Modern Violence and Discrimination

In our world today, people of color are consistently being challenged by those around them; they are being watched and even the slightest mistake or the slightest sketchy move  can lead to arrest, jail, or even death. In our country, we have lost the rights to basic human equality because other human beings, predominately white people, think people of color are dangerous and are instantly wired to commit crimes. Someone with a darker skin complexion can be walking down a street with their hands in their pockets and, if in the wrong place at the wrong time, can be stopped by cops because they "fit the description." Comparing this to someone with a white complexion doing the exact same thing, they are mostly likely either to be overlooked and left alone or stopped and asked a simple question while not having physical force placed upon them to comply.  This happens, easily, a hundred times a day; someone walking down the street with their family can be stopped because they are being racially profiled against a very small glimpse of someone who committed a crime.

Along with the racial profiling, there are people in the world who instantly feel threatened when around people of color or feel as if said people will do them harm for no reason.  An encounter that is widely known is the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Martin was a 17 year old African-American high school student who was shot and killed on the night of February 26, 2012 by a mixed Hispanic 28 year old man named George Zimmerman. At the time of the shooting Martin was visiting family in a gated community. It was reported by Zimmerman that he was walking around and seemed as if he was "up to no good or he [was] on drugs or something." After a 7 minute phone call with the police, Zimmerman decided to approach Martin "It ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin 70 yards (65 m) from the rear door of the townhouse where Martin was staying;" the cause of death was the shot to the chest.  

When this story first came out, it immediately sparked controversy because it seemed, and is still seen as, a man who saw a child of color minding his own business, possibly on his way home from a walk, and immediately thought he was in danger or that the kid was up to no good. This encounter and death could have been easily avoided if Zimmerman had listened to the police officer and kept his distance instead of entering the situation. It could have also been avoided if Martin wasn't immediately put into the frame of a criminal and profiled as dangerous without being properly seen or spoken to. 

There are so many cases of just this situation where children or teenagers are trying to get home but instead encounter the worst possible thing. With our current president, this type of profiling has gone up and neonazi's are slithering their way back into our world. This country and its colored people are constantly fighting for their lives and why? Because they - we - are seen as less and are seen as disposable when in fact we are human beings who will continue to protest for our freedom and rights until we can feel safe walking down a street with our hands in our pockets. 

-Monika Ortiz