Who Truly Deserves To be on Trial?

Well, I’ve been fairly quiet about things of late but feeling a lil chatty this morning so with coffee in hand and a lil motivated, I’ve decide to do a little writing. The trial of George Zimmerman is much talked about in the media and from what I’ve seen via Facebook, the black community too. Anytime there is a shooting and life is lost…it’s tragic. But when it involves a minority, I begin to cringe and wonder if justice will ever be served, for either party involved. I wonder this because in this day and age, race is still a hot button. But truth be told it’s only a hot button when folks with agendas and or the media needs ratings make it so.

The shooting in which a young man’s life was taken is tragic. And it’s tragic that a grown man’s life is ruined because he felt the need to ignore what many would call common sense. As I have a Hodge podge of friends on Facebook I read a lot of opinions on a lot of different subjects. Some I comment on and others I stay away from. Not because I’m afraid of conflict or disagreement (not this guy). Sometimes I don’t feel that commenting is necessary or that the person making the comment isn’t in a place to really have said discussion or debate with me so I let it alone. But on my wall, you can best bet I will.

Although George Zimmerman is HISPANIC, this trial is seemingly all about race. Merriam-Webster defines Race as a division of mankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and sufficient to characterize it as a distinct human type. Now there are others which state it is a  group of people who are generally considered to be physically distinct from other groups in some way, such as skin color, hair texture or facial features (size and shape of head, eyes, ears, nose, and lips, and color of eyes); considered to be distinct by themselves and/ or others.  Playing the “race card” usually rears its head in cases such as this and in the end it’s never really about justice. It appears to be more about one group trying to get what they feel is payback for slights or injustices over the years. And with the media’s help the story gets told from various perspectives based on group biases and agendas. And when the dust settles, lives are ruined, friendships strained and the only true winners are the media and the money which they made off of the “race card” being played. The media, whether television, radio, newspaper, magazines, or movies, teaches us about our culture, values, stereotypes, etc.  Television has had a major impact on our society.  The internet is also a major influence because we all know you can’t put anything on the net unless it’s true.  We live in an information age and sometimes we have access to too much information.

 

And one of the Medias favorite words to use and it’s not long before others have chimed in adding fuel to the fire; this word being racist. It is by far the most misused word within the English language. It as with any other word has a definition yet it is one of the few words where the true definition is ignored therefore it’s misused and placed in conversations or dialogue where it’s not only inappropriate but irresponsibly placed. The definition is actually very simple to understand.  A “Racist” is a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others. For real, that’s the definition? Yes sports fans…that’s the definition.  So yeah, the word is overly misused. Not agreeing with the President doesn’t make you racist. But if you’re any color than black, you can best believe that that’s what you will be called.

Zimmerman followed Trayvon not because he was racist but because he was SOCIALIZED to do so. His socialization process at some point taught him that if you see a young black man or kid out at night wearing stereotypical clothing walking in an area which you feel they typically don’t find them, you will come to the conclusion that they must be up to no good. Again, this is based on your socialization. The socialization process is an all-encompassing educational process from which values, goals, beliefs, attitudes, and sex-roles are acquired.  Socialization is nothing more than the educational process by which we learn everything. Just like many minorities are socialized to not trust the police or the system.

The community shares conduct and behavior through associations, school systems, club membership, or community projects.  Role models are available for our future behavior - teacher, banker, farmer, mechanic, welder, clerk, dentist, entertainer, stockbroker, manager, etc.  The impact of the local community is to imprint characteristics which develop the individual. A prime example of this was when Rachel Jeantel spoke at the trial. She was attacked and much of what she said was ignored by the masses. It’s sad that both her socialization and those listening to her hindered justice. Many simply heard how she was answering instead of what she was actually saying; reminds me of Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrleson in White Men Can’t Jump. A conversation takes place in which Snipes and Harrelson argue and Snipes explains that Harrelson can “listen” to Jimi Hendrix but he can’t “hear” Jimi Hendrix. In other words you hear the words but you’re not getting the meaning behind the words. Ms. Jeantel is a product of her environment and her socialization. Her language and heavy use of slang terminology is a result of her socialization. Just as Zimmerman’s choice to tail Trayvon and eventually confront him. Had Zimmerman been socialized better or differently i.e. less stereotypes, I’m sure he would not be on trial. Many of us have learned through our socialization to respect authority thus many of us would have listened to the 911 dispatcher and not followed. Ms. Jeantel is a product of her environment…plain and simple and her language is a result of said environment.

That is all about socialization and what should be on trial is the socialization process which takes place in this country not race. But the media and many of you are all guilty of not doing a lil research and educating yourselves on the true causes and what led to the shooting and the death of a young man. Because at the end of the day that’s what this is about; the shooting of a young man not a young BLACK man. Does the victim being black make his death that much worse than it would be if any other young man was killed? Nope. And guess what, if you don’t agree, that makes you a racist.