Transforming ‘white culture’ in the wake of Trayvon Martin shooting

Sam Fulwood III explains why "white culture" is so important in the Trayvon Martin shooting case and what we need to do to transform the "white culture" mentality.

When we all learned that a young African-American teenager, Trayvon Martin, was gunned down in a diverse suburban community, the first thing many of us wanted to know was the race of the guy who pulled the trigger. That man, George Zimmerman, was described as white by the media and Latino by his father. But why does it matter?

Far from the scene in Sanford, Florida, two Boston-area educators offered an explanation last weekend during a workshop on "Transforming Whiteness" at the Kirwan Institute conference on race in Columbus, Ohio. Susan Naimark and Paul Madden didn’t mention the Martin case, but instead posed a broad and open-ended question to the interracial audience of progressive academics, social activists, and community organizers that could well resonate in the coming federal investigation of the shooting: "What comes to mind when you hear the phrase "white culture?’"

The above excerpt was originally published in The Grio. Click here to view the full article.

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