasons, the assumption that this man was reasonable in fearing for HIS life.
It troubles me as well, the state of the current culture of devaluing human life, our current presidential race is a spotlight on the prevalent culture where the the value of ones life is only as much as their net worth and their birth status(nationality, race, gender).
Anyhow, thanx for addressing this from the point of view thats most relevant.