Like it or not - black or white - the jury got this one right.
I know the acquittal of George Zimmerman - in the death of Trayvon Martin - over the weekend sparked fury on social media and protests in American streets, but in the end our justice system worked. The six jurors, people who know way more about the case than me, you or anybody else on the planet, decided that prosecutors didn't prove the charge of second-degree murder.
I'll admit, the verdict is almost as surprising as July high temperatures in the 70s or
one man catching four foul balls at a baseball game. On Friday in
Whitt's End I wrote:
I'm not saying his actions didn't lead to the death of Trayvon Martin, but I am saying there's no way George Zimmerman is found guilty of second-degree murder. Too many shadows of too many doubts for him to be guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
I expected a charge of manslaughter, but ultimately the case was ridiculously flimsy.
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Prosecutors couldn't even prove that Zimmerman was the aggressor in the Feb. 26, 2012 encounter in which the self-appointed neighborhood watchman shot and killed the unarmed 17-year-old in Sanford, Florida. Martin was armed only with a hoodie and a pack of Skittles, but he did tell a friend on the phone that he was being followed by a "creepy-ass cracker." Zimmerman, meanwhile, alerted police that he was following a "punk" who "looks like he's up to no good" and then ignored their advice to remain in his truck.
No denying that had Zimmerman followed that directive, Martin would be alive today. And for that reason, I'm sympathetic to the outrage among blacks and the 200 protesters who held a rally/vigil for Martin on the steps of Dallas City Hall Sunday night.
But when the only witness to the confrontation is Zimmerman and neighbors couldn't decipher which man was screaming for help, the advantage goes to the living. Zimmerman claimed Martin punched him and threw him to the ground. Zimmerman had injuries to the back of his head. And expert testimony during the trial indicated that Martin was on top of Zimmerman when he was shot. Throw in Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law and, voila, Zimmerman is a free man.
He is not, however, a white man.
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I know that irritates the folks whose forced, flawed narrative oozes Zimmerman being a white, racist vigilante that profiled, stalked and unjustly killed an unarmed black teen. But Zimmerman is, in fact, a Latino with brown skin, a white father, a mother from Peru and a Jewish last name. On his voter registration card, he checks "Hispanic."
This isn't Black vs. White. But it certainly is another speed bump on the road to navigating America's racial DNA. And a reminder that, at our core, we're all homers for our own race. Admit it. You root for your
team, sometimes irrationally and with an irresponsible disregard for the facts. Or fairness.
Some whites despise President Obama, just because he's black. Some blacks wanted a guilty verdict for Zimmerman, just because he's "white." And we all know how race blurred the facts in the O.J. Simpson trial.
But, sorry, sometimes our justice system can be legally justified without being morally quenching. The jury - six women, five of them white - determined Zimmerman's fate on the facts, not his face.
We're also reminded in the wake of the verdict that some athletes are physically blessed and ... yeah, physically blessed. Their athletic gifts should in no way move us to admire their intellect or morals or anything other than, well, their athletic gifts.
Tweeted Atlanta Falcons' receiver Roddy White:
All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid.
From the New York Giants' Victor Cruz:
Zimmerman doesn't last a year til the hood catches up to him.
From Cincinnati Bengals' linebacker James Harrison:
Think I'll go pick a fight and get my ass kicked then pull a gun and kill somebody and see if I can get away ...
And from Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins:
America justice system is a joke.
If you trust the justice system to find a man guilty, you must also trust it when it finds a man not guilty. Because if you wanted a particular verdict over a fair verdict, then you're part of the problem.
