Let's start off with what we DO know about the case itself....
- A 17 year old boy was murdered allegedly (since we don't have a conviction)
- A guy was also beaten up before this happened
- Trayvon was NOT a regular in the neighborhood
- Both Trayvon and Zimmerman have their various issues with character
- Trayvon was approached after the police told Zimmerman not to do so.
- Zimmerman has not been charged with a crime
- A bunch of people have tried to make this a racially motivated crime without examining the evidence.
- Zimmerman was apart of the neighborhood watch team.
As is my opinion in any case, ALL the facts need to come out before we come to a formal conclusion...that said, it doesn't prevent my opinion from being said.
In my humble opinion, there were multiple wrongs committed.
a. Trayvon approaching Zimmerman and having an attempted assault. Trayvon should have just walked straight home or to wherever he was supposed to be going without going onto anyone's property. This is especially true because had been suspended from another school, and had already gotten in trouble. When someone is in trouble, you don't want to do anything else to agitate that. It'd be like someone who is on parole for burglury to go and rob some other store during parole time....it'd be STUPID.
b. Zimmerman's failure to listen to the police dispatcher on the phone. He should have let Trayvon walk and not follow the guy. Let the police arrest him, and take care of it that way. He should have given the police a description of him, and left him alone.
c. The alleged murder of Trayvon. This was not proportionate to the assault that happened. Perhaps a simple shot in the leg if Trayvon was trying to get away would have been enough. To keep him so the police can get him. That would have been proportionate, but murder absolutely not.
d. The use of the word "coon" (also could be goon transcripts unclear)...Now I am not all that familiar with slang or anything like that, but must be some kind of bad term. Now I don't know the motivation behind what caused Zim to say this word? Was it before the scuffle, after? We don't know. I don't presume that he's a racist because he said it. Zim's mental status during the ordeal we don't know. A definite error in judgement that's for sure. Racist comment at worse. I'm sure that all of us have lapsed when it comes to language once or twice especially out of anger towards a person or thing.
The what should be done:
A: Prayers for the soul of Trayvon Martin as well as for his family as they're going through this difficult time. That the Lord may grant them strength to deal with this problem in a faithful matter.
B. Prayers for the safety of the old couple whose address SpikeLee tweeted. They are innocent.
a. George Zimmerman needs to be arrested and prosecuted for murder (or convicted of a crime of some type). Why? That is something we know that happened. We do NOT know the motive behind the crime....This is why I'm hesitant to charge him with a "hate crime" or "racist" until we have full evaluation of his psychological status. If that can be proven, add it on, if it can't, just charge him. At the present time there is not enough evidence to charge him. Let the cops do their jobs.
b. Apologies from the following: Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Barack Hussien Obama for the exploitation of this kid, and for the attempt to divide the country based upon race. Apologies from SpikeLee for tweeting ANYONE's address...that is flat out wrong..He should be expelled from twitter.
c. Enough with the tributes...Apparently this guy was a gang member, sorry, I don't like that.
Some further reflection
a. Every time blacks play the race card, it really makes me sick. If we want equality. How about we start judging things upon merit instead of automatically pulling out the race card when something happens. It starts with attitude, and the attitude needs to change before any real transformation can take place. Instead of presuming that all other races are racist against us...how about getting to know people on a personal level instead? (Obviously not all blacks do this but, I'm talking to those that do have this mindset). If's funny, I've had no questions about my race from anyone that doesn't have my skin colour. But I get asked if I'm black from blacks. I make friends with those that share interests with me, and those that try to get to know me. It just happens to be one of my closest friends is Russian, another Mexican, another white. The only reason I don't have many black friends...not many majored in Physics and mathematics and the demographics of where I lived in California. Forgive me for deciding that I like math and science more than liberal studies. (Sorry Liberal studies majors :p). I have no hatred towards anyone of my own race (I do disagree with policies, but that doesn't mean I hate them).
b. Perhaps it's because I don't define myself by race first. I don't view things in light of my skin colour. I've always viewed things in terms of my own merit, and people are individuals, that can be potential friends, or potential enemies. I don't presume motives behind people.
c. It really annoys me, when people end words with a, izzle, etc. I know a proper sentence is hard to construct, but do it. At least when one is talking to a majority of people. It's one thing to talk like that amongst your friends or a group of people. It's another thing entirely to do so in front of strangers, those you don't know and those in academia. Believe me, amongst my inner most circles, I do speak with my own language quite a bit. When i'm speaking to students or other people, I don't use this language though. Especially in public forums where people all over the world can see interactions. (Not saying it's right of them to judge a person upon their use of language), but impressions make all the difference. The truth is I'm more likely to speak with someone who can form a coherent sentence than one that refuses to use proper grammar (well semi, because we all screw up). (And I'm not talking about dialects and accents, that's different).
There are some that are going to call me a sellout, or "white" so what, I don't care!, It's beneath me to call anyone I don't know names. I will not go ad hominem on anyone. Hopefully this will be the last I speak on this.
You may believe that Zimmerman was guilty of murder, but the court hasn't come to that decision yet. It's important to make the distinction by calling him a shooter you believe is guilty rather than a murderer.
ReplyDeleteJust a thought.
Noted...I added the word alleged...to make it clear that no conviction has been made.
ReplyDeleteGood post. A couple things - "Trayvon was approached after the police told Zimmerman not to do so." This is actually in dispute. According to an eyewitness Zimmerman was heading back to his car when Trayvon started the whole thing.
ReplyDelete"c. The alleged murder of Trayvon. This was not proportionate to the assault that happened. Perhaps a simple shot in the leg if Trayvon was trying to get away would have been enough. To keep him so the police can get him. That would have been proportionate, but murder absolutely not."
The problem I have with this is that the eyewitness reported that Trayvon was pounding Zimmerman's head into the ground and then tried to grab his gun.
Now, I am only going by what the eyewitness said so who knows what really happened. This seems like it was probably a tragic accident, that the gun went off accidentally during the scuffle.
This is my first post on the tragedy - http://teresamerica.blogspot.com/2012/03/heinous-shooting-of-trayvon-martin-self.html
Thanks for commenting...if it's the case that trayvon was trying to grab the gun from Zimmerman...then absolutely it was justified to defend himself in the manner in which he did. It's sad that this child was killed. I'll wait until after the trial and full police report before making more comments on this.
ReplyDelete