This is a post I have little desire to pen.
It’s not that the Intramuralist fails to possess an opinion. It’s not that I don’t have all the answers. I rarely have all the answers.
I hesitate to write about the George Zimmerman verdict because so many of the responses have been so emotional…
Amidst the current outrage, much has been omitted. Such as…
… “not guilty” is not equal to completely “innocent”…
… mercy always triumphs over judgment…
… the withholding of forgiveness only hurts the withholder…
… few of us were in the courtroom…
… and fewer still were there when the altercation occurred.
We don’t know what happened that fateful night. We don’t know what Trayvon Martin said. We don’t know what Zimmerman said. We don’t know if there were threats by either. We don’t know if either Martin or Zimmerman felt they were in danger of bodily harm. We don’t know for certain who was screaming for help on the 911 call. That’s the bottom line: we don’t know.
I wish more would pause, recognizing exactly that: they don’t know. Just because Martin was an African-American and Zimmerman is a white Hispanic tells us nothing about innocence nor guilt.
But instead of the prudent pause, many embrace the far easier rush to emotional judgment — which is what seems to prompt the Rev. Al Sharpton to plan national protests this Saturday… which is what seems to motivate multiple liberal churches and organizations to announce a standing in solidarity with Martin and his family only, ignoring the Zimmermans… and which seems to cause the NAACP to demand the Justice Dept. file federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman…
Did these persons and organizations forget that they weren’t there?
I understand the emotion, friends. The death of Trayvon Martin was tragic. It was awful. No teen should die an early death. Yet the outrage omits more truth than Rev. Sharpton & Co. currently care to admit… and that the media made significantly worse…
Soon after the altercation, for example, NBC’s “Today” show aired the following tape of Zimmerman’s initial comments to a police dispatcher. This is what NBC reported…
Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. He looks black.”
It was later acknowledged that NBC News altered the recording; the full tape went like this…
Zimmerman: “This guy looks like he’s up to no good. Or he’s on drugs or something. It’s raining and he’s just walking around, looking about.”
Dispatcher: “OK, and this guy — is he black, white or Hispanic?”
Zimmerman: “He looks black.”
The death of Trayvon Martin is unquestionably tragic. I pray for his family. I also pray for George Zimmerman and his family. The current outrage that omits both logic and truth — and only empathizes with one of the involved families — is equally, unfortunately sad.
Respectfully,
AR