Month: May 2012

I read the following in the Orlando Sentinel….it is indicative of the American-Eurocentric view of justice and race in our society

The evidence does, however, support Zimmerman’s claim that he was assaulted by Trayvon — whether Zimmerman started it or not.

Photos of Zimmerman’s bloodied head and swollen nose show he was injured.

On the other hand, Trayvon’s autopsy report showed no sign of bruising or other injuries that would indicate he was punched by the Neighborhood Watch leader.

The writer of this piece doesn’t mention that Martin was assaulted in the worse way, and we have no pictures of the bullet hole he has for being where he had every right to be when confronted by Zimmerman.  There are some in American society who think that black teenagers must answer to EVERYONE for whatever it is they are doing, when they may be doing nothing at all (as in the case of Martin) even if they are confronted by someone their equal who has no right to challenge and that somehow any response other than absolute servility is punishable by extreme pain or death!

We noted in our first article about this case that the Stand Your Ground law clearly applies to Martin more so than to Zimmerman, who obviously initiated the contact between the two.  It was not Martin who drug Zimmerman from his motor vehicle and started pummeling him…..rather it was Zimmerman who emerged from his car and invaded a space in a manner that was more than just the passing of two strangers in the night that Martin had every right to occupy. The Law is clear a person does not have to retreat or make excuses

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Zimmerman supporters will argue he did not “attack” Martin…as the Orlando Sentinel article seems to imply…because there are no signs of blows or bruises on his body except to his knuckles…the only weapon he, Martin, brought to the fight, but surely not getting the appropriately servile response he Zimmerman expected, it’s sure the confrontation escalated to the point that it became physical and murderous.  What I find particularly offensive is the notion that anyone thinks they can approach anyone else minding their own business and expect that person to be accountable to them  for doing absolutely nothing.  The idea that individual citizens can go about demanding accountability from perfect strangers that could lead to their justifiable death is simply disturbing at the very least and certainly criminal in this case.

This is the unspoken argument of the Zimmerman-Martin case…….that young black males like Martin when confronted by anyone must do everything in their power to keep that person from engaging in extra -judicial actions even if they are doing nothing wrong and inevitably they bear the responsibility for any illegal actions conducted against them by such vigilantes.  The idea is preposterous and absurd on so many levels except the halls of justice and the media.  No innocent victim should have to explain why he was shot for defending himself………….except Trayvon Martin.