Maniacs look like Mr. Rogers, not Trayvon Martin: Racial Profiling, Dzokhar Tsarnaev and Privilege

 This month’s Rolling Stones cover has a lot of people in a tizzy. It has incited so much outrage that major stores such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid have refused to sell the issue which features what some call a “glamorized,” cover photo of Boston bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev, the seemingly innocent, good-looking all-American boy with his tussled brown hair, pale skin and brown eyes, staring inquisitively into the camera. Although, the picture chosen was the photo of choice for most major news networks after the bombing, many are accusing Rolling Stones of deliberately choosing the glamorized selfie in an attempt to make Tsarnaev look more like a rock star.

 Already a social media celebrity on his own, you can find the hastag #Savedzokhartsarnaev or #tsarnaevisinnocent via Twitter and Tumblr as young girls and boys post their weird, sometimes amusing ,but incredibly distorted thoughts about Tsarnaev presumed innocence.

Tumblr’s Dzokhar Tsarnaev tag features young girls and boys admiration over the Boston bomber whether for his looks, Twitter comments or presumed innocence.

 

 But anyone that is declaring Tsarnaev is innocent simply because of his good looks is just as ignorant as anyone who believes his good looks mean he shouldn’t be on the cover of a magazine. Should Rolling Stones have used a photo-shopped version with blood and fangs attached to his face, and a burning American flag hanging in the background? Too many acts of violence are committed by your average pot-smoking, soccer loving male college student to turn away from the photo of Tsarnaev, and not force yourself to picture your own friend, neighbor or brother.  Tsarnaev contradicts everything we believe about racial profiling at a critical time when Trayvon Martin forced us to examine white privilege.

Unlike Martin’s black skin and hoodie, the Tsanaerv brothers white skin and hoodies allowed them to maneuver during the Boston Marathon without being followed. Even after the explosions, it wasn’t the brothers that were first suspected but a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian man who was “seen running,” after the bombs went off. Well, duh. Police ransacked his apartment with two K-9 units while he was getting treated for his wounds at the hospital. The NY Post listed him as a suspect just two hours after the explosion.

Police first suspected a 20-year-old Saudi Arabian man for the Boston bombings after he was “seen running,” after the explosion. Oh. 

On Friday, President Obama spoke at the White House press briefing following the Trayvon Martin verdict and discussed America’s racial disparities within the criminal justice system. His most powerful statement came when Obama identified himself with Martin saying, “Trayvon Martin could have been me, 35 years ago.” Although being the country’s first black president, the President rarely discusses race but he did address Martin’s death last year when he said “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon Martin.” President Obama did an excellent job at putting the trial into the context of what African-Americans experience in a country that continues to rule under racial construction. He forced listeners to view the trial through a set of minority eyes, particularly those of black men who often suffer the most racial inequalities within the criminal justice system.

Why can’t the same dialogue that occurred after Adama Lanza killed 20 children, including his own mother, be made about Tsarnaev?  Reporters, analysts and experts probed and prodded to find the answers as to why such a seemingly small-time , Connecticut boy could commit such acts of violence.

There was no uproar in trying to find out why Lanza gunned down 27 people. In fact, we wanted to know. But that same question doesn’t want to be asked about Tsaernaev. If we did, it would force people to look at Tsaernaev and his brother as individuals rather than as just components of a collective group of raging Islamic terrorists, who all act and think alike. But because of his slightly brown skin and non-American DNA, Tsaernaev is omitted from the white privilege dialogue that is afforded to most whites- the opportunity to see them as individuals.