David Magallanes
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By David Magallanes / Guest contributor
All of us are very aware of what happened between a man who affirms that he is Hispanic and a young black that fateful night in Florida in February, 2012. A large number of people were left incredulous when a jury arrived at the conclusion that George Zimmerman was innocent of all the charges against him that involved the killing of the young Trayvon Martin. That is, they found that Zimmerman had done nothing wrong, that he was “defending himself.”
Afro-Americans, understandably, were furious. It seemed to them that the life of the young man, one of their own, was considered something expendable, of little importance.
The case exposed the fault lines in our society. Up to this day, it is obvious that we have not healed the racial divisions that have anguished us since the beginning of our country. Racial peace evades us, and I fear to say that at this rate it could evade us for a long time.
But there is still hope. There is always hope. President Obama seemed to channel the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, when he said this past month, “And so, you know, we have to be vigilant. And we have to work on these issues. And those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our nature.” (1)
The president said that he talks with his daughters and listens to their friends, and he assured us that the new generation of young people is handling the racial issues better than we, their elders, handled them, and better than we are handling them now. In his speech, he finished by saying that along our long and difficult journey, we are becoming a more perfect union. Not a “perfect” union, but a more perfect union.
— David Magallanes is a writer, speaker and retired professor of mathematics. You may contact him at adelantos@msn.com.
Una Unión Más Perfecta
Por David Magallanes / Columnista invitado
Todos estamos muy conscientes de lo ocurrido entre un hombre quien afirma que es hispano y un joven de raza negra aquella noche fatídica en la Florida en febrero de 2012. Una gran cantidad de personas se quedó incrédulo cuando un jurado llegó a la conclusión de que George Zimmerman era inocente de todos los cargos en su contra involucrando la matanza de Trayvon Martin. O sea, encontraron que Zimmerman no hizo nada indebido, que se estaba “defendiendo”.
Los afroamericanos, comprensiblemente, fueron enfurecidos. Les pareció que la vida del joven asesinado, uno de los suyos, fuera algo considerado desechable, de poca importancia.
El caso expuso las fallas geológicas en nuestra sociedad. Aún, hasta la fecha, es obvio que no hemos sanado las divisiones raciales que nos han angustiado desde los orígenes de nuestro país. La paz racial todavía nos evade, y temo decir que a este paso nos pueda evadir mucho tiempo más.
Pero aún hay esperanzas. Siempre hay esperanzas. El presidente Obama pareció canalizar al decimosexto presidente de los Estados Unidos, Abraham Lincoln, cuando dijo este mes pasado, “Así que tenemos que mantenernos despiertos y tenemos que resolver estos problemas. Y nosotros las autoridades deberíamos hacer todo lo posible por alentar los mejores espíritus de nuestra naturaleza”. [mi traducción] (1)
El presidente dijo que habla con sus hijas y a las amistades de ellas, y nos aseguró que la nueva generación de jóvenes está manejando las realidades raciales mejor que nosotros, sus mayores, las manejábamos, y mejor que las estamos manejando actualmente. En este discurso, terminó diciendo que a través de este arduo camino, nos estamos volviendo una unión más perfecta. No “perfecta”, sino más perfecta.
– David Magallanes es un escritor, orador y profesor jubilado de matemáticas. Se puede comunicar con él por e-mail a: adelantos@msn.com.
(1) http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/19/politics/obama-zimmerman-verdict/index.html
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