look like

Trayvon Martin

About 5 years ago my best friend and his partner purchased a ticket for me to travel to Paris as a birthday gift. I had never been to Paris and seeing this city for the first time with the two of them would make this first time visit even more exciting.

I am a white male and my best friends partner is a white male, my best friends family comes from Mexico and he has a tannish, brown skin. He definitely does not look like a white male.

The three of us were ready to board, all walking together and as we walked up the ramp to board the plane, two uniformed men stood in our way telling me and my other white friend you may proceed and looked at my best friend asking him to follow them in another direction. I was about to get that hissy spittle in my throat and question this when my other friend said its unfair but let him go he will be okay.

About 10 minutes later my best friend boarded the plane a bit hassled but okay. What the fuck happened, I said, and my best friend said I don’t look as white as the two of you.

I lived in Houston and was going to the Montrose section of the city where a group of Gay bars were located. Being it was my first time to this area I had been given some advice from a few people who had lived in Houston for decades on what to expect. Since parking was at a premium near the bars I was told that most likely I would park my car on some streets nearby.

The nearby streets were in a neighborhood that was not so Gay bar friendly and the inhabitants of the homes on these nearby streets were not gay friendly either. So, my friends said if you end up parking on those other streets, make sure de-gay yourself. Huh, I said, and the response was look straight, look mean, and don’t look at anyone. De-gay I said, I am Gay didn’t know that was wrong. My friends explained that if anyone on the nearby streets think you look Gay most likely at the least you will get hassled and at the worst beat up.

My Dad was a policeman in the city of Pittsburgh and was perhaps at the time only one of twelve Jewish policemen. We would go to the annual Fraternal Order of Police convention and usually be the only Jewish family no matter where the convention was held. I had grown up in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood a predominately Jewish neighborhood at the time and on my daily dealings as a kid had little opportunity to meet and socialize with anyone not Jewish.

We were in Virginia Beach, Virginia for the convention and part of that day’s calendar was a picnic and a bunch of relay races. I was skinny and little but one hell of a powerful runner. Give me a dash and I was a speed demon. My Dad had signed up my little sister and I to run a few races, as she was also a speed demon. We ran three races and won all three. One boy and his brother who came in a distant second and third to me and his sister who came in a distant third to my sister walked over to me and my little sister after the race. I assumed he was going to congratulate us on our win, but I was mistaken. Instead, the conversation went like this. I didn’t know you were Jewish. You don’t look Jewish. I know what Jews look like and I stay away from them. They then walked away.

I am now 62 and still amaze that in this great nation of ours it still does matter to some what you look like. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino and dozens of other demographics you suddenly look like a bad guy. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino you somehow look like you are the antichrist. If you look like a Jew, a Gay, a Latino there must be something sinister. And now if you are a Black man and find yourself walking in a neighborhood watch neighborhood in Florida or any other state that has passed the “Stand Your Ground Law” you are guilty of something because you look BLACK.

And if you are Trayvon Martin, because you look BLACK you are murdered. If you are Trayvon Martin you are guilty because you are BLACK. If you are Trayvon Martin you deserve to die because you are BLACK. What has happened to all of us in this nation and is it ever going to end?