Race Baiting, Gun Hating Fallout From Zimmerman Verdict

[@PersonalLiberty]

07.15.13 09:01 PM

The not guilty verdict delivered in the George Zimmerman case over the weekend set off racially charged national debate, as the Justice Department announced that it will further review the case in search of civil rights abuses and as race baiters cheered on by the left’s punditry screamed that the jury verdict simply will not do.

The Southern Poverty Law Center took the opportunity to chime in following the verdict, positing that Trayvon Martin would still be alive had he not been black:

“They always get away.” These were the words George Zimmerman uttered as he followed and later shot Trayvon Martin — words that reflected his belief that Trayvon was one of “them,” the kind of person about to get away with something. How ironic these words sound now in light of the jury verdict acquitting Zimmerman.

Trayvon is dead, and Zimmerman is free. Who was the one who got away?

Can we respect the jury verdict and still conclude that Zimmerman got away with killing Trayvon? I think so, even if we buy Zimmerman’s story that Trayvon attacked him at some point. After all, who was responsible for initiating the tragic chain of events? Who was following whom? Who was carrying a gun? Who ignored the police urging that he stay in his car? Who thought that the other was one of “them,” someone about to get a away with something?

The jury has spoken, and we can respect its conclusion that the state did not prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. But we cannot fail to speak out about the tragedy that occurred in Sanford, Florida, on the night of February 26, 2012.

Was race at the heart of it? Ask yourself this question: If Zimmerman had seen a white youth walking in the rain that evening, would he have seen him as one of “them,” someone about to get away with something?…

…George Zimmerman probably saw race the night of February 26, 2012, *just like so many of us probably would have. Had he not, Trayvon probably would be alive today.

Attorney General Eric Holder, whose Justice Department said it will look into the case to determine whether Federal prosecutors should file criminal civil rights charges against Zimmerman, also weighed in on the case.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has gathered more than 450,000 signatures on a petition created after the jury found Zimmerman not guilty, calling for Justice to launch a civil rights investigation.

“A jury has acquitted George Zimmerman, but we are not done demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. Sign our petition to the Department of Justice today,” read a note accompanying the petition.

The Attorney General said that the court case provides an opportunity for America to talk about race:

…Independent of the legal determination that will be made, I believe that this tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly about the complicated and emotionally-charged issues that this case has raised. We must not — as we have too often in the past — let this opportunity pass…

Holder’s boss, President Barack Obama, also weighed in on the Zimmerman verdict, calling on Americans to honor Martin’s memory by pushing for stronger gun control.

Obama said:

We should ask ourselves if we’re doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across this country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this. As citizens, that’s a job for all of us. That’s the way to honor Trayvon Martin.

MSNBC contributor and Georgetown University Professor*Michael Eric Dyson said Monday that the verdict in the Zimmerman case made Saturday a worse day than Sept. 11, 2001, for black Americans.

“When the people who rig the definition and the litmus test have a bias to begin with, it’s not going to be proof positive for you when you come along testing whether race or bias exists,” Dyson began. “We don’t have to impugn [Zimmerman attorney] Mr. [Mark] O’Mara‘s character and integrity to say what you are talking about is on Mars and we’re on Venus.”

“We have to often tell people who get defensive about racism analogy, let’s make an analogy to terrorism,” he added. “So, you know how you felt on 9/11? yeah, that’s how we feel when it comes to race.”

And then, of course, there were those who took to Twitter to opine on the Zimmerman verdict — like Representative Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), who struggled to understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty:

#Zimmerman was found not guilty, he was not found innocent. We must continue to fight for equal treatment under the law #nojusticenosleep

— Marcia L. Fudge (@RepMarciaFudge) July 15, 2013

Former Obama adviser Van Jones simply blamed racism:

The verdict: Racism won. #TrayvonMartin

— Van Jones (@VanJones68) July 14, 2013

Following the verdict, rappers such as *P. Diddy, Big Boi, Nicki Minaj, Busta Rhymes and others took to Twitter call America a racist cesspool of despair. Their colleague Lupe Fiasco quickly shouted them down with reason, pointing out their hypocrisy.

Half y’all been partying to Black Death for the past 2 decades…the other half watched the party…don’t be angry now!

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Rub your face in it! Swallow down that hard pill! Black blood spills in the streets of America nightly at the hands other blacks

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Chickens have come home to roost!

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Yeah gimme that anger…once again that rage…that misguided angst when you true enemy is your own complacency and cowardice.

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Curse kick scream yell tweet unfollow. Don’t matter to me if y’all don’t start valuing yourselves NIGGERS will be in the same boat tomorrow

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Nobody knows what really happened except trayvon and Zimmerman. The justice system relies on reasonable doubt not our emotions.

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

The case should have never been televised as the potential to antagonize US race relations was, in my dumb, opinion too risky & unnecessary

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Your emotional reactions to a perceived injustice will get you nowhere. Organize (yeah right!) to fight total structural violence.

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

You asked for my opinion and there it is…anything beyond that is just RIP Trayvon and may God watch over his family especially his mother.

— Lupe Fiasco (@LupeFiasco) July 14, 2013

Indeed, there have been thousands of blacks killed on America’s streets since Martin’s death, about 500 in Chicago alone. Many of those tragedies, however, resulted from black-on-black crimes, evidently not meriting Presidential comments or round-the-clock media coverage.




http://personalliberty.com/2013/07/1...erman-verdict/