Lessons from the Zimmerman Trial
Lessons from the Zimmerman trial
By Kelvin Wade
From page A11 | July 18, 2013 |
What do we take away from the George Zimmerman trial?
There’s real fear among African-American parents who are having discussions with their teens in the aftermath of this verdict. I guess to the same people who think a scantily clad woman is asking to be raped, a black youth in a hoodie is asking to be racially profiled. So there are discussions about dress, about walking with friends and walking away from confrontation.
There needs to also be a conversation on how not to breed more George Zimmermans. By successfully morphing an A and B student into a dangerous thug, the trial results vindicates George Zimmerman’s patrol. But we don’t need armed wannabe cops with hero complexes roaming the streets.
I’m part of my neighborhood watch group and have called police many times. Never has anyone from our group armed themselves and pursued anyone. That’s not what neighborhood watches do.
What does it say about racial profiling? It says some folks are blind to it.
Juror B37 told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that race never came up in the jury room and that she didn’t believe Martin was racially profiled. Then what made Zimmerman think Trayvon was a “f—– punk” who was “up to no good?” One wonders what he meant when he said, “These a——-. They always get away.” What crime had Martin committed that made Zimmerman lump him into some category of a——- that always get away?
On Monday, three people were shot on Pennsylvania Avenue. The assailants are described as two skinny black males in black hoodies. In the past when such crimes have happened, anonymous posters on the Daily Republic website lamented Fairfield becoming a “ghetto” and they’ve made derogatory comments about blacks and Hispanics, implying minorities are behind Fairfield’s woes. The problem comes when one starts to see all young black males as criminals.
A good rule of thumb is that most of the time you see a black kid walking, unless you have proof of something else, it’s just a black kid walking.
Which leads to my next takeaway from the trial. African-Americans and other people of color need to make it a point to do their civic duty and respond for jury service. Jurors bring their life experience to trials when they evaluate evidence. Perhaps it’s hard to see racial profiling when you’ve never been a victim of it.
Finally, gun sales increase after every nationally publicized shooting. Part of that is fear of new gun laws and part of it is driven by the desire to protect oneself. Many guns purchased for protection end up being used in road rage, against family members and in suicides. The presence of a gun changes behavior. Without a gun, George Zimmerman never sets foot outside his truck.
One of the suggestions I’ve heard on black radio and social media is young blacks needing to arm themselves and stand their ground and see if the law protects them. While anyone who meets the legal requirements is free to buy a firearm, we don’t need more young people carrying guns. It’s tempting.
But teens with guns are a bad idea. Young blacks with guns have been devastating to the black community. One doesn’t have to look at the carnage going on in Chicago. All we have to do is look across town.
There are a lot of lessons to learn here: How many more people will have to die before we learn them? Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: This is a link to my iPinion column on profiling.
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