Trayvon Martin: GUILTY???!!!
by Khayyam E. Ali
Overwrought and despondent, several neighbors came out into the streets following the announcement of the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial last Saturday night. Dismayed, they came to vent and release their frustrations with the jury's decision and the evident system of injustice we live with that was clearly ratified and amplified by the final judgment in this case. Some had their children with them. Thalid, an 8 year old preparing to enter third grade this fall, asked his mother, "Does this mean that Trayvon Martin is GUILTY?"
That is precisely the message this jury and this court in Florida sent to the Martin family, the nation and more importantly to children, particularly children of color. To suggest that this was a case of profiling and yet not a case based on race as per the judge's instructions to the jury (which the prosecution affirmed) is ludicrous and disingenuous. In this instance, you cannot have one without the other. Essentially, what this court did was put Trayvon Martin on trial, and accordingly they found him guilty.
O.K. so let's see if I understand this correctly. The verdict in this case says that someone can get out of their car, stalk someone else in their place of residence, confront and start a fight with them, get their butt kicked for doing so, then shoot and kill them, claim self defense, and then get away with murder! Is that the message the justice (or just-less) system is sending to children, particularly children of color? Dammmnnn!!!
Following the verdict one of my students immediately sent me a text that read, "The message is clear,no matter what we do, we are guilty." Another student cynically wrote, "Amen, the White man has once again triumphed in a so called unbiased justice system."
Many adults wonder why our youth appear to be rebelling. They are not rebelling directly against us, but they are rebelling against a society that they recognize profiles and discriminates against them because of the way they look. Consequently, they become indifferent to us because the volume of our silence to their inequities resonates long before a legal injustice such as this one has occurred.
According to juror B37, "George" did what he had to do, and it wouldn't have mattered what race he was. She felt that Trayvon Martin was someplace he shouldn't have been. That even though he was followed for several minutes and then confronted by Zimmerman, HE SHOULD NOT HAVE "STOOD HIS GROUND," and should have walked or ran away. And his failure to do so made him guilty of causing his own death.
This kind of thinking is in line with the past and apparent present day "Jim Crow Laws." Following the Civil War many bigoted White people were afraid and felt threatened. They made it their responsibility to keep Black people separated from them and continued to treat them as though they were second class citizens. To alleviate their fears they created Jim Crow Laws, a systematic practice of discriminating against and segregating Black people. This is how juror B37 saw Trayvon and his friend, Rachel Jeantel, who did an admirable job of displaying dignity and resolve while enduring the turmoil the murder of her friend Trayvon has brought upon her life. Juror B37 saw them as second class citizens who didn't belong in the gated community where Trayvon was residing or in the courtroom where Rachel Jeantel testified.
Jim Crow Laws which officially lasted for almost a century, supposedly ended five decades ago. But in large segments of today's society the socio-political concepts of Jim Crow still exists. They have been transferred from one generation to another. These concepts are broad guiding principles affecting perception and behavior which determines how a person or culture conducts themselves. They have been passed down over time and can be more dangerous with each succeeding generation for they become innate or the natural order of one's thinking. The transfer of these socio-political beliefs don't appear to be going away any time soon, and pretending that they don't exist only strengthens their existence.
They result in what Katheryn Russell-Brown, professor of law and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Race Relations at the University of Florida's College of Law, refers to as the "criminal black man stereotype" whereby young African-American men are viewed as "inherently more sinister, evil and dangerous." Although slavery ended well over a century ago, one lingering notion that still exists for far too many is the perception that African-Americans are substandard, and therefore should be treated as such.
But it wasn't the jury or the dismal representation that the prosecution gave during the trial that allowed Trayvon Martin to die without getting justice. It was the law! Law which we tell our children to obey and respect. Law which was written in a manner that Trayvon Martin never had a chance in his confrontation with George Zimmerman or in a court of law. That is why the State Attorney's Office of Florida did not immediately bring charges against "George." They knew the case never had a chance because of the way the Stand Your Ground Law was specifically and intentionally designed, ala Jim Crow. And to their discredit the prosecution represented the Martin family accordingly.
So while the peaceful protest and demonstrations as well as the marches are commendable, they are behind schedule. They needed to start on the doorsteps of every state legislature the second that these laws were put into effect and continued until they have been removed. Almost a year and a half has passed since this murder occurred and we are just now beginning to mobilize mass demonstrations against the law that allowed for the legal taking of this child's life???
These cases of legal injustices require a proactive approach. We must respond before the fact rather than constantly finding ourselves reacting afterwards. The Trayvon Martin murder represents exactly why we must collectively and aggressively become politically literate as communities within a nation. We must accept civic responsibility and register to vote (and then actually vote-whether we want to-or not), fight against voter suppression, and be aware of new legislation that is being proposed before it becomes law. We must be willing to answer the call of jury duty instead of being so quick to avoid it and then scream foul when a jury which we avoided is insensitive to the cultural backgrounds and environments of all concerned parties when rendering its decision.
A comprehensive review of every law that affects our communities and in particular our children must become an undertaking of choice and priority. Then decisions must be made as to which laws represent legal injustices and should be repealed. We must educate people in our communities about the duties, responsibilities, and powers of each political office. Then we must vote people into political office (particularly in local venues) that serve our interest in a true justice for all manner...and vote them out if they don't. And we must learn how to sustain struggle. Struggle is ongoing! Whatever it is that one is trying to attain, retain, regain, or maintain requires struggle. It does not end! Otherwise from time to time we will continue to find ourselves in these types of situations, going backwards in time and frequently responding from a reactionary position.
Frederick Douglass best sums up why the struggles against racism, oppression, and injustice must move forward to negate moving backwards. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress. This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those they oppress."
The Florida legislature (as well as the 33 other states that have enacted similar laws) empowers certain individuals to use deadly force against others. George Zimmerman was the executioner who pulled the trigger firing the fatal bullet that murdered Trayvon Martin. He is guilty of that. But he had encouraging legislative assistance, for it was the Florida Stand Your Ground Law that loaded the gun!
(Khayyam E. Ali has been an educator over the past three decades, is author of a children's book, titled, The Wormhole Kids-Visit President Kennedy, and editor of two compilations of children's books, Ten Girls on the Write way to College, and Doing the Write Thing. He is also the academic advisor to the 100 Black Men Of Long Island and a subject of a biographical sketch in Who's Who in the World.)
Posted By: phil andrews
Tuesday, July 23rd 2013 at 12:25AM
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