Trayvon

It's been a few days now since the end of the George Zimmerman trial, and I suppose I have to face it. When the verdict was announced I kind of ignored it, as it was not a surprise. I didn't want to watch the media coverage, even on the sympathetic cable networks, and especially not the vituperative remarks of those on the right, who somehow were gleeful about the result.

This was just a sad, tragic story from beginning to end, a shameful episode in the long, depressing history of race relations in the U.S. And make no mistake, this was about race, because there is no way Zimmerman would have followed Trayvon Martin if he wasn't black. At the root of this is the "fear of a black planet" that is age-old in this country; that a young black man must be up to no good, especially if he's wearing a hoodie.

I have no approbation for the jury. I didn't watch the trial, and so I can't fault them for their verdict. I do have a problem with the horrible Stand Your Ground law, which basically allows anyone to shoot someone else, especially if  there are no eyewitnesses. We'll never know for sure what transpired between Martin and Zimmerman, but this sinister law allowed a man to be the aggressor--following a teen who was just minding his own business--continue to follow him even after police told him not to, and then shoot a boy who might have struck out at a strange armed man who was following him. This is insane.

The legacy of this verdict is nothing but anguish. I saw some idiot comment that it was a happy day, because the system worked. Well, it certainly wasn't happy for Trayvon's family, who still have a dead child, through no fault of his own. Zimmerman walks, but his life will never be the same, and I'm glad about it. I wish him no violence, but I suspect he will end up about as visible as Steve Bartman. Unless Fox News gives him a TV show.

Speaking of Fox News and their ilk, it's really shameful how they tried to demonize Martin. Geraldo Rivera, clown prince of pseudo-journalists, equated wearing a hoodie to a ship flying the Jolly Roger. It seems to be a hoodie is a sensible piece of clothing to ward off a chill, and only becomes a symbol of something else when ding-a-lings like Rivera say they are. This, along with the verdict, makes it open season on black youth. I have a friend who has an adopted black child who is now eleven. What is she going to tell him when he's big enough to look threatening? Stay indoors whenever possible?

We are left with the most common image of Martin, wearing a hoodie, staring out in what seems to be a mixture of fear and vulnerability, without a trace of danger. He has become the Emmett Till of our age, killed for being black in America.