WhatFinger


Until the day comes that we no longer ask, “what if” and simply look at the facts, we will never be a post-racial America

Let’s Play the George Zimmerman ‘What If’ Game



On Saturday, July 13, after 16 ½ hours of deliberation, the jury in the George Zimmerman trial found the defendant not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
To begin with, let’s clarify what a vindication the verdict was for fired Sanford police chief Bill Lee. He said there from the beginning that there was no case against Zimmerman, and the trail showed in blazing glory that he was right. It was clear from the evidence that Martin was the aggressor and Zimmerman was being pummeled when he fired the fatal shot. As Zimmerman attorney Don West stated, “Anybody that watched this trial knew that the defense put on the case. We proved George Zimmerman was not guilty.” In the days and weeks following the altercation between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin, when the police had (rightly) determined that Zimmerman had acted in self-defense and therefore should not be arrested or charged, the family of Trayvon Martin and other advocates charged that if Zimmerman had been black, he would have been arrested. That’s an interesting argument, given (1) there is no way to determine if this hypothetical is true, and (2) it’s a patently racist argument. Isn’t it odd how one side of this ongoing debate about race in America is constantly screaming about racism while at the same time injecting race into everything possible?

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But let’s look beyond these issues and play a little “what if” game and see where it takes us. If Zimmerman had been black and Martin been half white and half Hispanic, would Martin have been constantly labelled a ‘white Hispanic’ rather than simply Hispanic? Would the family of Trayvon Martin had claimed the shooting was racially motivated—that a black man had profiled their half Hispanic son? Would the President of the United States (who is also bi-racial) have taken time away from other important concerns like destroying the economy and diminishing America’s standing in the world to comment about the incident personally and add, “If I had a son he would look like Trayvon”? (And why is it that Zimmerman is constantly labelled a ‘white Hispanic’ while Obama is never labelled a ‘white African American’?) Would the Community Relations Service, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department, have spent taxpayer dollars to help organize and implement plans for the rallies in Sanford, Florida following Martin’s death? If Zimmerman had been black, would Spike Lee have given out his (incorrect) home address? Would P. Diddy, Jamie Foxx, and Shiz Beatz have posted photos of themselves wearing hoodies? Would Mia Farrow have declared that it’s not safe for a white Hispanic to walk the streets of America? Would the Miami Heat have all donned hoodies and had a group photo taken, posted to Facebook under the hashtag, “WeWantJustice”? Would the New Black Panther Party rally in Sanford and called the situation a “miscarriage of justice”? If Zimmerman had been black, would multiple celebrities have signed a change.org petition demanding that he be prosecuted? Would Beyonce have taken a moment of silence after the verdict was read? Would the African-American police chief who determined that there was no case against George Zimmerman have been fired and replaced by a white Hispanic police chief? Would Eric Holder have travelled to Florida to look into the case personally? Would race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have travelled to Florida to call for the arrest of a black Zimmerman? There is racism in this country—there is racism in EVERY country—and there will always be small-minded, petty people who don’t like those who look different from themselves. But far more damaging are those who see everything through a prism of racism and simply cannot imagine any other motive for a person’s actions. Until the day comes that we no longer ask, “what if” and simply look at the facts, we will never be a post-racial America.


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Mike Jensen -- Bio and Archives

Mike Jensen is a freelance writer living in Colorado.  He received his M.A. in Professional Writing from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where he wrote his first book, Alaska’s Wilderness Highway.  He has since published Skier’s Guide to Utah along with humor, travel, and political articles for various magazines and newspapers.  He is married with five sons, and spends his free time at a remote cabin in the Colorado Rockies.


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