It illustrates the conundrum in which we find ourselves and how difficult it is to extract ourselves from the confines of our language and the use of race to describe what happens to us.

One the one hand, it should be abundantly clear to most Americans that had Trayvon not been a black teenager and and instead a white teenager, he may well still be alive today and if not, at worst his alleged assailant most certainly would have been charged with some type of crime.

But here is what is also missing from the larger conversation: it would be more helpful, I believe in the long run, if in describing what has tragically happened to this family is that a 17 year old child, a son, a young human being has been killed; not a black teenager but a child…he was first and foremost a child. He was not a black anything. Sometimes it seems to me that if we were more selected in the use of our language, emphasizing the common humanity of each other, we may make more progress on the more difficult issues of race and ethnicity.

As a mother I feel depressed that black parents have to give our children warnings about how to behave should they be stopped by the police because we know they do not have the benefit of the doubt. Zimmerman was simply acting out what has been done over and over again in this country. Yes I know about black on black crime. That is why this is so tragic. I look at Trayvon’s picture and I see my 13 year old grandson who is 6’ 1’’ and we are already talking to him about being so careful when he is out.

At the same time I read the vitriolic attacks on President Obama – the total lack of respect – and feel sickened. The excuse that it is because of his policies is just that – an excuse for deep seated racism and the fact the a black man is President of the United States.

As for “Hispanic” not being “white”: “Hispanic” is not a race. It is not even “Hispanic”, which is a term that you will only hear as an ethnic categorization in the United States. Hispanic/Latinos also have racial classifications, in skin color going from white to Black, with a racial bias reflecting that which operates in the United States. To use that reasoning — “Hispanic is not white” — as a way of diminishing the role of racism as a fundamental reason for why Trayvon was targeted and assassinated is such a clear example of how willful we are about maintaining our ignorance of how white supremacy / anti-Black stereotyping and bias operates and the myriad ways in which African Americans are asked to pay for its sustenance.