Probably the hottest topic in the news and the media right now is the George Zimmerman trial and subsequent acquittal. I must admit, I fell head first into this one. I ignored housework and skipped trips to the store as I sat riveted, on the edge of my seat through almost every day of this trial. I watched the live feed from the courtroom during the day, and just because it was interesting, when court adjourned for the day I would catch some of the mainstream media coverage to see how they were spinning things. It was very interesting to say the least. Based on this dual coverage and what I have seen this is MY opinion. This is what I think happened. Agree with it or not, it's just the opinion of this humble blogger.
I think the acquittal was a miscarriage of the stand your ground law. I believe that the stand your ground law was intended to protect people who have no other option than to use deadly force. If it is proven that there were multitudes of options that could have been taken besides the act that resulted in the loss of life, that stand your ground should not apply. This protects the general public from cases like this, where no one truly knows how things went down because the only other true witness is dead. It protects the general public from the possibility of a over zealous home grown crime fighter going around starting altercations and shooting people over them. It protects anyone who is perceived as a threat when they are merely going about their daily business.
I think George Zimmerman lied. He got tied into multiple lies during the trial. The fact that the jurors appeared to ignore this is something I wonder about. I think that he did start the altercation. I think that he reached out and grabbed Trayvon Martin's shoulder in an effort to detain him until the police arrived. I believe that he wanted to be the neighborhood hero and didn't want to let another one of those "fucking punks" as he referred to them, get away. Trayvon, feeling threatened made just another one of the bad choices that ultimately led to the tragedy of him losing his life. But this is purely my speculation based on what I have seen. I think that George Zimmerman should have been held responsible to some degree for the death of an unarmed teenager that he profiled and instigated and then killed. I think that the fact that those parents, friends and family members of Trayvon Martin had to exit that courtroom for the last time knowing that their son was officially ruled in a court of law as causing his own death is a tragedy.
Now, as many people in our nation struggle to accept the verdict the conversation of race takes the font page. People are outraged at the way in which Trayvon Martin was profiled by George Zimmerman, and now it's as if every young black man has to be in constant fear for their life. Perhaps there is something to that. Young black men are one of the most discriminated against groups in our society. I think that youth in general is discriminated against in our society as the culture of violence becomes reflected in the children who grew up immersed in it. But I don't think that standing somewhere with a sign in protest is going to do anything about it. Just like any other social problem, the solution lies within. The culture of violence needs to change. The positive needs to outweigh the negative. And maybe that's not fair, but like my mother always told me "life isn't fair". Sometimes you just have to deal with it. If you are a young black male and you are sick of being profiled as a criminal, then do things to help your fellow young black males from ruining your reputation through their behavior. Do something in your community to help change the opinions of others. No, it's not right to have to try extra hard just to make people think that you are not a threat to them, but if it's the way it is, how else are things ever going to change? Change comes from within.
I think that the attention and emotion that became devoted to this trial is because somehow, those who were outraged by all this got it in their heads that if George Zimmerman was convicted it would somehow bring Trayvon Martin back. Maybe not logically. Most everyone logically knows that there is nothing that can do that. But some illogical place in so many people's minds started to believe that if there was a conviction it would somehow undo what was done. I admit that illogical part of my brain wished for the same thing. Maybe it's because I am a mother. Maybe it's because my son has brown skin. But my heart goes out to this family, and I have shed tears for the loss of Trayvon Martin when I viewed the gruesome photos that were displayed in the courtroom. Those last photos that will ever be taken of him. He was a kid. He didn't deserve to be profiled. He didn't deserve to be followed. And he didn't deserve to lose his life.
Some say that Trayvon Martin was a thug, but I don't think so. I think he was a typical adolescent trying on different personas as all adolescents do. I think the persona he was trying on at the time of his death was directly related to the culture he was living in as a young black male. It may not have, and seemed that it would not have been the path he ultimately chose in life, but I guess we'll never know that now.
From where we stand right now, what's done is done. The jury deliberated and decided that no crime was committed. George Zimmerman walks free and there's nothing that can be done about it. So we all kind of sit here with a collective "now what?" as the family and friends of George Zimmerman celebrate, and the family and friends of Trayvon Martin continue to grieve, and the rest of us go back to life as usual.
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