Trayvon Martin did not stand a chance. George Zimmerman always had the upper hand. Gun loaded, he aimed for any opportunity to target an African American or person of color whose experience and interaction with him would be the stereotypical plight prescribed by perpetrators.
Trayvon Martin did not have the attention of all those who now are wearing hoodies to support him in his walk in life, let alone his walk at night.
Trayvon Martin had the unfortunate circumstance of not seeing himself in fast-forward or having the supernatural ability to rewind his behavior displayed by the average teen, including posts placed on social media that depicted actions that could be questioned.
Trayvon Martin couldn’t pick his friends to testify on behalf of his character.
Trayvon Martin didn’t have a disguise to cloak his blackness. All the charades of equality in our society robbed him of the opportunity to pick a jury containing a juror who looked like his mother or had given birth to an African American male child. The value of Trayvon Martin’s life was entrusted to individuals who at no particular point have likely ever held, nurtured or watched a Trayvon Martin walk as a toddler and grow up as a teen whose life is constantly threatened. The jury that Trayvon needed was not in place, instead the ethics of the state, the movement of social justice and the laws enacted to protect Trayvon Martin had been infiltrated by individuals who prescribe and support laws like Stand Your Ground, where lethal force is enforced and tolerated even when the victim is unarmed. Bodily harm and physical threat in the mind of a fragile and frightened teen existed, but no one cares.
Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman were never going to be friends. In the end, a shot in his heart was a call out to the world that Trayvon Martin and Lil Wayne have something in common — the fact that both would be judged the same even in Trayvon Martin’s absence.
The example that African American men have set — the antics and lyrics of hip-hop artists — have been consumed by these jurors. Unintelligence has been broadcast and etched in the minds of these six jurors and allowed by the black community. Networks like MTV, MTV2 and TBS have had a hand in creating a mind-set that life was not permanent for the Trayvon Martins and that George Zimmerman is, in fact, a victim based on this disillusionment. When the door closed, if there was one juror who even thought he should have been convicted, she was overruled by the majority, and unprincipled jurisprudence prevailed. The legal process failed Trayvon Martin. In the room with the doors closed, black life obviously meant less than the living white perpetrator.
There are people who believe that Trayvon Martin was not a victim but a perpetrator. Who would perpetrate a crime with an Arizona drink and a package of Skittles? What does this say for the hip-hop generation? Maybe they’re far too comfortable with their own accomplishments taking for granted that the community or this country is no longer racist.
I hope a standard is set for how much or how little communities appreciate or believe that we are equal or are fair to us. Trayvon Martin’s murder brings to question the value of African American life and the unconsciousness of two communities — insidious, mean-spirited racism that’s reinforced daily in our society.
Let’s use our collective energy to reduce the dropout rate and crime against our own community and utilize social media productively — not to bully peers. Let’s come together and agree that we want more from a society that is finding each and every day a method and laws to reduce our freedom and economic accomplishments. Peace.
