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XIV-Hafawhatyousee

As I move away from this case (Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman) something draws me back; the same as last year when I wrote about it initially, it feels like there is a weight on my chest.  I say what I have said in the past; Serve on jury duty, become familiar with the law(as best you can) and remember”life isn’t fair”. Just because you have the right to do/be does not necessarily mean it will be so. Unfortunate reality, so govern yourself accordingly.

This is a good place for former and current police officers(black especially) to do  more good for the community. Talk to the youth, let them hear from one who was in the trenches what is seen/perceived and  show them how to apply that information. You hate to think about a civilian taking the law into his own hands and getting away with it, but remember he was a “COP-WANNABE”, there is a difference. He wanted to be “seen”as worthy.

We as outsiders(not happy with but respectful of this verdict) have to get some solace that this is not over for George Zimmerman. State Court, Supreme Court, Magistrate Court, Court of Public Opinion (no order/relevance implied). Talk about celebrity and infamy. Zimmerman no matter what will never walk down a street, go to get a bite to eat, obtain employment without having to look over his shoulder because maybe some vigilante may decide to take the law into their own hands. For whatever he thought he saw that night in February 2012 and acted upon, this is now his reality.

The Martin family will never feel better for no court in the land, no amount of money on this planet can EVER replace what was lost, their child and they will never be able to forget that.

Then there was the case in New York 2007 John H White- a black man convicted of shooting and killing an unarmed white teenager at point-blank range. He was convicted of manslaughter. This case was racially charged and once again each side accusing the other of playing “the race card”. You can review this case on your own, but if it does nothing else it demonstrates how we, the layman public, are manipulated and fooled into believing we have a universal understand of what goes on  and where it takes place, when we are in fact only spectators and speculators.

I do not know if it has been done before, but a thought did occur to me. It was spurned by these type cases and the climate subsequent to them, and of course my friends and loved ones, who motivate me on a continuous basis. What if in court everybody looks the same when a case comes before a jury. When I say looks the same I mean everyone is intentionally made up to have the appearance of the same multi-cultural/ethnic group. If you truly intend on taking race out of an equation you have to make it so no one can put it into play in the first place.

My favorite Author John Grisham  demonstrated and characterized it best in  his book ” A Time To Kill” I will merely summarize it here; the only way justice will truly be served in cases where different races are involved is for a jury to see the individuals as they see themselves. They must be able to relate. We want  to believe we are more intelligent than that, we have moved forward, and we are sophisticated.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of a country where people are NOT judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, cannot take place if people are constantly bombarded with negative images which make them back away from opportunities to get to know a person’s character. They retreat to primitive ways and deal with what is simple; that which is right before their very eyes, an image. Yet we all have to admit there is quite a bit more to us all, than that which you see on the surface.

Our country takes a great deal of time notating the diversity of her people, but it is not always in a positive endearing light. There is pride when the Justice System is spoken of.  She smiles and boasts that she is “the land of opportunity” but what of the fine print; as long as you adhere to the preferences, visual or implied, of those who are in charge at any given time. “Equal protection under the law”, except if you look this way. I am expecting, living, reacting to that which is written and read, that which I see. America, she has grown up but she has nonetheless grown farther apart in the process.