Trayvon Martin used "Stand Your Ground" Properly; George Zimmerman uses it as an excuse for his negligence, disobedience to the law, and self righteous vigilante attitude.
The medical report still does not give reason as to why Trayvon felt he needed to get physical with Zimmerman. IMO Trayvon was approached by Zimmerman in an intimidating manner, Trayvon saw the gun but didn't see a badge or a uniform, and immediately feared for his life. I really do believe Zimmerman tried to do some type of "citizen's arrest" and did not expect Trayvon to fight back because he had convinced himself that he was going to "save the day". Trayvon was fighting and beating that man to survive.
It's not "Stand Your Ground" if you are stalking the victim, it's not "Stand Your Ground" if you approach the victim and question them, it's not "Stand Your Ground" if the victim is defending themselves from you; It's not "Stand Your Ground" if you realize on your back on the ground that you made a decision to not follow the directions of the law and that you might die for doing so, that's not "Stand Your Ground".
And many of you will use the excuse that the pictures being shown of Trayvon are from when he was 12 and 13. Even so, Trayvon was still a child. He was not astronomically muscular or 7 feet tall as some of you want to put him. (I won't even touch that right now.) Anyone who has ever feared for their life or the life of someone else knows that something inside you rises to do things that are normally above human measure.
Those of you who want to defend Zimmerman and say that he was right to shoot Trayvon. I want you to put your own child or a child that you love in Trayvon's shoes and think if they were in the same situation, from the things you taught them about strangers that approach them, what would you want them to do... Fight back or let the strange person lead them away.
Don't use the law as an excuse for your elitist attitude and "super hero" psychosis. Zimmerman put his self in a situation that he didn't have to be in if he had just listened to law enforcement. If "Stand Your Ground" means you don't have to listen to officials of the goverenment or follow laws in general, then yes, let the anarchy begin in Florida. If "Stand Your Ground" means that I can shoot and kill anyone just because I feel uncomfortable about their presence in my neighborhood, then yes, let the lynchings begin, again, in Florida.
But if "Stand Your Ground" was meant to protect victims from perpetrators, then Trayvon had every right to use this law in his defense. Trayvon was being followed, he was approached, and he feared for his life. So he had to Stand His Ground.
Showing posts with label Skin Color. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skin Color. Show all posts
Mar 23, 2012
Gated Communities of the Mind: Trayvon Martin Murdered by Superiority & Hate
I have not been able to fully express my feelings and thoughts on the murder of Trayvon Martin until today. For the past 2 weeks I have been unable to sleep on a normal schedule. Staying up to the dawn of the morning and finally getting a few hours of sleep in the afternoon until I have to wake up for work.
My soul is not at peace right now. If it is the year of 2012, the only things to remind of that is the modern technology of my computer, TV, and cell phone in my home right now; anything else would have told me that this was still 1952 and that it was still "okay" to lynch black men and women "Down South".
Until it happens, you can't understand it.... racism that is. Until it happens, you don't realize it exists. You want to feel like your skin color or any one's skin color is attributing factor to the treatment they may receive... but feelings aren't reality. The fact is, everyday, I'm black. Everyday my skin never changes color and when people look at me they make judgements upon me because of the way I look, the way I'm dressed, the way I talk, the way I move, the way I carry myself.
People constantly make judgements on appearance, that's the way we're wired. Our first sense is eyesight. It triggers taste, smell, touch, and emotional responses. So when people look at me, when people look at you, when George Zimmerman looked at Trayvon, something triggers inside of them... emotionally. And for George Zimmerman... that was fear and hate.
Gated communities. Gated communities are no safer than a prison when the people inside of them are just as hateful, fearful, and vigilante as a criminal. People in these types of communities think they are safer inside of them because they are guarded from the "outsiders". These types of communities promote racial and economic "homogeneity" meaning if you "don't look like us or have money like us" we don't except you. So when something or someone breaks that ideal it instills panic, fear, a state of heightened alert, as well as the idea of superiority over whatever, or in this case, whomever would be defector from the false normalcy within the gates.
Gated communities are nothing but reincarnations of the segregated communities of the Jim Crow era; White folks on this side of town... Black folks & Others on the other side. And don't be a Black man or boy on the wrong side of town, at the wrong time of day, otherwise you'll be questioned, and if you didn't answer the question right or had proof you were "allowed" to be on the "white" side... consider yourself guilty... trial by hanging.
So this is what they did to our baby, our future, our beautiful young man Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman lynched him, he murdered Trayvon.
Riled up by the fear, by the anger, by the superiority he felt in the gated community of his mind, combined with a 9mm gun.
He MURDERED Trayvon Martin.
He thought Trayvon was burglar, but walking down a side walk in a gated community is not a crime. He says it was self defense, but being scared to answer the 310 lbs. man in front of you asking you questions isn't assault. He thinks it wasn't murder, but Trayvon Martin screaming for help tells me that it was.
The bottom line is Trayvon Martin is dead. A death not fit for anyone, but we should not let his death be in vain. Let's change the laws. Let's open our minds. Let's fight for justice. Arrest George Zimmerman.
My soul is not at peace right now. If it is the year of 2012, the only things to remind of that is the modern technology of my computer, TV, and cell phone in my home right now; anything else would have told me that this was still 1952 and that it was still "okay" to lynch black men and women "Down South".
Until it happens, you can't understand it.... racism that is. Until it happens, you don't realize it exists. You want to feel like your skin color or any one's skin color is attributing factor to the treatment they may receive... but feelings aren't reality. The fact is, everyday, I'm black. Everyday my skin never changes color and when people look at me they make judgements upon me because of the way I look, the way I'm dressed, the way I talk, the way I move, the way I carry myself.
People constantly make judgements on appearance, that's the way we're wired. Our first sense is eyesight. It triggers taste, smell, touch, and emotional responses. So when people look at me, when people look at you, when George Zimmerman looked at Trayvon, something triggers inside of them... emotionally. And for George Zimmerman... that was fear and hate.
Gated communities. Gated communities are no safer than a prison when the people inside of them are just as hateful, fearful, and vigilante as a criminal. People in these types of communities think they are safer inside of them because they are guarded from the "outsiders". These types of communities promote racial and economic "homogeneity" meaning if you "don't look like us or have money like us" we don't except you. So when something or someone breaks that ideal it instills panic, fear, a state of heightened alert, as well as the idea of superiority over whatever, or in this case, whomever would be defector from the false normalcy within the gates.
Gated communities are nothing but reincarnations of the segregated communities of the Jim Crow era; White folks on this side of town... Black folks & Others on the other side. And don't be a Black man or boy on the wrong side of town, at the wrong time of day, otherwise you'll be questioned, and if you didn't answer the question right or had proof you were "allowed" to be on the "white" side... consider yourself guilty... trial by hanging.
So this is what they did to our baby, our future, our beautiful young man Trayvon Martin.
Zimmerman lynched him, he murdered Trayvon.
Riled up by the fear, by the anger, by the superiority he felt in the gated community of his mind, combined with a 9mm gun.
He MURDERED Trayvon Martin.
He thought Trayvon was burglar, but walking down a side walk in a gated community is not a crime. He says it was self defense, but being scared to answer the 310 lbs. man in front of you asking you questions isn't assault. He thinks it wasn't murder, but Trayvon Martin screaming for help tells me that it was.
The bottom line is Trayvon Martin is dead. A death not fit for anyone, but we should not let his death be in vain. Let's change the laws. Let's open our minds. Let's fight for justice. Arrest George Zimmerman.
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