By Robert S. White, II
By now, the story sounds almost surreal.
Ignoring the advice of law enforcement personnel, a former neighborhood watch leader armed with a loaded gun stalks a 17-year-old Black male he feels to be “suspicious.” The young Black teenager is shot and killed by the armed man. Save for a bag of candy and a can of iced tea purchased at the store, the teenager is unarmed.
Nearly a year and a half later, the shooter is exonerated and the headlines read “George Zimmerman is found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.”
Beyond the outrage and the visceral disgust so many are feeling, I have been somewhat compelled to ask people what lessons they feel this ordeal has taught them and what points have stood out in their minds. As a firm believer in “teachable moments,” I cannot help but be reflective while encouraging others to do the same.
Here are a few points that have been “top of mind” for me:
• This verdict re-inforced for me that a courtroom is a “court of law” not a “court of justice.” I once heard it this way: as an artist uses the tools of his trade to achieve the ideal of beauty in a painting or sculpture, officers of the court use the tool of the law to try to achieve the ideal of justice.
• It amazes me how George Zimmerman was “in the wrong” until he was “in the right.” He stereotyped, disobeyed a law enforcement official, and stalked an unarmed young man while carrying a loaded weapon. But after all of these bad decisions, he was somehow judged to be “in the right” when he shot and killed Trayvon.
• The family of Trayvon Martin will now annually endure a recurring calendar of mournful events including February 5 – Trayvon’s birthday, February 26 – the date of this tragic shooting, and July 13 – the date that George Zimmerman was exonerated by a Florida court in the death of their son.
• One friend of mine comments that most Americans have possibly been watching TV court dramas for too long. Legal cases are not as clear cut as writers make them out to be.
• If Zimmerman’s profiling of Trayvon as “suspicious” was wrong, shouldn’t pre-judging the jurors as “racist” be equally offensive?
• Someone willing to vouch for your character is important (my barber swears by this one).
• African-American men being racially profiled is not some fabricated issue; it is unfortunately very real.
• “Not guilty” seems to be the wrong phrase to share many times. “Guilt was not proven beyond a reasonable doubt” fits the bill a lot better. “Not guilty” does not mean “innocent.”
• There are many families in the cities of America grieving over a loved one lost to gun violence. The family of Trayvon is unfortunately a recent addition to an obscenely long list of the bereaved.
Maybe this aforementioned point is one we should all consider. Too many of our youth have been murdered in the neighborhoods of our cities with no gathering to mark their demise or vigil to help bring an end to the senseless killings. Maybe after this tragedy, our outrage will no longer be so difficult to prick. Maybe this case will make us all pay more attention to the people we pass by every day.
Whatever “teachable moments” any of us may derive from this ordeal, I am hopeful that none of these will be a lesson in giving up on our ability to impact corporate and systemic change through our actions and attitudes.
Robert S. White, II is Chief of Staff for the Mayor of Memphis, TN.
