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Monday, July 15, 2013

Well, Isn't This Fucked Up and Bullshit

WELP. As you probably already know, it was a fucked up weekend for justice. I'm reposting this  today (originally here), because the whole case still gives me a sad, and the lack of justice makes my brain hurty. Not even manslaughter?!?! SERIOUSLY NOT EVEN MANSLAUGHTER?!?!? 

Thanks, Florida. You guys are the worst. (Except any of my readers from Florida who I'm sure are wonderful non racist people and not at all black-kid-killer-sympathizers.)

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Hi guys. As you know, I rarely post about news or serious things. But even though this news story is a bit old, I've been following it for weeks and I want to talk about it. It’s important.

So, let’s have a discussion with myself.


Well, in a nutshell, a 17 year old African American boy named Trayvon Martin was walking to a family member’s home when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, self-appointed “neighborhood watch leader.”
Zimmerman claims it was “self defense.”


No, Trayvon was carrying some skittles and a drink from a convenience store.


No. In fact, Zimmerman saw Trayvon while he was still in his car.  He called 911 and the dispatcher told him to stay in his car. He got out and approached Trayvon instead.


Not really, no. Trayvon called his girlfriend [Update: actually, female friend] and said a guy was following him.  Zimmerman had about 100 pounds on him, so Trayvon was probably intimidated. His girlfriend said that she told Trayvon to run, but he said he was going to walk fast. No one knows exactly what happened after that. 

But even if Trayvon got scared and attacked Zimmerman (unarmed), Zimmerman was the one who got out of the car and approached him. Thus, Zimmerman was the aggressor in this situation - Florida's "Stand Your Ground" laws protect the victim, not the aggressor. Zimmerman cannot follow someone home, get out of his car, approach him, shoot and kill him (whether or not it was during an altercation), and claim it was self defense. [Update: Apparently he can. So, it's totally cool to stalk kids at night and then murder them when they try to defend themselves.]

Yes. Just minding his own business.

Yes.


Yes.

I know.


I am too. Do you want to know what’s worse?

The police fucked up the investigation. Zimmerman hasn’t been charged with Trayvon’s killing yet.

Yeah. They didn’t administer any kind of drug/alcohol test to Zimmerman. [Update: the court DID allow the defense to tell the jury that Trayvon had traces of marijuana in his system. What is the point of that? Marijuana does not make people act aggressive, and it only proved he had smoked in the past 30 days or so. 

So why do we need to know that? Is it less bad to kill someone who has smoked weed? Do people who smoke deserve to die more than people who don't? Are people saying, "Oh man, this really would have been a tragedy, thank God he only killed some weed-smoking black kid, and not someone who actually mattered. Boy, I can't think of any black man who smoked weed as a youth and actually made something of himself, except for the current president of the united states. His life doesn't matter as much as it would have if he didn't smoke."  I have yet to hear one satisfactory explanation for this.] 

They didn’t interview Trayvon’s girlfriend right away. They didn’t catch a racial slur on the 911 tape. One report claims they “corrected” a  witness who heard someone yell “Help, help.”

Did I mention that Trayvon was black? I think they assumed he was guilty. Or it would go away quietly.

That’s how I feel. Zimmerman has a prior record (Trayvon doesn’t), and was known for calling the police about (black) kids in the area.
I agree.

It’s awful.

Well, real people can sign this petition. I mean, it’s clear that the case is being investigated now, but it’s still important for people to go “Hey, this isn’t okay.”
I know.



Me too. We can be funny again tomorrow.

21 comments:

  1. Yeah, I agree, it's a bummer that some self-styled vigilante decided to stalk an innocent child for no other reason than racial profiling, despite being told not to by professionals, forced an altercation, and ended up, even if accidentally, killing the prey that he admittedly stalked.

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  2. This is horrific! It's 2013 for crying out loud, this shouldn't be allowed to happen

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  3. I can't remember who it was, but I saw a great Tweet the other day that said something along the lines of, "I wish we lived in a world where George Zimmerman had offered Trayvon Martin a ride home to get him out of the rain that night."

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  4. Thanks for posting this again. I didn't know when I moved to Florida that almost everyone here is crazy.

    Love,
    Janie

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  5. Yeh, the case makes me feel pretty horrific. And the number of people, under thinly disguised racism, saying things like he got shot because he attacked Zimmerman. These people are pretty much saying that a kid deserved to get shot because he defended himself against a stalker. And then there is the classic "Zimmerman is half-Mexican! There was no racial intent here". Yes, because you have to be 100% polar bear white in order to be racist against a black man.

    Even liberal Left-leaning newspapers like the Guardian were full of comments saying that justice was served; and all these comments had a huge number of upvotes. I was shocked that so many readers would be such bigots, and make such illogical arguments. Just goes to show you how hypocritical people can be.

    Stems from the whole idea that we live in a colourblind, post-racial world. That it is up to blacks to ignore racial prejudice, rather than whites to correct their behaviour. Here is a good article on how race played a part in this case, for those who are interested: http://www.united-academics.org/magazine/sex-society/injustices-trayvon-martin-case/

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  6. This is unbelievable! I'm disgusted. And Sad x

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  7. Found your blog through The Bloggess. Read, loved, followed. Thanks for posting this. My heart is broken, and my head... my head isn't holding together too well, either.

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  8. I don't think Zimmerman is raging racist (though he certainly might be) I just think he is an idiot with a hero complex. He may have defended himself from an attack, but he also provoked the attack, Community watchers need to report suspicious activity and that is it. They do not have the training or the authority to do more, and why does he carry a gun?
    This was at the least involuntary manslaughter.

    When I was seventeen I drank beer and smashed pumpkins on Halloween...please, DON"T SHOOT!

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  9. It is utterly disgusting.... and sad...

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  10. As someone that lives really close to where this happened, it just sickens me. And why do all the crazies have to live in Florida?

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  11. I still can't wrap my head around this. I thought it would be a pretty easy case to find Zimmerman guilty of at least involuntary manslaughter. Something! Now I feel like this whole thing is bringing out the worst in some people...or maybe just showing their true colors.

    Yesterday I "unfriended" a former co-worker on Facebook after he posted a picture of Zimmerman with the caption, "Not Guilty: Like a Boss!" It had photos of Trayvon giving the middle finger and blowing smoke out of his mouth; one had the word "thug" across the middle. So basically, acting like a teenager. I won't even get into some of the comments his friends were posting. I'm so sick of people trying to demonize this kid!

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  12. America in general is going down the drain with how things are done with regards to the police.

    Could you imagine how many similar stories are like this BUT simply don't make it to the news?

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  13. It's just awful....sooo awful....wish i knew what to say.........

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  14. I don't know how to feel because I'm so madpissedupsetconfused. See? Totally speechless. And pissed.

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  15. Damn... This is exactly why I don't watch the news. God damn it, Florida. Get your shit together!

    Hugs!

    Valerie

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  16. Shared this on my FB page because it succinctly states what I am feeling on this issue. And I'm glad your readers appear to feel the same way. I saw way too many Z supporters out there and I just don't get that. It gives me the rage headache.

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  17. So well done and well said, Gia.

    One of the things that made me so angry is hearing him so nonchalantly defend what he did. Like you said, a child is dead forever! How can he not care? If I killed anyone, even someone who was clearly trying to kill me, I would still be devastated that I killed someone. To him, it's nothing. It's so heartbreaking. And now he is free to kill again. I don't know how Trayvon's parents can stand it.

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  18. I couldn't agree more. And YES, what Kianwi said. NO REMORSE. Really? If you kill someone in self defense, which this clearly wasn't under nearly all laws except those in FL, typically there is remorse. Murderers don't typically feel remorse. This was at least manslaughter anywhere else. I'm still sick about it.

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  19. This is a great post. Also? ::: steps on soap box ::: I am horrified by the amount of people being like, "There's no racism anymore. We fixed it! Black people are just too busy to notice because they're doing things pretty much all black people do like committing crime all the time. Get with the program, black people!" -- sincerely, some white guy. WTF? The mere fact that there can be a heated exchange about race means that race is still a thing so respect the point of view of people whose life experiences are different than yours instead of being a defensive asshole, you defensive asshole. This case is such a big deal because shit like this happens all the time. Seriously. Be less gross. ::: steps off soap box :::

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  20. Killed a kid? He killed a monstrous predator who was about to kill him. The bad guy died because he got what was coming to him. He didn't die because he's black. He died while trying to kill Zimmerman.

    Furthermore, look how funny it is, when a jury votes the way that a segment if society wishes they would then it's called justice. But if they should happen to decide a case differently then that's not justice. Really?

    Overall it's "outrage d'jur". Nothing more. Grandstanding by the masses who want to show others that they care. How about caring for the rule of law? In this case it's the Stand Your Ground law that Florida has. If no one likes it then maybe Florida's legislature can write a different law. This is the US and not some twit-filled third world country.

    It's so easy to be on the Trevon Martin side despite the facts. Wow.

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    1. Yes, killed a kid. Trayvon = 17 = a kid. A "monstrous predator" who was walking alone, minding his own business, trying to get home? Who was he preying on? If Zimmerman had not confronted him, what horrible thing was Trayvon about to do that night? Who was going to hurt/violate/attack? (Answer: no one. He was walking back to his house.)

      Stand Your Ground should never have applied. No wait, it should have applied in Trayvon's defense, because Zimmerman approached him. Either way, it's a shitty, shitty law that is applied disproportionately and needs to go away. You're right, we are not a third world country. But we are still "twit filled" and there is a lot of terrible legislation out there.

      BTW, I care about the rule of law. I care about the right someone has to walk home without getting harassed by an older man with a weapon. (I also care about the rule that says cops don't get to shoot and kill kids who are running away from them. Yes, Michael Brown.)

      Any implication that I only cared about this case because it was popular in the news is complete and utter bullshit. I don't get into my work on this blog very much, but my career focuses on inequality in many ways, and the treatment of young black men in this country is absolutely one of them.

      Finally, it's easy to be on trayvon martin's side BECAUSE of the facts. 12 crazy ass floridians may have gotten it wrong (guess what: juries get it wrong ALL THE TIME - have you looked at the disproportionate number of black men who been on death row or put to death, and later cleared?), but public opinion got it right. Hence, outrage.

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