The Misrepresentation of Social Injustice

It’s no secret about the current injustice that still engulfs us as a country pertaining to racially induced hatred and violence. There are constant visions of murder that we see on the news, that plaugues our inner cities, and that continue to manifest seemingly based on our expectations of violence against our youth and in our urban communities. This type violence and injustice that has claimed thousands of lives, has now been given a face and a name to represent itself. That representation is being made by the tragic death of Trayvon Martin.

But what symbolism that has been given to his death, is ironically shedding light on what seems to be other more “surface” issues within urban communities. The often stereotypical perception that there is sometimes a  lack of true substance needed to make real change, when an “image” becomes bigger than the cause itself. This is shown through the constant status updates containing pictures of people wearing hoodies(mainly for likes), event flyers promoting parties in the name of Trayvon Martin(See Below). The idea that, instead of being a political and society based statement, its becoming a “fashion” statement is really a sign that we need to look internally at what needs to be fixed as well. Sometimes the injustice we do to ourselves takes away from the injustice carried out by others, but we have to be against both.

The argument can be made that all awareness is good awareness, but where does it end?

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