Racism in a Black White Binary: On the Reaction to Trayvon Martin’s Death

Panel One

Some philosophers have contended that racism necessarily involves a binary structure. In the United States, the binary is coded in terms of Blacks and Whites and functions in part in this way: it describes violence as racist only if committed by whites against blacks and prescribes that all such violence is potentially racist. This concept operated during the immediate aftermath of Trayvon Martin’s death in both allegations of racism without strong evidence and assertions against George Zimmerman’s being white that were intended to protect him. While perhaps no racism was involved in Martin’s death, we do well to remember that racism takes many forms. I contend that a non-binary conceptualization of racism can better locate racism as well as the voices of victims, which may aid our pursuit of justice in cases like Martin’s: I recommend we adopt policies that approach this end.

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