Not Guilty

I debated not even posting today. I was going to observe a moment of silence in response to the response of the Zimmerman verdict. Some of the people I know have really lost their minds. It was a very polarizing trial. Tensions are high. I get that. But someone on my Facebook NewsFeed said that they were boycotting Florida Orange Juice, and that's where I have to ring the bell and get off the bus. It sounds like a joke, but this person was completely serious. Supposedly, it's part of a larger effort to hold a "quiet riot" against the state of Florida.

Though what I think of the verdict may shock you, it is essentially irrelevant. The same goes for what any of us think about the details of that night. All that matters in the American court system is how well the prosecution presents its case through evidence and witness testimony. It's like playing Horse. If you tell me you're going to close your eyes, stand on one foot, spin in a circle and then shoot the ball with nothing but net, then you have to do that. If you miss any of those things then the shot doesn't count.

The prosecution said that they would convince the jury beyond a reasonable doubt through their evidence that Zimmerman killed Martin under the conditions that warrant a second degree murder charge. That's a big word: Evidence. Not by what you read in the paper or saw on TV, not by what you know from experience as a minority in America, and not by what your gut tells you, but by evidence they will prove their case. And all of us, whether you want to admit it or not, know that there were points during the trial when the prosecution missed some steps in this game of Horse. Go back and look at your Facebook NewsFeed and you'll see a ton of "WTF" moments where a lot of people just shook their heads.

All of that amounts to doubt in the jury's mind. The goal was never to prove he didn't kill him or profile him. He admits to killing him and the tape shows the profiling. It all comes down to what happened during the "fight" and can the prosecution prove that he shot him in cold blood. The jury coming back with a Not Guilty verdict doesn't necessarily mean that they think it was justified, rather they can't say beyond a reasonable doubt that it wasn't. The prosecution's job is to eliminate all doubt and they failed.

Going to extremes and talking about America doesn't value the life of black people is hyperbole and it's destructive. Even if you truly believe in your heart that all six jurors were pulled from a Klan rally, then it still gives you no right to assign that to the entire state. The same people talking about boycotting Florida are the same ones who have pictures on their Facebook page of themselves in Miami or at DisneyWorld. What changed between your trip and now, because you certainly didn't come back talking about the injustice you suffered at the hands of the Floridians during your week-long trip.

Why do we get mad when people make assumptions about us based solely on the actions of a few, but then turn around and do the exact same thing? We are members of individual races, but no race is one monolithic group functioning under one thought process, one behavior pattern, and one belief structure. You cannot decry Paula Deen's use of nigger while referring to her as a cracker. It's not righteous indignation; it's hypocrisy. And most hypocritical of all is to quote MLK as you denigrate all non-blacks.

We can't come together if we keep allowing things to push us apart. All white people aren't racist, just like all black people aren't criminals. And if you really want to get mad at something, then let it be the sad reality that if you're black then you have an exponentially greater chance of being killed by another black person than any other race. There could be 500 more George Zimmerman's and it still wouldn't be enough to outnumber the amount of black people killing each other in Chicago alone. There have been SEVEN HUNDRED murders in that one city since Trayvon Martin was killed. And that was just a year and a half ago. There are 50 states and countless cities, so you do the math.

You want to talk about America not valuing the life of the black man, well if that's true (which I don't think it is) then she's only paying the absurdly low price that we set.