Weighing in on Trayvon and George

I’ve intentionally stayed far from the argument of who was right or who was wrong in the battle over Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.  That isn’t to say I haven’t voiced my opinion in the private confines of my own home, but I haven’t made any public attempt to weigh in on the discussion as there was so much to digest and I hope not to put my foot in my mouth when I’m posting on this blog.  I can honestly say I haven’t always been successful at straying from the foot ingesting processes, though.

What has swayed my decision to go public on this matter are the recent developments in this very controversial and explosive situation.  First there is the matter of media interest.  Of course the voracious hounds would have their say in what is transpiring daily.  Sensationalism is key to winning the ratings game.  But when I read that Fox News referred to a group of protestors – Neo Nazis calling themselves the National Socialist Movement – as a civil rights group patrolling Sanford, I was dumbfounded.  Since when have Neo Nazis been considered champions of civil rights?  So when George Zimmerman decided to give Sean Hannity, political pundit of the Fox News Channel, an exclusive interview, I began to shake my head.  Fox has already shown their bias where race and the circumstances of this case are concerned. It certainly doesn’t help him one bit.

Additionally, the idea that Zimmerman’s attorneys – the ones who have spent most of their time turning the discussion about this situation into a trial on the actions of Martin rather than centering the discourse around focusing on the facts – have decided to dump their client due to his erratic behavior makes me scratch my chin.  It appears that Zimmerman has set up an account through Paypal and Face Book to help pay for his defense, granted interviews without notifying or garnering approval from legal counsel as well as cutting off all contact with his attorneys.  This form of behavior is a sign that Zimmerman is not working on all cylinders. 

First off, let me say that I was born into privilege.  Not because of money as there was little of that when I was growing up, but because of the pasty color of my skin.  The opportunities for me were far greater than others of minority status, greater than those afforded others in this country such as Trayvon Martin.  When I was in high school, if I had been caught with an empty baggy I couldn’t have imagined the administration of my school questioning the residue of that baggy, let alone testing it for traces of marijuana as they did with Trayvon.  As an adult I have found that, if I fall and end up on welfare, those who sit in their towers to judge the underlings will say, “There, there, all will be fine…” If my skin were more of an olive hue or any number of shades darker, the discussion would be quite different.  In this day and age, as with the others before, I would be vilified and denigrated.  Why is that?

I cringed when I heard the statement by temporarily removed police chief, Bill Lee, saying that he wished Trayvon had continued on to his father’s home and not confronted Zimmerman.  He said the outcome would have been different.  And yet, all along I have thought, if only Zimmerman had listened to the police dispatcher and not followed Martin, the outcome would have been different.  Why was the onerous on Trayvon, a 17 year old kid, to make the right choice in this matter rather than the grown-up? He was being followed by a man, an adult with a gun, who had no reason to follow him.  He was probably tired of being labeled because of the color of his skin and tired of being afraid to walk in his own neighborhood because there was always the chance someone would mistake him for a thug because he was darker than you or I.

I think back to when I was his age.  I was a respected, yet feisty, high school student who wouldn’t have thought twice about confronting someone who threatened me or any of the others around me.  I had been known to do so on many occasions in my past.  Had I been followed by a George Zimmerman I would have been no different than Martin and would have turned around to ask him why.  In my circumstance, however, my skin would have been pale in the rain and encroaching dusk.  Zimmerman would have thought twice about raising the weapon to my chest or wrestling me to the ground.  As a matter of fact – I have no doubt – there wouldn’t have even been a conversation about whether or not he would have shot me because the fact remains, being that I’m not a person of color, he wouldn’t have even considered me a threat.  George Zimmerman would have never followed me through that complex because he wouldn’t have made the prejudgment that I was a threat to his community because I’m not black. 

As human beings we can’t help ourselves when we size up another person.  We learn from an early age to analyze any and all situations prior to jumping in, protecting ourselves from a nest of rattlesnakes if we’re not careful about what we do or where we leap.  On that fateful night in February, George Zimmerman sized up Trayvon Martin and made a grave error in his assessment.  His greatest mistake was in not leaving it alone and following the boy until one of them turned up dead.  And now he compounds his troubles by continuing to jump into the fray, or a nest of rattlers as I see it.  All who are involved in this matter should come clean and do the right thing.  All of the evidence should be honestly presented and allowed to be reviewed by an unbiased eye.  And then, whatever justice is necessary within the confines of current state and federal laws, should be administered fairly and expeditiously.  No more, no less.  Only then can this nation begin to move beyond this and have open and honest discussions about how we can change so that something like this doesn’t ever happen again.