In the final day of the George Zimmerman Trial closing
arguments were (from defense) that Zimmerman was attacked by Trayvon Martin who
he killed him in self defence; and (from prosecution) that Zimmerman was a
racist, vigilante, wanna-be cop who profiled Trayvon, attributed criminal
intent that didn’t exist, followed him and created a situation where he could
kill him.
Reading about the evidence Zimmerman himself has given it’s
hard to believe that a verdict wasn’t reached in a few minutes, but the jury
deliberated for four hours before going into recess.
Zimmerman’s intent, his heavily racist filters, and his
self illusion were pretty clear even from the first police interview right
after he killed Trayvon. The most damning piece of evidence he gave was that he
knew everybody in the community, that Trayvon had never visited it once, and
that nobody in the entire community had ever seen him. This was the first time,
he alleged, that Trayvon had ever walked through, and he clearly had no
business being there because he was walking slowly and it was raining.
Since this was the first time Zimmerman had ever seen
Trayvon, how could he have had time to ask every single resident if they had ever seen him?
The reality is that Trayvon’s father lived in that gated
community with his girlfriend. Trayvon had gone to the store to buy some candy
and a soda. He was ambling back. He had destination and clear intent and
nothing about it was criminal.
It’s not a very rational man who can tell a story like Zimmerman’s
that’s so ludicrous and so believe it to be credible that he would offer it to the police as a legitimate self defense story.
The history of the actual community itself is important
too. According to Robert Steuteville, quoted in Chicagomag.com, It started out
being white; that was the point of the gate. It’s only six years old, but
property values have declined seriously with the downturn. One resident was
quoted as saying that owners were forced to rent out to “low-lifes and
gangsters”. Ironically he was referring to Hispanics, African Americans and
Asians.
Was Zimmerman trying to prove that he was one of the good
guys? At some level it seems likely. Was he succeeding in people’s eyes? Not
everybody’s. One resident was quoted as saying that he was a busy-body playing
wanna-be cop. That he was playing that role is obvious. That he made an
ordinary kid into a criminal in his head with no rational grounds to do so is
obvious. He chased that kid and got out of his car to follow him on foot,
despite being told by police dispatch that he must stay in his car.
By his own assertion he’d dealt with police on many occasions
so it’s impossible that he didn’t know he mustn’t get out of his car and play
cop.
This is clearly a guy with a huge agenda, living in a fantasy
world in his head. What about his parents? His father Robert Zimmerman recently
epublished a book entitled Florida vs
Zimmerman: Uncovering the malicious prosecution of my son George. In the
introduction he says:
“[In reading my book] You should come to understand that
there are wholly unethical opportunists, including those in government, the
legal profession and the media, simply for their own self serving interests
[sic]. These individuals routinely utilize race to incite and agitate hatred
and divisiveness for their own rewards.
…America is a wonderful land of opportunity. However as you
read these pages it should also become clear that America has changed.
Unfortunately many citizens now associate being American not with hard work,
integrity and personal responsibility but with individual entitlement and
continued demands for political correctness.”
In his opinion the only racists
in America are the African Americans.Which makes them complete monsters because they have no grounds for their prejudice. Now that's illusion for you.
Robert Zimmerman makes his wife out to be a saint and himself to be a
hero, but he does it in such a self effacing way it’s nauseating. He says he
never experienced racism his whole life except for one incident – therefore it
didn’t exist. Which is kind of similar to the argument his son used. I’ve never seen this guy here before
therefore he’s never been here. Zimmerman senior makes a very big deal out
of the ‘truth’ that neither he nor his saintly wife nor his saintly, kindly son
ever even noticed the color of a person’s skin. Just what was in their souls.
With a father so embedded in self-illusion it’s not hard to
understand how George Zimmerman was out of touch with reality. That a child’s life
got sacrificed to this kind of mentality is horrifying. If the jury doesn’t convict, it won’t be for
lack of a solid case against Zimmerman.
Sadly, a conviction won’t help Trayvon’s parents with their
pain. But it will at least illustrate that some tiny, tiny bit of progress has been made on this horrifically long, incredibly arduous road towards
a more rational society in America. If Zimmerman isn't convicted it won't stop the journey of those on the road, but it will make it just that much harder.
I'm reminded of the words of a song Great Day which Dinah Washington sings divinely:
When skies were dark came Noah's Ark, Amen
When lions roared came Daniel's Lord, Amen
The Lord helps those who pray
And on judgment day
If you believe he shall receive you, Amen
When you're down and out, lift up your head and shout
There's gonna be a great day
Angels in the sky promise that by and bye
There's gonne be a great day
Gabriel will warn you some early morn you
Will hear his a rootin' tootin'
It's not far away, hold out your hand and say
There's gonna be a great day
There's gonna be a great day
