what if I spoke with George Zimmerman a
day before he encountered Trayvon Martin
what if I asked him why
african-americans are seeing more as a
threat than white people what if I was
able to change his perspective a day
before he decided to kill a 17 year old
boy you see when we think of gangs the
first thing that comes to mind is a
violin group of misfits and over time we
have grown this assumption that
african-americans are associated with
these gangs and gang like activities
however when looking through a
psychological lens you’ll notice that
there are groups such as political
parties fraternities and sororities now
do the same exact thing but with a
different title
so when assuming a group of
african-americans are a part of these
gangs we need to first look into the
factors that play into the question why
do people join groups so oftentimes when
people join these groups they seek
different needs needs that they feel
will help them survive needs that can be
found on a 5 level structure called
Maslow’s pyramid and though there are
five levels to this pyramid the basic
and psychological needs can be found on
the first three you see level one
suggests the physiological needs
this may include food water or a place
to rest and if these needs are not met
this can be due to them being jobless
homeless or they simply cannot afford it
advancing on to level two which suggests
the safety needs oftentimes when we
think of a group we think of a
sisterhood or Brotherhood that will
protect each other and no matter the
consequences and though the definition
of safety need is protection from a high
crime rate of neighborhood this can
apply to both college life and political
parties you see within sororities and
fraternities you have those who rely on
their own peers and their own company
for help little will they ask for other
for help outside of their group in a
political aspect you have those who are
Democrat and Republicans who carry their
own political beliefs along with their
own political views and within these
groups those who are Democrat and
Republicans rely on their own political
leaders to protect these rights and to
protect these beliefs and if these meet
or if these are not met and they’re not
benefiting from this they will attack
and retaliate until their justice has
been served
finally we come to love and belonging
need which suggests the affiliation with
others and acceptance by others
according to the LAPD to the majority of
the gang members the gang functions as
an extension of the family so in
comparison for college students they
join these fraternities and sororities
during their freshman year in order to
feel more inclusive and welcomed as they
adjust to the new environment on a
political aspect the love and belonging
need comes through the actions being
represented by the political leaders
such as doing what they promised or
winning the elections to becoming not
only a leader for them but for all so
another reason why somebody may be
affiliated with these groups is because
they admire the way they act or behave
they may feel like they fit in well with
these groups and will continuously act
the way they do this is through the act
of conformity and though there are
different types of conformity the
cognitive learning is the primary reason
why though there are different types of
conformity the normative is the primary
reason why people join these groups you
see the normative is the most dominant
form of conformity it is the one or need
to fit in with other people oftentimes
people in new environments or have grown
up without the support that they are
Pope were conformed to these groups that
attract their interest they conform to
these lifestyles they conform to these
actions they conform to these behaviors
in our nation today 38% of
african-american children live in
poverty within our communities so
typically around the age thirteen to
fifteen boys will understand the family
culture that gangs have to offer this
causes us to long for the attention that
is due to the neglect caused by family
members and/or peers so when we come to
the question why are we so quick to
place african-americans and gangs and
not web groups that are just as similar
we often say that’s just how it is we
don’t look for why we think this way
rather we simply go with what we know
and wait for somebody else to figure it
out so behind these assumptions we do
not realize why we think the way we do
and the truth is we have all been
conditioned conditioned to think a
certain way conditioned to believe a
specific ethnic group is associated with
these gangs and though there are
different types of conditioning the
cognitive learning is the main reason
why we think the way we do you see the
cognitive learning is a learned
information by someone else it
influences someone to think or behave
the way they do you see in relation C
gangs many people feel uncomfortable
being seen with a group of
african-americans by what they hear on
social media or hear from other people
so through this type of conditioning the
way we explain information is fragile
because we never know who might have the
heart to imitate it so given that we’ve
been conditioned to think this way this
changes the way we perceive others and
through the multiple conditionings
people go through our perceptions have
not changed in Jacksonville Florida
seventeen-year-old Jordan Davis was shot
and killed by Michael Dunn for playing
very loud music in the car with his
friends and what is all common about
these perceptions is that it is being
learned by someone or something around
them our initial impressions and
judgments are influenced and biased by a
first person’s physical appearance
and it forms our perceptions and used to
describe someone by what we believe is
true thus causing us to categorize
african-americans to be associated with
these gangs so through the
misconceptions caused by our perceptions
we have categorized in stereotyped those
associated with their own groups to be a
part of these gangs so in order to
change the way we think I believe we
should provide education to the kids to
teach them about love and acceptance to
teach them about those who are different
than us to teach them what is being
conditioned ignorance you see kids Minds
develop around the time they’re in
middle school so I believe that ethnic
studies should be a part of a middle
school to high school education and
since majority of time kids are spending
their time at school teachers play a
huge role on a child’s life so I think
it’s part of the teachers to start
teaching kids about love and acceptance
for those who are different than us to
so rather than being close-minded we
must be critical thinkers to not easily
be manipulated by others
to not simply accept conclusions rather
critique the underlying reasons to
recognize our own strengths and
weaknesses of our own point of views and
to welcome good questions to clarify our
thinking if we become critical thinkers
we can grow a sense of empathy and
compassion to better our world so what
if george zimmerman challenged his
biases what if he didn’t easily wasn’t
easily manipulated what if he didn’t
simply accept conclusions what if he
recognized his own weaknesses of his own
point of views what if he welcomed good
questions if george zimmerman was a
critical thinker trayvon martin would be
23 trayvon martin would be making career
moves trayvon martin would graduate
college trayvon martin would be in love
trayvon martin would have lived thank
you
[Applause] [Music]
day before he encountered Trayvon Martin
what if I asked him why
african-americans are seeing more as a
threat than white people what if I was
able to change his perspective a day
before he decided to kill a 17 year old
boy you see when we think of gangs the
first thing that comes to mind is a
violin group of misfits and over time we
have grown this assumption that
african-americans are associated with
these gangs and gang like activities
however when looking through a
psychological lens you’ll notice that
there are groups such as political
parties fraternities and sororities now
do the same exact thing but with a
different title
so when assuming a group of
african-americans are a part of these
gangs we need to first look into the
factors that play into the question why
do people join groups so oftentimes when
people join these groups they seek
different needs needs that they feel
will help them survive needs that can be
found on a 5 level structure called
Maslow’s pyramid and though there are
five levels to this pyramid the basic
and psychological needs can be found on
the first three you see level one
suggests the physiological needs
this may include food water or a place
to rest and if these needs are not met
this can be due to them being jobless
homeless or they simply cannot afford it
advancing on to level two which suggests
the safety needs oftentimes when we
think of a group we think of a
sisterhood or Brotherhood that will
protect each other and no matter the
consequences and though the definition
of safety need is protection from a high
crime rate of neighborhood this can
apply to both college life and political
parties you see within sororities and
fraternities you have those who rely on
their own peers and their own company
for help little will they ask for other
for help outside of their group in a
political aspect you have those who are
Democrat and Republicans who carry their
own political beliefs along with their
own political views and within these
groups those who are Democrat and
Republicans rely on their own political
leaders to protect these rights and to
protect these beliefs and if these meet
or if these are not met and they’re not
benefiting from this they will attack
and retaliate until their justice has
been served
finally we come to love and belonging
need which suggests the affiliation with
others and acceptance by others
according to the LAPD to the majority of
the gang members the gang functions as
an extension of the family so in
comparison for college students they
join these fraternities and sororities
during their freshman year in order to
feel more inclusive and welcomed as they
adjust to the new environment on a
political aspect the love and belonging
need comes through the actions being
represented by the political leaders
such as doing what they promised or
winning the elections to becoming not
only a leader for them but for all so
another reason why somebody may be
affiliated with these groups is because
they admire the way they act or behave
they may feel like they fit in well with
these groups and will continuously act
the way they do this is through the act
of conformity and though there are
different types of conformity the
cognitive learning is the primary reason
why though there are different types of
conformity the normative is the primary
reason why people join these groups you
see the normative is the most dominant
form of conformity it is the one or need
to fit in with other people oftentimes
people in new environments or have grown
up without the support that they are
Pope were conformed to these groups that
attract their interest they conform to
these lifestyles they conform to these
actions they conform to these behaviors
in our nation today 38% of
african-american children live in
poverty within our communities so
typically around the age thirteen to
fifteen boys will understand the family
culture that gangs have to offer this
causes us to long for the attention that
is due to the neglect caused by family
members and/or peers so when we come to
the question why are we so quick to
place african-americans and gangs and
not web groups that are just as similar
we often say that’s just how it is we
don’t look for why we think this way
rather we simply go with what we know
and wait for somebody else to figure it
out so behind these assumptions we do
not realize why we think the way we do
and the truth is we have all been
conditioned conditioned to think a
certain way conditioned to believe a
specific ethnic group is associated with
these gangs and though there are
different types of conditioning the
cognitive learning is the main reason
why we think the way we do you see the
cognitive learning is a learned
information by someone else it
influences someone to think or behave
the way they do you see in relation C
gangs many people feel uncomfortable
being seen with a group of
african-americans by what they hear on
social media or hear from other people
so through this type of conditioning the
way we explain information is fragile
because we never know who might have the
heart to imitate it so given that we’ve
been conditioned to think this way this
changes the way we perceive others and
through the multiple conditionings
people go through our perceptions have
not changed in Jacksonville Florida
seventeen-year-old Jordan Davis was shot
and killed by Michael Dunn for playing
very loud music in the car with his
friends and what is all common about
these perceptions is that it is being
learned by someone or something around
them our initial impressions and
judgments are influenced and biased by a
first person’s physical appearance
and it forms our perceptions and used to
describe someone by what we believe is
true thus causing us to categorize
african-americans to be associated with
these gangs so through the
misconceptions caused by our perceptions
we have categorized in stereotyped those
associated with their own groups to be a
part of these gangs so in order to
change the way we think I believe we
should provide education to the kids to
teach them about love and acceptance to
teach them about those who are different
than us to teach them what is being
conditioned ignorance you see kids Minds
develop around the time they’re in
middle school so I believe that ethnic
studies should be a part of a middle
school to high school education and
since majority of time kids are spending
their time at school teachers play a
huge role on a child’s life so I think
it’s part of the teachers to start
teaching kids about love and acceptance
for those who are different than us to
so rather than being close-minded we
must be critical thinkers to not easily
be manipulated by others
to not simply accept conclusions rather
critique the underlying reasons to
recognize our own strengths and
weaknesses of our own point of views and
to welcome good questions to clarify our
thinking if we become critical thinkers
we can grow a sense of empathy and
compassion to better our world so what
if george zimmerman challenged his
biases what if he didn’t easily wasn’t
easily manipulated what if he didn’t
simply accept conclusions what if he
recognized his own weaknesses of his own
point of views what if he welcomed good
questions if george zimmerman was a
critical thinker trayvon martin would be
23 trayvon martin would be making career
moves trayvon martin would graduate
college trayvon martin would be in love
trayvon martin would have lived thank
you
[Applause] [Music]
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