By Jalondra Jackson
On Feb. 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed Black man, was out for a morning run when he’d been terrorized and fatally shot by three white men. Nearly two years following his death, the case has gone on trial and is causing many to feel conflicted as it comes to an end.
The case, bordering the outline of racial hierarchy, is nudging old wounds of racial discrimination still present today. In Atlanta, just 275 miles north of the city, the Atlanta University Center community is, now, beginning to analyze and explore the race politics involved in Arbery’s death [and trial] further considering whether the American judicial system is capable of yielding justice outside of a guilty verdict.
For Rev. Lee A Norris, a professor at Clark Atlanta University and Morehouse College, the racial themes surrounding Arbery's trial aren’t newly found dispositions for the city and its Black residents. “Growing up in Brunswick wasn’t, particularly, a great experience during that time. We experienced the Jim Crow laws to the nth degree,” Norris said.
He recalls experiencing dehumanizing acts during his life in Brunswick, from co-workers, police officials and passersby. “At work [they] permitted a man to put
up on the bulletin board, right where we go to use the restroom, that Black people came from monkeys, baboons and apes,” Norris said.
In a theoretical analysis by Dr. Barbara Combs, a professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Clark Atlanta University, explores the violence [verbally and physically] inflicted upon Black bodies today as a way of reinforcing obedience. Which, inherently, has played a pertinent role in Arbery’s murder.
“The continuing violence that we see against Black bodies in society is an attempt to recreate the Jim Crow orders and push Black bodies back into a position of subservience to whites,” Combs said. She further notes that the exchange between Arbery and those three white men was fueled by their belief that Arbery didn’t belong in the Satilla Shores neighborhood and acted strictly upon that belief.
“This narrative that the McMichael’s were weaving about how Abery fought back and they had to defend themselves, there was this investment in believing them that Black bodies don't get the benefit of,” Combs said. “That investment, mentality, hierarchy, that still exists in society is what allowed them to go uncharged for such a long period of time.”
For decades in America, this attitude has been aimed to keep Black Americans acquiescent and can be considered into the reasons why hate crimes and even police brutality exists. It’s a system used, based on the view that because “this” Black person didn’t “comply” with the given demands, it is now a rationale for the actions that followed.
Dr. Clarissa A. Myrick-Harris, the Division Chair of the Humanities at Morehouse College, suggests that Arbery’s murder was a modern-day lynching.
“He was in a place where the white residents did not think he had a right to be,” Myrick-Harris said. She mentioned that Arbery’s murder was a clear example of a lynching, given the McMicheal’s and Bryan’s ploy to resolve an alleged, wrongfully accused crime. “From their perspective, that gave them the right to kill him. To stop him, assault him and kill him-- and that’s the definition of a lynching,” she added.
The three men, Travis and Gregory McMicheal and William “Robbie” Bryan, on trial for the murder of Arbery were found guilty on counts of murder and aggravated assault. “When I heard the verdict, I just felt a tremendous relief,” Combs said. “First, I felt surprised, and then relieved because you get so used to justice not being served-- that, from time to time, when justice happens for Black people it just seems so surreal.”
There is still a lot to be said about the case and the racial undertones in comments made by the defense-- or even the inequality placed by the makeup of the jury. And with a guilty verdict, it’s become easier to forget these and other race politics that are still present and need to be thoroughly examined and deconstructed for true, full justice. For Combs, “Dismantling systemic racism is not an easy task, in part, it begins with that look in the mirror.”
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