DMX has confirmed that he will step in the ring with George Zimmerman in March and the official announcement has sparked online protests, petitions and countless articles explaining just how inhumane the so-called “celebrity” boxing match really is.
An online petition has been published on the White House’s We the People website requesting that the government to step in and do something to stop the fight from happening.
The petition states that “Celebrity Boxing Promoter Damon Feldman and George Zimmerman are attempting to promote and profit off of racial tensions in America” and that the fight will only have negative effects.
“This will only hurt America, as it will continue to stir up racial tensions that have been ongoing in this nation for quite some time,” the petition continues. “No promoter or celebrity boxer should ever be allowed to use racial tension to profit.”
So far the petition, which was published on Feb. 2, has gained over 20,000 signatures but will need about 75,000 more signatures to be officially reviewed.
Another petition on Change.org has already soared past 75,000 signatures.
The links to the petitions has been circulating around social media lately as more and more people online are doing what they can to put a stop to the fight or at least prevent Zimmerman and Feldman from making a profit.
Social media users on Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook have also started online protests gathering several thousands of retweets and likes from people who are agreeing not to watch or support the boxing match.
Rev. Al Sharpton has since weighed in saying, “We must be very careful not to glorify or in any way sidestep the implications of making someone whose only claim to fame was killing an unarmed young man named Trayvon Martin into a cultural celebrity or hero.”
Dozens of publications including the Huffington Post, Complex Magazine and The Daily Beast have also heavily criticized the decision for Zimmerman and rapper DMX to get in the ring together.
The Huffington Post released a list of 10 reasons why people should not watch the fight – four of those reasons being, “You will be financially supporting George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin.”
Complex seemed to be one of the few publications to not only criticize Zimmerman and Feldman, but to explain why DMX is the “biggest loser” in the entire situation.
Complex wrote that by fighting Zimmerman, DMX has now fallen from “a bad punchline to a murderer’s pawn; a prop in a million different conflicting fantasies all competing to out-inhumane each other.”
They also reminded potential viewers of the harsh reality of what will happen after the fight – Trayvon’s parents will continue to “celebrate each of their son’s birthdays with their son’s ghost” and “Zimmerman will go home. Free.”
One point that was brought up across almost all media platforms was the use of the term “celebrity.”
The term “celebrity” is derived from the word “celebrate,” meaning that a person who is a celebrity is someone worthy of celebrating, or someone who has accomplished something worthy of celebrating.
If the murderer of an unarmed African-American teenager is a man worthy of celebration, then America is most certainly not the post-racism country it hypocritically boasts to be.
