Very well-written and well-argued. Nice find! http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2013/07/17/hispanics-and-the-zimmerman-narrative-media/
On Jul 19, 2013, at 11:10 AM, [email protected] wrote: > > Commentary > Hispanics and the Zimmerman Narrative > > Jonathan S. Tobin | @tobincommentary 07.17.2013 > > Four days into the post-Zimmerman trial verdict era—which many in the media > have already dubbed the post-post racial era of American history—a small but > interesting thing happened that tells us a lot about the way the narrative of > this event is being crafted by the media. Politico’s Dylan Byers gets credit > for noticing a curious detail about President Obama’s much talked-about > interviews with Hispanic television networks. The focus of the appearances > was the discussion of immigration reform. The main point was the White > House’s not-so-subtle hint to Republicans that though the president had taken > a low profile on the issue in order to not sabotage bipartisan efforts to > pass a Senate compromise, Democrats were poised to use the failure of the > House to pass a bill as a cudgel to attack Republicans in the future. But the > most fascinating element of the president’s Hispanic outreach was the > question that he wasn’t asked. As Byers points out, on a day when the country > was transfixed by the debate over the acquittal of George Zimmerman on a > charge of murdering Trayvon Martin, no one from Telemundo or Univision even > mentioned the case. > > In and of itself it’s curious that any presidential interview this week would > not contain at least one question about the case. But even Byers didn’t > mention the irony here. While the prevailing narrative of the case has been > to portray the tragic death of Martin as a symbol if not a practical example > of white racism against African-Americans, Zimmerman isn’t white. He’s > Hispanic. So it is telling that not only have none of the leading lights of > the Latino media claimed him as a member of their community, but in doing so > have consciously abstained from dealing with the issue of race relations in > America that has become the primary topic of political discussion since > Saturday night. At least as far as these interviews were concerned, the > Hispanic media seems determined to do nothing to alter the prevailing > narrative in which Zimmerman is stripped of his own identity as a minority in > order to make the point about racist America in a way that allows the left to > wave the bloody banner of Jim Crow unimpeded by concern for the sensitivities > of Hispanics. > > > Let’s concede that the Hispanic journalists are entitled to determine their > own priorities and that immigration reform and the status of illegals is not > only the topic they are most interested in but also the one their viewers > care most about. They are also within their rights to deplore Zimmerman’s > actions and to reject his acquittal if they think it was unjust. But the > complete absence of interest on their part in bringing up the case this week > in what was a unique opportunity to get the president speak to the issue > provides us with a fascinating commentary on their frame of reference. > > Though race was not part of the actual trial that hinged on the facts of the > case and the details of the confrontation between Zimmerman and Martin, since > the verdict was handed down the discussion in the country about it has > focused almost entirely on identity politics and race. Martin has been > transformed in much of this discussion from a youth with a mixed record who > got into a fight with an armed man into a martyr who was murdered because he > was black. But in order to make that narrative persuasive, Zimmerman must be > viewed as a “creepy ass cracker”—Martin’s description of Zimmerman according > to Rachel Jeantel—and not the son of a woman from South America whose > Hispanic appearance doesn’t exactly make him a likely recruit for the Ku Klux > Klan. But in order to really think of Zimmerman that way, we must forget his > origins and his looks and focus only on his German-sounding last name. > > One needn’t agree with the verdict in order to understand that stripping > Zimmerman of his Hispanic identity and making him an honorary member of the > white supremacist conspiracy against minorities has been an integral element > in the process by which he has been demonized and the case has been inflated > into the new paradigm of American racism. Those who only concentrated on the > facts of the case rather than the politicized agitation that accompanied it—a > group that includes the jurors that acquitted Zimmerman—found it to be a > complex and confusing incident that told us little, if anything, about racism > in America. But eliminating the defendant’s background makes it easier to > think of it as a morality play about racism. > > Perhaps it’s understandable that Hispanic journalists wouldn’t want to risk > upsetting their liberal colleagues by disrupting this rhetorical formulation > by pointing out Zimmerman’s background or even raising questions about > assumptions about race. But their failure to do so is playing a part in > perpetuating a distorted discussion that has done more to obscure the truth > about race in America than to shed light on it. > > > -- > -- > Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community > <[email protected]> > Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism > Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. 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