The Howls Of Outrage continue across this nation with groups of all sorts campaigning, demanding, marching and protesting. They all want George Zimmerman’s head, but will settle for charging him with violating Trayvon Martin’s civil rights under federal law. If the folks doing all the clamoring would stop and listen to their own arguments, then they might not argue so vehemently. What they are saying reveals more about themselves than it does about Zimmerman.
One of the complaints I saw dealt with the makeup of the jury – 5 white women, 1 black woman. “This is NOT a jury of his peers” they cry. Whose peers? Trayvon Martin’s? He wasn’t on trial, He was dead. Zimmerman was the one on trial. The jury selection procedure was open, random and both prosecution and defense had their chance to accept and reject jurors to their sides advantage. So yes, it was a jury of his peers. But there are deeper issues in this complaint. Would they have preferred an all black jury with revenge in their hearts? People who would have cried guilty regardless of the evidence? There seem to be many that would have cheered that course of events. Underlying those cheers though is a dark side. Those crying for Zimmerman’s head are equally guilty of the same sin they accuse Zimmerman of committing. They see a white man with a gun and a dead black man. The immediate conclusion that they jump to is that Zimmerman deliberately hunted down Martin and shot him in cold blood – with echoes of past KKK glory ringing in his head. They have reached this conclusion based on what facts? Facts that the jury did not have? No – simply that Zimmerman was white and Martin was black. The black community has racially profiled Zimmerman as a white racist just as surely as they claim he profiled Martin as a young black punk up to no good. And that is where the irony of it all is. The black community, for all it’s stated political goals of making race a non-issue, is as guilty of racial profiling as any old time white supremacist. White juries will automatically vote for acquittal. White males with guns are automatically guilty of murdering black men. No room for facts. No respect for the integrity of the justice system or the jurors and none for the prosecutor.
What “really” happened that night? I haven’t the faintest idea of the actual events, but between the two extremes presented in court is plenty of room for interpretation. What seems most likely to me is that these two people encountered each other in a situation that neither one knew how to handle. Without any skills, on either side, to recognize and defuse a potential conflict situation, events could have simply escalated to the point where neither person could back down. In short, they may have simply stumbled into a lethal conflict without plan or intent on either side. And that does not make this case significant – merely sad.
Greybeard Speaks Out 