I have been trying to find the right words to express my deep sadness and concern with what occurred Saturday, July 13th, 2013. On this night, six jurors decided that it was OK for a man named George Zimmerman to shoot and kill a 17 year old teenager named Trayvon Martin.
I like EVERYONE who's followed the case, don't really know what happened that fateful night in 2012. The prosecution of the case doesn't really know, the defense doesn't really know, the jurors, the judge, the families of both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman don't really know. Two people know what truly happened that night, one died the other was just set free after the senseless tragedy. I write this post because clearly there is a great deal of opinion on both sides of this issue. Many say, justice was served, Zimmerman was proven innocent, lets move on. To those individuals, I say, you are entitled to your thought process, but I wonder how much thought you truly put in it.
To those individuals I say, imagine if you can, your teenage son, walking home from the convenience store and somehow, doesn't make it back. Imagine if you will, your teenage son didn't get shot at the convenience store, he didn't get caught up in a robbery gone wrong, he didn't get shot outside your townhouse community, he didn't get shot somewhere he wasn't even supposed to be. Imagine if you will, your teenage son, got shot within your "safe" community because in essence, he was a young man, who simply "LOOKED" like he didn't belong. I repeat, he "looked" like he didn't belong.
Now, I am not naive. I too have been somewhere, noticed an individual and said to myself, hmm.... should I be concerned? That is human nature, especially at night. So I am not going to blame Mr. Zimmerman for trying to be a concerned citizen... if that is what he truly felt he was being. I won't blame him for wondering, should this individual be in my community, especially since the community has had an issue or two in the past. However, I do hold Mr. Zimmerman accountable for the actions he took in the name of being a so-called concerned citizen. You see, I don't have an issue with him calling 911, that is what a concerned citizen does. But what a concerned citizen DOES NOT do, is then dismiss the advice of 911 and decide, I will take matters into my own hands. What a concerned citizen does not do is follow a so-called perpetrator to what, engage him? What a concerned citizen DOES NOT do is decide, I am a hero like in the movies.... because when the UNTRAINED, concerned citizen takes matters into his own hands,... unlike the movie the Dark Knight, or Die Hard... .there is no director calling, scene cut. When the bullet leaves the chamber, it's not a blank, and the recipient of blank shot does not get up and go back to his acting trailer.
When the concerned citizen takes matters into his own hands he shoots a 17 year old in the heart and kills him. He kills a 17 year old who was actually, headed home, and heaven forbid, while heading home, he took his time because he was talking with friend on the phone. Heaven forbid, a 17 year old, actually acted like a 17 year old. People are saying the jurors did as they were instructed and we should leave it at that. I would be fine with that except for one big thing.... even the jurors admitted, George Zimmerman went to far... I repeat, the jurors felt Zimmerman went to far (juror B37) which leads me to ask, then how is it that George Zimmerman was still found innocent? How exactly does that work? You had the option of manslaughter if you didn't feel Zimmerman had every intention TO kill. Maybe it's true, maybe things just got out of hand, the two fought and he fired his weapon, that still doesn't mean you are innocent. A person is dead because of your actions and there needs to be a legal price paid for the life you took.
As a black woman, this touches home for me. I have an older brother who I know for a fact has gotten that look from people. I have an older brother who people wondered what's he up to, when all he was doing was walking to the car, leaving the grocery store taking a walk around his neighborhood while talking on the phone simply because, it was a nice night and he wanted to take a walk. I would also love to think, that the stereotypes are as simple as black and white, but they aren't.
Allow me to digress from the topic to share this story. When my brother was a senior in high school he and his friends somehow got my parents to host their Prom Night dinner. My dad was an excellent cook and wanted to do something special for his only son. So the plans were made, a menu was set, decorations purchased. I was the hostess for the evening. When the young celebratory teens arrived at our house for the dinner, as I was closing the door, the limo driver for the evening, who was black, came in. He made a whole lot of assumptions on this particular night. You see, we lived in what is a nice part of town; good schools, nice neighborhood, good place to grow up. Nothing extravagant by any means, but nonetheless, he didn't believe, black people lived in this part of town. So when he saw me answer the door, he ASSUMED, I worked there. The assumptions continued, as he made his way into the kitchen, he saw my mom and dad working hard trying to get the dinner plates together. Again, he assumed, they were the hired help. He even at one point pressed my mom for a cup of coffee when she had some time. His assumptions continued to the point where I guess he picked one of the guys in the group and decided this house, must have been his house, and said to him something like, it's really nice of your parents to host this party for you kids (that young man's parents had come by to take pictures and help out). Needless to say the limo driver was stunned when the kid told him, I don't live here, he does, pointing to my brother. The limo driver found himself apologizing a couple of different ways because at one point he had the audacity to cop a bit of an attitude with my mom, for not moving fast enough to get him his cup of coffee (my mom was raised in the south and knows all about hospitality... the driver did get his cup of coffee with a smile as well).
My point to this story is, when you make assumptions, like the saying goes, you make an ASS out of U and ME, tragically, for Trayvon Martin, an assumption by George Zimmerman, left that 17 year old dead. I don't know Trayvon Martin, I don't know George Zimmerman, but I do know that intentionally or NOT, George Zimmerman did in fact kill Trayvon Martin, he shot him dead, and Trayvon Martin was not stealing, was not breaking and entering, was not performing a criminal act. Trayvon Martin seemingly fought for himself, stood his ground and somehow in standing his ground, he was in the wrong, while the man with a gun was in the right. It's not right.
Our legal system was put to the test and unfortunately, the legal system failed. I appreciate that the system was allowed to work, but the system is broken and I would love to have a conversation on how to fix it. My son is two years old, just two years old and my heart is so full of love for him, it nearly brings me tears every night when I kiss him goodnight. For me to advance that love 15 years forward, I know it will only grow... I would be devastated if I lost my son, as I am certain Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are devastated with the loss of their son. What would only hurt more, is if there were no justice served in the loss of my son as has been the case here. I applaud these two people, because in what must seem like the darkest of days, they have remained above the fray. They have not lashed out, they have not spewed hatred, they have leaned on their faith and love of their child. They have shown their heart.
Now, I recognize that George Zimmerman's life will never be the same again, he will likely deal with quite a bit of ugly moving forward but the one thing I truly hope he does, I truly hope he really looks within himself and truly asks himself, does he really feel his actions were righteous? Does he truly believe he is an innocent man in the first hand death of this teen? Only Mr. Zimmerman can speak to his own heart, he must face himself daily and I don't know how easy that will be for him. I will pray for him as well, not because I am a great christian, but because I know it is the christian thing to do. I am angry with Mr. Zimmerman, and I am angry with the system, but my anger won't help ANYTHING. I must look within myself and pray for this man, his family along with Trayvon's family. I must pray that after all of this, we might just be one step closer to ending these senseless, unnecessary and hurtful tragedies.
Dear God, please be with us all tonight, tomorrow and everyday after. Please help us find our way to being better in every way.
Beautifully written. I share your sentiment.
ReplyDeleteCiao Reischea,
ReplyDeleteVery well stated and well written. As a parent I cant imagine loosing my daughter period. As a former law enforcement professional, with the knowledge and training I have, I honestly don't know what I would do given the same set of circumstances. Hopefully We shall all continue to pray.
Thank you for sharing Rieschea. I appreciate your willingness to comment on this issue. I agree with you 100%. I really feel like I need to do something to make some changes to counter this injustice. Hearing that juror speak makes it even worse. I am not nor have I ever been a public figure but I felt compelled to write a piece on Trayvon as well http://artisticlawyer.blogspot.com/2013/07/trayvons-wedding-july-14-2013.html
ReplyDeleteBear with me here. This is going to be a bit long but its a complicated matter that cant really be sufficiently addressed in a few sentences and Ill probably have to break it up into two posts.
ReplyDeleteI think you have made some assumptions and taken some liberties with this case yourself. The common narrative I have been seeing is that Zimmerman killed a 17 year old kid and in a gross failure of a clearly broken justice system was acquitted. You have said yourself that none of us knows what happened except Zimmerman and Trayvon. Isn't it entirely possible that Trayvon viewed being followed as some kind of affront and lashed out in what may have been a conditioned violent response? Isn't it possible that Trayvon was upset about being followed and decided to beat Zimmerman up and Zimmerman had no choice but to shoot him or continue getting beaten? I think if you are honest with yourself then you say of course its possible and at least as likely as the narrative of Zimmerman being a homicidal racist out looking to dispense some vigilante justice. But its more comfortable for you to place blame on Zimmerman and a broken justice system rather than admit they Trayvon may have been a victim of his own violent and aggressive nature. Thats all conjecture of course as I dont know if Trayvon was violent or aggressive just like you dont know if he was an innocent, nonviolent angel, but I do know that violence and aggression are characteristics that are not at all foreign to young black males in this country.
The fact of the matter is that its not at all uncommon for young black males to take any perceived threat, affront, or show of disrespect and respond to it with violence as the primary means of addressing the situation and I think its interesting and disingenuous that people want to paint Trayvon as this sweet, innocent, nonviolent kid when nobody knows if that's his disposition.
There was a news story about a year or two ago about a black father that was shot and killed by an off duty police officer after the officer bumped his young daughter while he was on his motorcycle. The officer (in plain clothes) got off his bike to see if the girl was okay and the father attacked him at which point the off duty cop shot him. Here we see that the aggressive and violent reaction of this father cost him his life. I don’t want to paint a picture of all black males being stereotypical violent thugs but far too often within the black community the immediate response to any kind of slight is to resort to violence. Im also not saying that Trayvon was a thug, I’m just saying that it’s very possible that he chose to take an aggressive rather than a passive stance in this situation.
You can say that Zimmerman should not have followed Trayvon and thats essentially as profound as me saying that women shouldn’t clutch their purses tightly when I walk by, that people shouldn’t lock their car doors if I walk a little too close while they are at a stop light, or that the convenience store clerk shouldn't watch me a little more closely than he would a middle aged white or Asian woman. Young blacks have created and embraced a culture that causes them to be viewed with suspicion and caution. Whether its the almost always all black flash mobs raiding clothing or convenience stores by the several dozens and just taking whatever they want, or the all black flash mobs raiding downtown metropolitan areas and robbing and assaulting people, or the staggering rates of murder and violent crime ubiquitous in many urban metropolitan areas, black youths have fomented and perpetuated this culture. Yes Zimmerman could have just stayed in his car as advised by the dispatcher, but following Zimmerman was not a crime, turns out it wasn’t very smart, but it wasn’t a criminal act. Recently a group of teens followed a man because the girl with him matched the description of a missing child. The boys didn’t know for a fact that it was the girl but they had a very strong suspicion it was and they acted on that suspicion. That was arguably ill-advised as there is no telling how the gentleman being followed might have reacted. He could have stopped his car, pulled out a gun and shot them; instead he stopped his car, let the girl out and drove away. A lot of people get hung up on the fact that Zimmerman followed Trayvon against the advice of the police dispatcher. Using poor judgment does not mean he should be guilty of murder or manslaughter if he only shot Trayvon after Trayvon attacked him and he was genuinely in fear for his well-being.
ReplyDeleteZimmerman started following Trayvon after Trayvon reportedly started running. Having told the dispatcher that he thought something was up with Trayvon and commenting that "they always get away", it’s possible and likely that Zimmerman was worried that Trayvon either had done something or was going to do something and get away before police arrived and maybe he followed so that he would be able to give police Trayvons exact location when they arrived. This is what was testified to. This is not a crime. Its not a crime to keep a close eye on someone you think is up to no good. Had police arrived, Zimmerman told them where Trayvon was, they questioned him, and he explained that he lived in the area; they would most likely have commended Zimmerman on a job well done. They may have reiterated the fact that they don’t advise citizens to follow suspicious people, but they would have likely thanked him for his diligence. Unfortunately Zimmerman's diligence did lead to an altercation that ultimately resulted in Trayvon's death. However that does not mean that Zimmerman is guilty of a crime. Again it is very possible that Trayvon felt angry, upset, slighted, threatened or whatever, and just decided to handle the situation the way he knew how to-with violence.
I wasn't there and don't know precisely what happened any more than anyone else does. But you have to admit that its at least as probable as the narrative of Zimmerman stalking and murdering Trayvon in cold blood. But its easier to blame Zimmerman and a broken justice system rather than admit that its very possible that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman in a violent rage and Zimmerman had no recourse except to use deadly force. Its very possible that the jury acquitted him because there was simply no evidence presented that he acted in any manner other than one of self defense, and like it or not we have a justice system that convicts and acquits based on evidence, not moral convictions, gut feelings, or overwhelming public sentiment, specifically public sentiment from a public that generally isn't well informed on any but the most basic of facts and details.
ReplyDeleteSo ask yourself this- what if it went down with Trayvon being the aggressor? Suppose Zimmerman only wanted to keep his eye on Trayvon for purposes of giving police his precise whereabouts when they arrived. Suppose Trayvon's reaction to being followed was to lash out and attack Zimmerman and Zimmerman truly shot him in self defense. Do you still feel like Zimmerman should be guilty of some crime? If you dont, then what evidence do you have that that is not indeed how it happened?
And I get the whole racial profiling thing, but we can't hang our hats on the idea that Zimmerman may have racially profiled Trayvon because unfortunately young blacks have created, embraced, and perpetuated a culture that causes others to view us with skepticism, suspicion, and caution, so thats an issue we need to address and fix internally. People are saying that Zimmerman was only suspicious of Trayvon because he was black and had a hoodie on. Okay, and? You cant dictate to people who they can and cant be suspicious of. Asians dont get racially profiled, because they dont generally commit a lot of crime or cause a lot of trouble. Maybe we need to have a cultural revolution so that we are the ones stereotyped as being really smart, studying a lot and being good at math, rather than being stereotyped for raising a lot of kids in single mother homes, committing a lot of crime, being aggressive and violent, and not tipping very well when we go out to eat.
You pretend to be able to relate to Martin. Well unless you get all doped up and scope out neighborhoods and OWN Burglary tools then you cant. There had been several burglaries in that same neighborhood. Maybe GZ following Martin was justified. You have a journalist obligation to present both sides of the facts.
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