The comments in this post solely reflect my personal opinion. They do not reflect those of my employer or any other individual.
I have been pondering the emotional outpourings from across the country since the verdict to acquit George Zimmerman was issued last weekend. I think that the verdict was the only appropriate decision that could have been reached given the evidence that was presented. The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy but it wasn't a crime.
Unfortunately the intense emotions related to this incident make it difficult to engage in a constructive conversation about this situation as well as the broader issues of race, crime and politics in our nation. Although the Trayvon Martin death was a single event that took place on a cold February Florida evening, for many people it immediately became wedged to Sean Bell, Amadou Diallo, Yusef Hawkins, James Chaney, Emmett Till and many others. All of these deaths are a tragic part of our history but they are not related to the acquittal of George Zimmerman.
I agree that Zimmerman should not have left his vehicle on that tragic night, but his job was to serve as a neighborhood watchman. Hence it was his responsibility to keep young Mr. Martin in his sight. Unfortunately no one will ever know what really took place that night but it was enough to provide the jury with reasonable doubt which is the standard for acquittal.
I write this post two days after President Obama's remarks about race in America. The President and I are about the same age, we were both born in 1961 (me in July and the President in August).However unlike the President, I can't compare my life as a 17 year old to Trayvon Martin. I didn't engage in the sort of behaviors that would have caused the police or any other authority figure to become suspicious of my actions.
As for me, my relationship with the police has always been a good one. There have been occasions when I was stopped for traffic infractions , the stops were justified and the officers involved conducted themselves in a professional manner I also recall two instances in which I was followed by a store security person while shopping. One occurred while shopping (circa 1996) with a friend of mine, actually he noticed the security person and was quite upset about the matter. I wasn't as troubled by it and decided that the store wasn't worthy of my money and opted to shop elsewhere. The other instance was also quite some time ago and took place at a now defunct Coconuts record store in the West Village . As with the first instance, I didn't immediately notice the security person and actually didn't really care that he decided to waste his time by following me. I knew that I had no intentions to shoplift or steal anything from the store so his presence there was basically insignificant to me.
I am aware that others have not had similar experiences and probably would not have handled these instances in the same manner that I did. Although I have given great thought to trying to understand the emotions surrounding "profiling", I find that I am not able to connect to it. I would like to understand it better because I have a grandson and two nephews who have probably had far different experiences than I have. I will try to do my best to offer the best guidance that I can to them. I do know that I will not be signing any petitions or joining any marches. I will however try to help them to become the best individual that they can be.
That's all for now. Love your country and stay on the right side.
The saddest thing about your comments is that you apparently have young people in your family and you still cannot connect with people protesting this verdict.
ReplyDeleteLike you I have never had a negative incident with the police. Thank God I just never gave that vibe. However, just because you live a clean life doesn't mean you won't get trouble as a result. To this date nobody has been able to list anything Trayvon did wrong that way to appear "suspicious". Zimmerman was told to stay away and chose to not listen. Neighborhood watch folks are not the cops and are trained to do what he started out doing which was to identify suspicious people. For whatever reason he found that young man suspicious his job was to alert the authorities. However, Zimmerman thought he was "Columbo" or somebody from Police Academy and that cost Trayvon his life. He should have been found guilty. However, because of either a powerful defense or a weak prosecution (I think the latter) Zimmerman is free to walk the streets (for now). I feel that the public outcry and protests are valid. As a free country we have a right to gather and protest. I personally will not join rallies but I support the family and followers.
My question to you is, if Zimmerman thought one of your family members was acting suspicious and did to them what they did to Trayvon Martin would you be able to connect then with these people? Don't get me wrong; our kids have to work on their image. I don't think that sagging and hoodies are good images. It doesn't make them bad people though. It definitely doesn't mean they should be shot to death by wannabe shopping mall cops like Zimmerman.
Even sadder that your ability to connect is the fact that if Taryvon had shot Zimmerman, even with his own gun he would have been arrested even though HE would have been standing HIS ground and defending himself.
I hope the federal government goes after Zimmerman on civil rights violations. Zimmerman won't find as easily a jury of HIS peers who justify shooting unarmed teenagers.