Monday, July 15, 2013
The myths surrounding Trayvon Martin
The most infuriating - and worrying - aspect of the reactions to the Zimmerman verdict is the outright lies that are being spread concerning Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman's actions. They're creating a mythos that threatens to endure in public opinion long after the facts have been forgotten.
Trayvon Martin is being portrayed by his apologists as an innocent little baa-lamb who was deliberately stalked and murdered by an over-aggressive vigilante, wannabe cop and neighborhood racist busy-body. Nothing could be further from the truth. I'm not going to rehash all the evidence produced in court, but it's abundantly clear that he initiated the fight that led to his being shot. Even his trip to the store "to pick up some candy and soda" probably isn't as innocent as it seems. It appears incontrovertible that he'd gone to purchase ingredients for the illicit narcotic 'purple drank', to which he'd previously referred in text messages and other media. Candy and soda? No way!
Zimmerman's portrayal as an activist vigilante is harder to defuse. I'm afraid that by getting out of his car and actively involving himself in trying to locate Trayvon Martin, he laid himself wide open to precisely the sort of accusations that are now being made against him. If he'd stayed in his car and waited for police, even if that meant that Martin 'escaped' before they arrived, this whole affair would never have arisen. I'm sure that for the rest of his life, George Zimmerman will be sorry he didn't do just that.
The lesson for the rest of us is, we shouldn't stick our noses into anything that doesn't directly and immediately concern us. If the safety of others is potentially at risk (note that I say potentially, not yet actually), then it's up to them to look out for themselves. Only in the event of a direct, immediate and otherwise unavoidable danger to the lives of the innocent is it justifiable for us to intervene - and if we choose to do so, we'd better be aware right from the start that it might cost us everything we own, and all our hopes for the future.
Tragically, I can see more Kitty Genovese-type events happening, with nobody intervening because they're afraid they'll be treated like George Zimmerman. That may be the greatest tragedy of this entire affair.
Peter
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4 comments:
In Oklahoma where I live, they taught us in our CCW class that even if we see two people engaged in a violent conflict, unless we know them, we should probably just stay out of it and call the police instead and let them handle it. I have heard of a couple different stories where people intervened in a situation and one of the parties affected was an undercover police officer. This has lead me to take the basic stance that in most situations, unless I or someone I care about is being directly attacked, my plan is bug out and call the police and give them as good of a description of the people involved as possible.
There were some sailors on the USS Nimitz caught up in something like that during a port call in Rio ~1986, when they saw some guys in an alley beating the snot out of some guy. They intervened and beat the snot out of the beaters. Turned out later (after they got back to the boat) that the beaters were secret police. They ended up staying in local jail after the Nimitz sailed, much to (American) everyone's regret. :-(
... nobody intervening because they're afraid they'll be treated like George Zimmerman.
While I agree that it is a tragedy, I suspect that it was the intent of the prosecution all along.
As it came out in court. The 911 operator told Zimmerman to find Martin. Then changed her mind. According to recordings and testimony Zimmerman did just what he was told.
Geoff
Who notes "We are all Trayvon!" is subject to interpretation.
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