BEING HONEST ABOUT JUSTICE

By Ian Pickett

PACOVILLA Corrections blog
July 15, 2013

Much of the anger directed at the Zimmerman Verdict comes from those of us trying to say what we all think happened v.s. what the state could prove happened.

Many say he had a premeditated plan, maybe so. Aside from the fact that there is no evidence of that, the state obviously didn’t even think that because otherwise, they would have charged him with 1st Degree Murder.

The entire case in “legal” terms came down to the fight between Zimmerman and Martin itself and that is that. Unfortunately, only one man could speak to what happened because the other was dead but the state knowing that should have never stretched for the charges they did because they knew full well they couldn’t prove it.

Did Zimmerman profile Trayvon? Yes. Is it wrong and disgusting to profile someone based on clothing and race? Yes. Does profiling equate to Murder 2 or Manslaughter in legal terms? No.

As much as the “situation” infuriates many of us and as hard as it is to admit this for some, I would hope that people are actually a bit comforted by the verdict because it may one day be you or me on trial. Personally, I would prefer to not be convicted on conjecture or circumstantial evidence.

The court system does not exist to exercise revenge disguised as justice and to scream for revenge disguised as justice is hypocritical at best. It’s quite possible that racism had everything to do with how Trayvon Matin was profiled and nothing to do with the verdict and if we are truly interested in justice than that is a small, yet important comfort we can take from all of this. The trial system worked, whether we like the outcome or not.

What sickens me the most is how we scream for justice in the case of a white man killing a black man yet cast a blind eye to the genocidal type violence happening in our cities via black on black crime. Not to slight the loss of Trayvon Martins life because neither, should be more important than the other but judging by the outrage, clearly, one is.

Many people who championed this case including the likes of Al Sharpton continue to ignore the violence taking place in our Black communities and even go so far as to excuse it because of factors like economic hardship and disenfranchisement among the poor.

Black on black crime has everything to do with this because the excuse of “lack of resources” in murdering the innocent should be just as deplorable as profiling or excusing the profiling that drives one to thinking someone is up to no good because they are wearing a hoodie while black.

Lack of resources doesn’t excuse a 6 month old being shot 5 times while getting her diaper changed. Lack of resources doesn’t excuse murdering a 17 year old because he refused to join a gang. Lack of resources doesn’t excuse shooting a mother of 5 and a mother and her two children, one being 22 months old. Lack of resources doesn’t excuse over 1500 people being shot in the last 3 years……does it?

That is the reality for Americans in Chicago that has been largely ignored by these high profile champions for justice and Chicago is just an example of an epidemic across our nation.

There are plenty of poor people, who have had every card stacked against them that don’t kill others for any reason. To even imply there is an excuse for the genocide taking place while condemning Zimmermans excuse for profiling is the definition of hypocrisy and it is the reason that we cannot have an open, honest dialog about racism and culture in our country.

This case highlights a horrible reality of profiling in America but how is that any more or less important than thousands dying every year? Could it be that it’s less important because a black kid killing a black kid doesn’t get ratings, doesn’t get votes, and doesn’t divide “teams” as efficiently as a white killing a black?

Every single Black person in the United States along with the victims’ families who don’t get the benefit of family lawyers, press conferences and the attention of Barack Obama or Al Sharpton should be offended that Trayvons life has been portrayed as more important than that of their child and every white person that denies that racist profiling exists should hope that their child never be mistaken for a suspicious person while simply trying to come home.

Until we can admit these truths any conversation we have will simply be rhetoric and probably a conversation we only have, around election time.