General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Letter to Rachel Jeantel - An Apology on Behalf of the Whole World [View all]nolabear
(41,960 posts)I haven't been following your own take on what Ms Jenteal was subjected to, but at the very least it's a complex look at cultural misunderstanding and the pillorying both in media, and for a distinct purpose on the stand, of a young woman who is, for various reasons, the victim of a terrible set of circumstances. Do you react to that in any way that adds, pro or con, to the dialogue that might make people understand one another better and create a better world, or is "get a grip" it?
Personally, I felt for her. She is a teenager and lives in a world vastly unlike ours, by virtue of her age (teenagers are distinct and separate by choice and development from all other age groups for complex reasons), her background, her experience with discrimination, her societal norms (trying to be polite to Trayvon's mother and so changing language in her presence), her at best second-hand experience with profiling, and a host of other things. Understanding who she is and where she is coming from, whether you think she is inventing a narrative in order to "help" her dead friend or not, would be kind and affirming for her. Instead she has been excoriated from behind the safe screen of social media, and if not the whole world a very loud, belligerent, smug and obnoxious part of it would do well to feel some real regret for the way they have treated her.