LET LOVE BE SINCERE

LET LOVE BE SINCERE

Monday, July 15, 2013

How I feel about the verdict on Saturday

I profile people.  A LOT
I profile the white guy (who looks to be about forty) walking up and down my street in the afternoon, wearing a pair of gym shorts and dirty t-shirt, smoking cigarette after cigarette.  Sometimes he is staggering.  If I was outside, on a walk with my husband, I would wave to him, maybe strike up a conversation with him.  BUT, when I am in my house, alone with two babies and one on the way, I profile him and he makes me nervous.

I profile the black guy that sometimes sits on the swings across the street in the middle of the afternoon at the park across our house.  He looks to be about 35.  He swings for about fifteen minutes at a time, sometimes when kids are there, sometimes when they are not. I am aware of his presence and he makes me nervous.

I profile the group of white teens hanging out at the same park in the early  evenings.  They wear all black, they have drinks in brown bags and hand back and forth cigarettes.  Sometimes, they eat candy.  They could just be drinking soda, but I profile them. Sometimes, I stand out my porch, just to let them know an adult notices. 

I profile the black teens walking in front of our house in big packs.  I watch them shove each other and it makes me nervous.  They don’t generally have smiles on their faces, and I worry about the young girls who hang out with them.  Sometimes, I stand out on my porch, just to let them know that an adult notices.

You see, we profile people.  We are SUPPOSE to.  We are encouraged to follow our instincts especially when we feel we are in danger.  I do not take out a gun and shoot people because I sometimes perceive a threat.  This case wasn’t about racial profiling.  It is about a man who shot a teen because the laws in Florida ALLOWED him to shoot a teen if that teen made him nervous/he felt aggression.  People shouldn’t mix up the two.

I judge the character of others
I stay pretty clear away from judging the personhood of those I run into contact with, but I think character judgments matter.  I have worked with teens before who have lied, A LOT.  When a teen lies a LOT, I take what they say with a grain of salt.  I have worked with teens/hung out with adults that do a LOT of drugs.  When I am hanging with people who are addicted or regularly use drugs, I don’t anticipate I will have the most intelligent conversation with them.  When I am with someone who I know steals, I lock away my stuff.  When I know a teen is easily likely to lose his temper, I’m not surprised when he gets in a fight.  When I hear that a teen who hangs out with the ‘wrong crowd’ has gotten himself in legal trouble, I am not shocked.  You see, the decisions that we make in our lives define our character, and character matters in times of questioning. 

Was Trayvon’s character put on trial? Absolutely!  Should it have been put on trial?  Absolutely.  It matters when trying a case, working to prove that Trayvon threatened George Zimmerman.  It should be a lesson to all that character matters.  Do I know Trayvon?  Nope.  But I sure as hell know that he wasn’t the sweet 12 year old who’s picture was released to media.  Nor was he the picture of the rapper ‘The Game’ that I received in an email forward a few months ago with the title, ‘this is what Trayvon really looked like’.  Trayvon was a bit of a punk kid that made some bad decisions. Does that mean he should have been killed?  Nope. Does that make his death less tragic?  Nope.  Does it matter when a trial is occurring in a state where ‘Stand your Ground’ laws allow for a very liberal reading of self-defense?  Yup. 

This case became about race because of the media. 
The media spun a tail and unfortunately, so many people bought into it.  George Zimmerman, a man of Hispanic descent who worked with troubled youth of all races, was an idiot and killed a kid.  That is nothing but tragedy.  He was an over-aggressive neighborhood watch man, who felt threatened and under the laws of Florida was allowed to kill a teenager because of it.  And that is tragedy.  And EVERYONE (in my opinion, but people will disagree) should be working to change laws in a state where you can kill a kid if he punches you, or even throws you on the cement.  Trayvon Martin did NOT deserve to die.  But, make no mistake, Trayvon Martin did NOT die because he was black.  Trayvon Martin died because the laws in Florida allow people like him to be killed.

This case was not about race, but I was SICK to my stomach when the verdict was released.  Not because of what went down on my facebook newsfeed.  On my newsfeed, 90% of people commented that justice was served and that prayers needed to remain with Trayvon’s family.  A person very close to me had a very different newsfeed *you can draw your own conclusion*.  Although about 60% of the comments said kind things like, ‘Can’t believe this is happening, prayers for Trayvon’s family’; 40% of the comments said very VERY different things.  I wrote them down…because I was shocked.  These are quotes, not exaggerations.

***WARNING- STRONG LANGUAGE***
“Zimmerman not guilty?  My beautiful black ass…it’s okay, someone is going to kill him”
“Street Justice will prevail”
“Zimmerman and the jury nd to be fkd up”
“Ppl talking about riots, this time dt fuck up the black neighborhoods, fk theirs”
“I dt wish death on anybody but he betta b careful…Zimmerman Freddy’s goin to get you”
“You want justice? Drop him off in Detroit”
“They say stand their ground I say we stand ours I say it’s time for a 2013 black panther party…

Now, you might think I went searching for these status updates.  I didn’t.  They were within the first fifty updates in the newsfeed I was reading. Pretty sure these status updates won't make the news, pretty sure people won't be fired for writing them...but make no mistake, they are disgusting.

Well played media, you have once again proved you can manipulate people into a tizzy about something that NEVER had anything to do with race.  NEVER.  And, because of that, you have made the world a little less safe for my little family, half black/half white, existing with very little signs of racism on a daily basis. 

Make no mistake, we have a problem with race in this country, and why we do is complicated.  BUT it certainly has something to do with leaders in our country who continue to try, intentionally, to find a story and create a reality that isn’t there.


To close (because I am now closing).  Trayvon Martin did NOT deserve to be killed. He was a 17 year old kid walking home.  For some reason, we will never fully know, he and George Zimmerman got into a scuffle.  George Zimmerman was able to prove he felt threatened and under the laws of the state of Florida, that meant he could use deadly force.  Want to work for change?  Start challenging the laws that allow for people to be killed so senselessly.  Don’t think the laws are the problem?  Then leave it alone.  But don’t twist the story.  Don’t create a narrative where a white guy killed a black teen for being a black teen.  Because that isn’t fair to anyone.

14 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Well said. Meanwhile over the Fourth of July holiday SEVENTY TWO people were shot in Chicago (12 dead) and barely a whisper in the media. Huh.

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    1. Yup. The assumption that it MUST be race motivated was ridiculous from the start for so many many reasons. Senseless violence (I believe this was) needs to be addressed and quickly (particularly in Chicago!)

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  3. Totally agree Mary! The media puts its own spin on things, and unfortunately most people listen and believe.

    Just a few things. Zimmerman did not have to prove he felt threatened, really . . . there just had to be a REASONABLE DOUBT that he did not intend to kill Trayvon. The defense only had to plant the possibility that Zimmerman may have felt threatened and if there was even the slightest possibility that that COULD have been Zimmerman's thoughts/feelings, then, the only correct verdict is Not Guilty. I think most of our country likes to try cases in the court of popular opinion and does not really understand how our legal system works. Plus, a Murder 2 conviction was way too hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

    Also, correct me if I am wrong, but don't ALL states have laws that allow you to shoot someone in self-defense, or are FL's laws more ambiguous? I do know that self-defense is pretty much the "law of the land" and if you feel threatened or feel that someone may do you harm (and is attempting to harm you), you do have the right to protect yourself (ie: you have the right to shoot someone who breaks into your house). I will be honest, that is something I would not want to change. It would give those who are perpertrating crimes too much power and control and the individual citizen no right to protect themself.

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    1. Florida's laws are particularly liberal on what it means to feel threatened and to use deadly force as a result. While all states all for self-defense, most have tougher wording in terms of what constitutes a threat. And, to your first points, yup.

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    2. Great post. It is important to note that Zimmerman did not use the Stand Your Ground law at anytime during the trial. He actually waived his right to a pretrial immunity hearing under the Stand Your Ground procedures. The basis for his defense was common self-defense or "law of the land" like Katie mentioned. And as Mary said, all states allow for self-defense IF there is not an opportunity to flee or retreat. Stand Your Ground laws in 20+ states similar to Florida's basically say that an individual has no duty to flee or retreat before using what could be deadly force.

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  4. I really appreciate this post, Mary, and (what I see as) the bravery it took to (again) express your beliefs on a messy, controversial topic. It's easy for me to avoid taking a stand on any of the myriad issues this case has come to stand for because I'm largely ignorant of the facts. (That said, if my facebook news feed is any indication, a lot of people are entirely comfortable expressing strongly held opinions without knowing the facts.) Clearly racial biases in the justice system (and pretty much any institution in the U.S.) warrant legitimate discussion, but it seems this case should provoke more discussion on the soundness (or lack thereof) of the law itself, rather than how the law was applied.

    (And this is reason #233,239 I didn't go to law school. Really, I just wanted to say this was a great post.)

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    1. Thanks Victoria! I agree it was a complicated situation. I love this blog for two reasons 1) it helps me reflect on my family life 2) when things really work me up, I have a plat form to release my thoughts. Not thinking they necessarily super wise, but otherwise I think I would face internal combustion!

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  5. Nicely done Mary. I agree that the main problem is the Florida law. Add to that the bad judgment of Zimmerman. I focus on his judgment because he was the only adult on site. I presume Martin exercised bad judgment too but I have come to expect that of a 17 year old. A mature adult's judgment would be open to standing down. I would suggest that the gun laws added to Zimmerman's bad judgment. If he was not armed he would probably have done things differently (like stay out of reach) and there would likely have been no scuffle to escalate. Martin was no saint but he was a kid. The only adult present bears the greater responsibility. His failure cost a young man his life and there can be no excuse for that. Although his actions were found to be within the laws of Florida they were in no way just. A kid who exercised bad judgment was killed by an adult exercising bad judgment. No part of this incident can be defended.

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    1. I agree with you one hundred percent. AND, I think the greatest tragedy is no one is focusing on that. Why did a man get to use a gun and kill a 17 year old kind of punk kid who was unarmed holding skittles and an ipod? The national discussion focused on race/pro-filing/etc..instead of focusing on what should have been number one... laws should not be able to protect people like George Zimmerman to over-reacting to situation (and although I was not there, I believe if he was tried for over reacting, he would have been found guilty immediately). His overreaction caused the death of a young man and the shame of that is difficult to put into words.

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  6. I always love your thoughts on these issues. So well put and always truthful! That is all :)

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    1. I have spent months thinking on this one because it was stressing me out so much. Also, what people were saying about race I found to be completely ridiculous. That type of conversation/dialogue brings our country BACK not FORWARD when it comes to how people relate to one another.

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  7. Yup. Yup and yup. Oh, also hate that we now think that after a trial by jury, we can petition an agency to levy charges based on public opinion. That scares the poo outta me. Ok, that be it!

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    1. Totally scary. Honestly Rakhi, it shows where we are at intellectually in this country. You see, we make judgments that should be based on reason/intellect...and instead boil them down to emotion. And emotion has replaced intelligent thought..and THAT is a scary scary thing!

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