Parents should never have to bury a child. It is a heinous tragedy that goes against the laws of nature. It creates people orphaned, not by the people that gave them life, but by the people that gave them purpose. And I mean that in the deepest sense of the word. As a woman who has never had a child, and therefore never lost a child, I can't even imagine the pain Trayvon Martin's parents must be going through. And they've had to share that pain and bear the scrutiny of an entire country from a very public fallout following their son's death.
In case you've been living under a rock for the last year and a half, I'm addressing the case in which a young black male was shot and killed after being pursued through the gated community where he was visiting by a sort of crazed vigilante. Trayvon was unarmed and returning to his future stepmother's home in the community after visiting a local convenience store to buy an evening snack. The man that shot him, George Zimmerman, was studying criminal justice at the time of the shooting and was captain of the Neighborhood Watch program. Residents in the area had noted an atmosphere of concern and even fear about the increase in theft and crime over the past 18 months before the incident. Zimmerman was questioned for 5 hours the night he shot Martin, and then released, with local law enforcement claiming no intention of pressing charges. Pressure from Martin's family and a growing media frenzy claiming injustice because of racial prejudice led to the arrest of Zimmerman, charging him with second degree murder. He was found Not Guilty this past weekend on Saturday, July, 15.
We've heard all of the accusations coming from supporters and critics of both sides. That Zimmerman was motivated by racial profiling. That Martin was of dubious personal character, having been suspended from high school three separate times. So here's another opinion to add to the mix:
Trayvon did not deserve to die. Simple as that. It doesn't matter what sort of past he had, he had done nothing to deserve such a harsh and final punishment. He wasn't a perfect kid, but that didn't mean that he was a thug, or that his "thug wear" was some sort of justification of him being profiled as a threat to the community. But thanks for the insinuations, Fox "News". If I can speak honestly for a moment, I think Zimmerman was nuts. His criminal justice studies background and the fact that he pursued Martin during his 911 phone call, saying at one point, "These assholes always get away" really doesn't correlate with unprejudiced and concerned citizen his defense painted him as. When I look at everything Zimmerman did that night, I see someone who thought they were some sort of bad-ass vigilante. Instead of calling the police and giving a description of the "suspect" and what in fact made him so suspicious (p.s. nothing really), he was clearly aching to get involved. He created a situation in which a 17 year old boy felt threatened, and though the details of how and what are quite sketchy, a scuffle resulted. Regardless of who caught up with who, if I were Trayvon Martin, I probably would have tried to defend myself against some creep following me as well. And as a young, athletic man, Martin probably did get in a few solid blows. But does that justify being shot in the chest? Hell no. And here's where Florida's Stand Your Ground statute comes in. Because of this statute, Zimmerman was considered justified in this shooting, despite the fact that he did not first try to run or escape. Now I ask you, is it justice for someone to create a situation in which another human being feels threatened and unsafe, then shoot the other person in a tussle that they ultimately caused, without even trying to disengage first? No. It's not. And an innocent kid was murdered because of this ridiculous loophole. Racism in this country is not dead, unfortunately. And laws like this help keep it alive. Not to mention this verdict comes mere weeks after a key part of the Voting Rights Act was struck down, claiming that it, "did not reflect racial progress in this community."
To me, this is a rather dark reflection of us as a country. I think we all need to accept that we're not as accepting and free from prejudice as we like to claim.You can't fix a problem unless you first admit that it exists, and we've got a lot of work to do. The least we can do is be honest with ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment