Sunday, April 8, 2012

Felices Pascuas

Yeah, happy Easter. Go eat a chocolate rabbit, I hear the ears and tails are the best parts.

There's been a lot of big stuff in the news recently: North Korea is about to launch a rocket, the Syrian peace deal is falling apart, utter madness in the Philippines as a girl tried to surf on a whale shark. Yeah, this is weird, wild stuff.

If you're in the US, as most of our readers are, then the story you've probably heard the most about is the tragic tale of Trayvon Martin. Why is it a tragedy? Well, first of all, the kid's dead, that's pretty tragic. What's really upsetting for most people, though, is the fact that the justice system seems to be dragging its feet on bringing the case to any real conclusion.

As it currently stands, George Zimmerman of Sanford, Florida , the man who has admitted to shooting and killing Trayvon Martin (17; also of Sanford, Florida), has yet to be charged for his actions. The public outcry is palpable and Zimmerman is already building a defense, claiming that he discharged his concealed firearm in a residential area in self-defense, a claim that homicide investigators on the scene were "unconvinced" about. Nevertheless, the State Attorney almost immediately claimed that there was insufficient evidence to formally arrest and charge Zimmerman. It has been pandemonium ever since.

Now, here's the real tragedy over this event: there are a lot, a lot of people out there who want to talk about the possibility that the shooting was motivated by racial profiling, that the killing occurred as a product of inherent prejudice. It gets better: the majority of the people who seem to be bringing up race are the ones who are telling everyone else to shut up about it, and it's distracting from the fact that a young man was shot to death by a man acting as a vigilante who was also potentially endangering others.

What's that? You mean the "Got durn pot-bangin' m'norities" aren't the ones hogging the bullhorn on this one? Sorry, Boss Hogg, but if you'll take a look at your hand, yeah, right there, you'll see that the megaphone is firmly in your grasp this time. Please hush for a second so I can point out a few things.

The big issue here isn't whether Zimmerman shot Martin because he was black. The big issue is that the state of Florida is dragging its knuckles on bringing closure to this horrible event that occurred two months ago. Seriously, two months and you can't even bring the charge? Of course, that comes as no surprise to those who remember the presidential election of 2000 (really, you can't count?), but we should be serious here, because this is a grave issue. We need to ask: Florida, what the Hell? The fact of the matter is that regardless of whether Zimmerman's self-defense claim is true, a claim that should be decided in a court of law after critical consideration of the evidence and the principle of excessive force, he shot and killed someone. You don't just get away with that!

Could there be undertones of racism involved? Sure, along with class-ism for that matter. I believe Zimmerman has gone on record to state that he was following Martin because he "looked suspicious", and according to statements from witnesses Zimmerman accosted Martin and demanded to know what he was doing in that neighborhood (apparently visiting the home of his father's fiancee, not that Zimmerman bought that story). Looking suspicious doesn't necessarily entail racism, but it does entail a prejudical assumption that one of these things is not like the other. Trayvon Martin was an unfamiliar entity to George Zimmerman, and one that did not fit with his expectations of who was (or perhaps should be) in that neighborhood. So, yeah, there's obviously a bit of xenophobic paranoia going on here, but it's not necessarily racially motivated.

The problem is that we are dealing with a locale that does have a history of racist tensions. Even if Zimmerman didn't personally inherit those tensions, other people that make up the community have; the historicity cannot be ignored. A little suspicion is warranted, but we should always be cautious before we fly off the handle and start making wild accusations. It goes both ways, though: people who are jumping to Zimmerman's defense have tried to build him up as an upright citizen and immediately taken pot-shots at Trayvon Martin, noting some of his past misdemeanors and current affairs. They try to vilify him, dehumanize him, rather than acknowledge that he was a human being who has died by violence against his person. Not his race. Not his class. His person. Trayvon Martin is (or was, depending on your point of view) a person, and he deserves to be remembered for who rather than what he was.

It's easy for us to forget in the bustle of our daily lives that every jerk, moron, dimwit, and rube that we bump into is still human and not an inanimate, non-sentient piece of sidewalk decor. Sure, we can't think about everyone in the world all the time, but every so often something happens and we get a chance to remember how many of us there are, and what it means to be human and be someone. What transpired that night that led to Martin's being shot is immaterial to the fact that his unfortunate demise can serve as that kind of reminder. I, for one, think we should at least give this case that level of respect.

Sorry, I know it was just Easter and everyone is feeling festive, but this has weighed heavily on my mind as of late. I'm sure I'm just young and naive, and I'm probably missing out on some serious legal facts that would explain to any idiot what's going on here, but I find this upsetting. Blame Facebook and the media. I really do hope you all have a good holiday and a wonderful week, though.

Happy Easter,

Colin

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