Zinnerman, Justice Shall Be Made

For generations, the all-American citizen has been portrayed as a white man with Christian values, being ultra conservative. Residents of Arab, Latino and Black cultures are expected to be criminals; nevertheless, whites are seen as the ultimate peacekeepers. In the States it is an era where an African-American is leading the country—An era where supposedly all racism is forgotten. But yet, violence as serious as murder has occurred due to manifest destiny of those who believe that a true American is only to be Caucasian.

On March 26 in Sanford, Florida, seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was returning from his convenient store with a bag of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea. Neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, shot the teen in what he says was self-defense. But really it was just racial thinking that led the madman to believe that a black boy with a hoodie is a potential threat to safety. Zimmerman has previously been in trouble for violent acts: He was arrested for shoving a policeman when his friend was arrested for serving alcohol to underage drinkers. Also, his unidentified ex-fiancé reportedly had a violent relationship with him; consequently, filing protective injunctions against one another. Although, there is no evidence of the crime and therefor Zimmerman has not been punished for the murder of Martin.

Zimmerman must pay for his actions, killing another human being is worth being thrown into jail for life—It doesn´t matter the color of the victim´s skin, but justice should be made in their remembrance. Even though there isn´t any evidence to proof the madman is guilty, there isn´t any proof he is innocent either. But honestly, a man who has been involved with violence numerous times like he has is not trustworthy. People can be treated very unfairly due to others´ believes, for example, in To Kill A Mockingbird, Scout is insulted by her aunt just because she doesn´t have the same interests as other girls her age have. Most likely, Zimmerman is prejudiced about Blacks just like Scout´s aunt was about girls, he probably was sure that all of them were like the criminals he heard about in the news. So he judges every African-American as cruel, violent and guile: a criminal. Not having knowledge about a case leads one to think nonsense, to commit injustice just like Zimmerman did; One acts this way because the information one is acting upon is an unreliable lie. As a community it is our job to be aware and be educated about the different cultures and ethnicity of people, so we don´t become prejudice. Just the knowledge of one person can pervade through a whole nation and protect the innocent; therefore, injustice will not be committed due to rubbish judging.    

Zimmerman really is a coward, he felt the need to protect himself from a teenager because of a concept he doesn´t understand. Zimmerman does not understand that the Unites States is full of wonderful Blacks; however, he feels they are dangerous instead. Zimmerman really feared something that wasn´t true, he feared a crime that Martin would have never committed—He expected Martin, just because of the dark color of his skin and the hooded sweat shirt he had on, to threaten his safety. You see when people have this overall idea of a topic, it might not apply to everything involved with that topic, but yet their actions are all still based on the same idea and therefore are the same towards everything related to that subject. For example, referring back to To Kill A Mockingbird, the whole town believes Boo Radley is a dangerous beast that everyone needs to be aware of. But really, the man has resulted to suffering due to an abusive father—Yet Scout and Jem take precaution of Boo and taunt the man because they believe the town´s rumors. They fear this whole myth that they clearly do not understand, because it does not exist. Zimmerman feared what he believes African-Americans are, so he shot one in order to feel safe.   

Bottom line is that Zimmerman was influenced to commit this crime due to all the racism and prejudice he holds in his heart. To him, a white boy with blue eyes wearing a tucked in shirt and Hush Puppies would have been completely different: a harmless, well-behaved teenager. Even if Zimmerman didn´t murder Martin based on his racists beliefs, he still took someone else´s life—If he has the guts to end a kid´s life, he should have the courage to accept his fault and end the rest of his days behind the bars.  

The Problem We All Live With Analysis

    The Problem We All Live With by Norman Rockwell is a painting from 1964, around the time negroes were segregated. His painting takes place down in the Southern part of the US. Specifically, a little girl walking down a sidewalk, on her way to William Frantz school. This is important because it has to do with the Brown VS Board case, and that day was the first time in history when a school was to have both whites and blacks.

   The little girl is Ruby Bridges, at the time she was six-years-old, so young but yet made such an impact on history. Four bodyguards are escorting Bridges to school, at the same time she is being discriminated against. On the wall the word “nigger” is written in pale-gray ink, and a tomato is splashed on the wall. The bodyguards´ faces are not showing, most likely because they are not important or aren´t the focus of the painting. The bodyguards are simply there to show how much protection this little girl needs by them being from the government, we can tell by their bands and pins. They only show their white hands, and huge figures. Compared to Bridges, who is black and tiny, this gives the feeling and thought that the bodyguards are superior than her because they are white. Also about the bodyguards, they are dressed in pale and dark clothes, which doesn´t really grab much attention. Even the bright red tomato is placed at the bottom of the painting, so it doesn´t grab attention. The wall and concrete are a very boring and lifeless colors, plus the lighting is pretty crappy.

   Ruby Bridges is actually the only thing that stands out. Even the color of her skin, she might be a blackish-brown, but her skin has this beautiful sheen that makes it POP. I also noticed that she is wearing a white dress, which stands out a lot considering all the dead colors. I thought of her white-black combination representing acceptance of both races, what the William Frantz school is going to look like now that she is there. I also considered her white dress representing innocence and purity since she is only a child.

   The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this picture is how the same event can have different effects on different people. We can see how the whites consider Bridges being in the same school as them an insult, but obviously her race is proud of her.  I also had the impression that this little girl had tons of courage. Just the way she holds her head up high, you can see she is walking forward and that all this discrimination doesn´t seem to bother her. It proves that we can all make a difference; we just need perseverance and courage.

   I believe Norman Rockwell´s intention with The Problem We All Live With, is to prove the world´s ignorance and how much this affects the world. Like I said, the focal point is the little girl. Bridges couldn´t look more fantastic in her white dress, this is proving that black and white can got together, no problem. And again, the dress represents purity and innocence of a six-year-old child. A child with barely any knowledge, a child that probably doesn´t even know racism. Rockwell wanted the world to see how ignorant they were being to treat this little girl, who obviously could not do any harm, like a criminal. Like the title says, we all live with this case because racism happens everyday, and we are so ignorant that we treat other people badly because we are prejudiced.