Victim
I am going to be blunt here,
Trayvon Martin was murdered. I don't
care mental contortions what a racist jury in the South had to tie themselves
into, he was murdered by a man who unfairly profiled him, stalked him and
murdered him in cold blood. I lived in
the South for close to five years, and I knew that there was no way that
Zimmerman would be found guilty of killing a black man. I also know, from living in the South, that
if Zimmerman had killed a white teenage boy named John Martin, he would be
facing the death penalty.
But wait, you say, he was
half Hispanic, he couldn't be guilty of a racially motivated crime. And to that I say, bullshit. Just because he was also a self-described
minority does not absolve him of racism.
Racism does come in all forms and among all people. Just because Zimmerman was not lily-white
does not mean that he did not target Trayvon Martin based solely on the color
of his skin.
Zinmmerman had a long
history of calling 911 and reporting people for the "crime" of being
blatantly Black in public. He also
called 911 on the night of the murder, and even though he was told to let the
police handle it, he still stalked and killed Trayvon. The facts show that he put himself in the
position to have a confrontation; he escalated the situation rather than
diffusing it. Further, he escalated it
when he did not need to: at the time he began stalking Martin, no crime was
being committed; no one was in danger; and the only thing happening was that a
black teenager was cutting through a neighborhood.
A black teenager walking
through an affluent gated community, obviously that is a crime that deserves
execution. And Zimmerman appointed
himself, judge, jury and executioner.
But wait, you say, Travon
Martin attacked Zimmerman, and he shot the teen in self defense. But, even if that is factually correct,
Zimmerman put himself in the position in the first place. He could have followed the police directive
and LET THE COPS HANDLE IT. Sorry for
shouting, but that is a critical point.
HE DID NOT HAVE TO BE THERE, ZIMMERMAN MADE A DELIBERATE CHOICE.
But, lets go a little
further. Zimmerman was acquitted based
on the "Stand Your Ground Law," that is basically a get out of jail
free card when it comes to murder. Flip
the situation around again, and imagine that Trayvon had killed Zimmerman on
the exact same grounds of self defense.
How do you think that would have flown.
Trayvon would have faced murder 1 charges and would probably have been
sentenced to death or life imprisonment.
And still further, lets look
at the situation from Travyon's perspective.
He is walking home from the store, having gotten a bag of candy, and
takes a shortcut. He then gets stalked
by an older man, which could be considered "stranger danger." He's in a situation where he doesn't know if
he's going to get mugged, raped, (Yes it does happen) or killed (Which did
happen) He "Stands His Ground"
when the crazy old guy pulls out a gun, and defends himself. And for defending himself, he is killed.
Everyone talks about
Zimmerman's right to defend himself, as a white adult man, no one talks about
Trayvon Martin's right to defend himself, as a black teenager.
If you are going to have a
law like Florida 's, then both parties have the right to "Stand
Their Ground," when no crime is being committed, and none was that night,
except for Zimmerman stalking an unarmed teen.
By the way, I want to nip
something else in the bud here, Hispanic is an ethnicity, like being French, it
is not a race. You can be white Hispanic , Cuba , black Hispanic , Dominican
Republic , Asian Hispanic, the Philippines , or Meso-American Hispanic, Guatemala . I have a
good friend who is Hispanic, and he has red hair and the last name of Gordon,
but he is still Hispanic, and identifies himself that way.
To return to the point,
Zimmerman put himself in a situation, by his own choice that threatened the
life of a young man, who may or may not have tried to defend himself. If that is exactly what happened, it shows the
danger of laws like the one Florida has, where it is essentially a license to kill someone
with impunity. If Trayvon did not even
try to defend himself, then Zimmerman killed him in cold blood.
And that is the definition
of murder.
And now begins the crowing
of the Right: Trayvon deserved to die; Trayvon was a racist because he used the
word "cracka;" that Zimmerman was unfairly prosecuted.
And again I call
bullshit. No teenager, who is just
walking through a neighborhood, even if it is a gated community, deserves to
die. So what if he used the term
"Cracka?" That is in no way shape or form anything like the term
"Nigger." It does not carry
anything of the evil of the N-word, which in my opinion is the single worst
word in the world, no term is more belittling, racist or vile than that
word. And just to satisfy Godwin's Law,
the N-word is the Hitler of language.
And finally, Zimmerman was
fairly prosecuted. Given the
circumstances, if I was the prosecutor, I would have sought first degree murder
charges, given that he stalked the teen.
The vile rhetoric of racism
spewing from the Right makes me ashamed to be a white American, for fear that
my non-white friends might just think that I agree with some of this
hatred. Many people thought that
electing our first black President would stem the flow of hatred in this
country, when in fact, it has done nothing but acerbate it. The hate in this country is hitting a
crescendo, building vile inequity upon hideous innuendo, demonizing an innocent
teenage boy, and blaming him for his own murder.
However, the single worst
thing I have heard is what Zimmerman's attorney, Mark O'mara said, that if
Zimmerman were black, "he never would have been charged with a
crime." Really? In the South? A black man killing a white boy
would never have been charged?
He would have been executed
next week.
There's a green plaid jacket on the back of the chair
It's like a moment frozen forever there
Mom and dad had a lot of big plans for their little man
So proud!
Mama's gone crazy 'cause her baby's shot down
By some teenage car chase war out of bounds
It was the wrong place wrong time wrong end of a gun.
And its sad, sad, it's sad!
Shoot straight from the hip, yeah.
Gone forever in a trigger slip
Well, it could have been
It could have been your brother.
Shoot straight shoot to kill, yeah.
Blame each other, well, blame yourselves, you know
God is a bullet have mercy on us everyone
It's like a moment frozen forever there
Mom and dad had a lot of big plans for their little man
So proud!
Mama's gone crazy 'cause her baby's shot down
By some teenage car chase war out of bounds
It was the wrong place wrong time wrong end of a gun.
And its sad, sad, it's sad!
Shoot straight from the hip, yeah.
Gone forever in a trigger slip
Well, it could have been
It could have been your brother.
Shoot straight shoot to kill, yeah.
Blame each other, well, blame yourselves, you know
God is a bullet have mercy on us everyone
-Johnette Napolitano
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