Introduction
Racial profiling is one of the most critical issues of present-day American society, and the consequences of such a mindset are severe. The recent case of Ahmaud Arbery, who was shot by two white supremacists, is a clear example of the outcome of the citizens’ bias against people of color. However, the roots of this attitude have not been properly addressed, and this fact defines injustice. Over the centuries, this situation was complicated by the continuous search for an interpretation of human differences by scientists and their attempts to draw pseudoscientific analogies between people (Stepan). The story of Ahmaud Arbery proves the harm of such an approach and demonstrates its negative effect on society.
Main body
The shooting under consideration occurred in Georgia this year, and it provoked indignation in American citizens. On February 23, a 25-year-old black athlete was jogging in the neighborhood where he lived with his parents (Fausset). The young man was chased down by white attackers and shot dead in the street. At the time of the incident, Ahmaud was unarmed and did nothing wrong to trigger such a reaction. Hence, this fact adds to people’s concerns about racial discrimination, as it is demonstrated by white people of different social classes (DiAngelo). It allows us to conclude on the necessity to consider the case of Ahmaud Arbery through the lens of social injustice.
The opinions on the matter vary depending on one’s view of the victim’s behavior. The opponents of the shooting claim that Ahmaud did not break any law, and there are no legal grounds to chase down a person and consequently shoot him dead based on one’s bias (“This is Ahmaud Arbery”). The website of people who seek justice for the young man presents their principal views. They include the former position of one of the criminals as a police officer with a bad reputation and the alleged corruption of the Glynn County Police department (“This is Ahmaud Arbery”). Therefore, the opponents of the act committed by two white men on the grounds of their biased attitude have a good reason to consider it a hate crime.
As for the justification of the actions of criminals, these arguments seem to be weak in comparison with those of the opposition. The principal evidence against Ahmaud Arbery was the video of him entering a building under construction and running out of it shortly before the incident (Fausset). However, according to the information received from the site’s owners, who happened to be the criminals, nothing was stolen to prove the alleged felony (Fausset). Hence, the criminals had no legal justification for their behavior but proved that their attitude is the sole factor in guiding their actions.
There is also a number of arguments allowing to view the crime as an act of lynching. They are related to the previous history of Ahmaud, who was continuously stopped by the police for no apparent reason, for example, when the place where he was walking was known for drugs (Mahbubani). This fact explains the high probability of murdering the young man because of his race as the criminals were proved to have a biased attitude towards minorities (Mahbubani). In this light, the incident seems to be murder without justification or, in other words, the act of lynching.
The consideration of the case includes the characteristics of the victim, the criminals, and other people involved in the matter. Hence, Ahmaud is viewed as an innocent citizen who happened to arouse suspicion by harmless actions, and he did not deserve such treatment. According to his mother, he was “unarmed but black,” and this definition implies the apparent injustice towards him (“He Was Unarmed”). As for the criminals, they viewed Ahmaud as the person responsible for the crimes in their community, and him jogging in the street was kind of a red flag for them.
The shooters, in turn, were characterized as individuals supported by the police due to their previous work and acquaintances in the department. The main characteristic of Gregory McMichael given by the people who knew him at work was his unwillingness to obey the rules and attend trainings that led to the ban to wear guns (“This is Ahmaud Arbery”). Hence, he is perceived as a violent criminal capable of murdering an innocent young man. The person who recorded the shooting was William “Roddie” Bryan, and he is characterized as a felony murder (Mahbubani). The lawyer who used the video trying to exonerate the shooters was Alan Tucker, and his motive was to dispel the rumors around the case (Mahbubani). At present, all the people involved in the crime are arrested.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the case of Ahmaud Arbery demonstrates a biased attitude towards minorities in present-day society. Even though everyday media does not explicitly discuss such issues, they become known to the public after such a crime implying apparent racial discrimination. This motive corresponds to the theories of human difference and people’s attempts to distinguish “us” from “them.” Hence, the murder of Ahmaud Arbery should be considered as an act of lynching rather than any other type of crime.
References
DiAngelo, Robin J. “My Class Didn’t Trump My Race: Using Oppression to Face Privilege.” Multicultural Perspectives, vol. 8, no. 1, 2006, pp. 51-56.
Fausset, Richard. “What We Know About the Shooting Death of Ahmaud Arbery.”The New York Times, 2020, Web.
“He Was Unarmed, But He Was Black.” My Son Ahmaud Arbery Was Murdered. | NYT.” YouTube, uploaded by The New York Times, 2020, Web.
Mahbubani, Rhea. “The Full Story of How the Ahmaud Arbery ‘Lynching’ Became a National Flashpoint for Justice.”Insider, 2020, Web.
Stepan, Nancy Leys. “Race and Gender: The Role of Analogy in Science.” Isis, vol. 77, no. 2, 1986, pp. 261-277.
“This is Ahmaud Arbery.” The Action PAC, 2020, Web.