Big Red Car here.  Going to be a crackerjack day here in the ATX.  Hot, sunny and the same as far into the future as you can see.  Ahhhh, the joys of July in the ATX.

Speaking of a bit of heat, the issue of all things race has been heating up since the Zimmerman murder case verdict.  In case, you have been living in a garage and have not been paying attention, Zimmerman was famously acquitted of a charge of second degree murder of Trayvon Martin.  A jury, having heard and evaluated the evidence, rendered a verdict of NOT GUILTY.

Before we blunder along on this discussion, let me make this abundantly clear:  Every man’s death is a tragedy and while there may be justification for not convicting Zimmerman, given the facts and circumstances attendant here, no man’s death is celebrated regardless of the circumstances under which it occurs.  The Big Red Car, if able to change the facts of that day, wishes that we were not dealing with a death here.

Further, no 17 year old man, regardless of the desperate nature of his circumstances, is beyond the ability to change his ways and become a productive member of society and thus the loss of life in this circumstance is even more tragic and sad given the tender age of those involved.

A jury has spoken

Juries are not required to explain their verdicts and thus the ether is alive with theories which would suggest as to how that verdict was arrived at including that the verdict itself is evidence of some racial injustice.

What does not seem to be challenged is that the State did not meet its burden of proof in presenting a body of evidence and testimony which could convince the jury of the guilt of Zimmerman as to the second degree murder charge.  Some say this is indicative of incompetence and some say that the charges should never have been made.  The facts of the verdict speak for themselves.  Zimmerman was not guilty in the determination of this jury.

As to Zimmerman, he offered evidence, apparently convincing evidence, of self-defense as the motivation and justification for his having killed Trayvon Martin.

Race

Race has been a hot button issue in America for a long time.  Since the American Revolution.  It seems to be becoming more, rather than less, magnified with the passage of time.  It seems like everything that happens is immediately viewed through a lens which subjects it to an intimate inspection to determine what role race, if  any, has played in events.

The Big Red Car wonders if this is a useful and productive development.

There appears to be a huge industry — too big to call it a “cottage” industry — in which a predictable cast of characters show up in any instance that is remotely related to race.  Not in which there is any implication of real racial injustice but only a fact set which seems to suggest any kind of racial difference.  Even when that difference has no bearing on the controversy.

In this instance, an alleged crime involving a black victim and a Hispanic defendant was quickly morphed into a “white” Hispanic as that description better it the desired framing.  Truth?  Well, who cares about the truth of a matter, really?

The Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons make for some high  and, at times, comic theater but do they add anything of substance to the national debate or to understanding such events?

Al Sharpton, himself an invention of the media in some folks’ minds, is a particularly entertaining character given his central role in the Tawana Bradley rape hoax which served to unfairly inflame racial tensions.  You can read about it here — Tawana Bradley Rape Hoax.  It is pretty clear to an honest observer that truth is not very high on the list of objectives when Al Sharpton is involved.

This case casts Al Sharpton and folks like him in an unfavorable light and one that is difficult to peer through to get to the truth of a matter.  This hoax was played out in the media — a media which bent over backwards to support the meme that a terrible crime had been committed against a young black woman by white antagonists.  The entire episode turned out to have been a hoax of horrific and gargantuan proportions.

The President and race

Recently the President said that he could have been Trayvon Martin, the shooting victim of George Zimmerman in the recent Florida trial, 35 years ago.  “I could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago.”  To which inquiring minds may be inclined to say:   “So what?”

What is the teachable moment here, Mr President?

The President’s detractors are tempted to point out the accuracy of the President’s utterances in an unflattering light — yes, the President and Trayvon Martin were both apparently prolific users of marijuana and other drugs.  But what does that utterance add to the dissection of the events of that night?  So, the President and Trayvon Martin were both marijuana smokers — again, so what?

In some ways, the President is an odd observer of and spokesman for the racial history of America.  He is half white and half black.  During his formative years he never lived in the United States wherein such tensions and experiences were first hand.  He was raised in his most formative years in Indonesia by a white Muslim Father and a white American Mother.  He famously did not know his African Father.  He was then raised by white grandparents in both Hawaii and Kansas.

The President was the beneficiary of affirmative action and privilege based upon his heritage — the black half — and was educated at prestigious schools including Occidental University, Columbia University and Harvard Law School.  It is difficult to believe that these opportunities were not delivered on a silver platter inscribed “race”.  In this regard, the President has not been a victim but a beneficiary of all things race in America.

Some might say that the President is a poseur at best and perhaps a rank opportunist at worst.  Such critics might expand their views to suggest that he is an unlikely arbiter of the American racial scene given that he has not a drop of American slave blood coursing through his veins.  Where does that phony Southern Baptist minister dialect come from?  He was not raised in the American South.  It is a construct that the President attempts to embrace to suggest an authenticity that is not supported by his life experience.

Others may debate these matters, the Big Red Car is left with the simple question — “OK, so what and where do we go from here?”

Like many things, the President has not provided any leadership but has otherwise been quite content to “lead from behind” or to otherwise take a place in the chorus alongside folks including Al Sharpton rather than setting a pragmatic course for the country to follow on these matters.

Racial discrimination

Racial discrimination and racial injustice do exist.  Absolutely.  Racial discrimination and injustice may be an element in the commission of a crime.  In the Zimmerman case, there are many independent voices within the black community whose authenticity is beyond challenge who would say — the case was properly decided regardless of the racial overtones or implications.

Charles Barkley <<<link to story, Bill Cosby <<<link to story — men whose voices have not just been awakened on such matters have said exactly that.

This is not intended to suggest that they or any other person — well, except for the jury — are either correct or the final arbiters of such matters.  No, this is intended to show only that there is much room for debate.

Neither is it intended to overcome the obvious — the prosecutors made bad decisions to bring the  case in the first place and did a ham handed job of presenting it.  The verdict speaks to both of those issues.

Where now?

So where does this issue now go?  Can a Federal civil rights case assuage the raw feelings of those who do not agree with the jury’s verdict?  Can it effectively nullify the jury verdict and subject Zimmerman to a rougher form of justice than a jury of one’s peers?

We shall see.

But will we not simply trade places between those who are content to the let the criminal justice system run its course and to embrace the verdict of a jury and those who seek to nullify that verdict through a legal mechanism which subjects a defendant to some Kabuki theater of double and unending jeopardy?

It seem that what is required here is a very frank conversation as to how we got here — parenting, personal accountability, self defense, guns — and where we are headed.  To learn something that will prevent the next Trayvon Martin – George Zimmerman confrontation and the tragic loss of life.

If the President and his Attorney General intend to insert themselves into a fully decided matter of justice in Sanford, Florida — a city of approximately 50,000 citizens — then it is likely that the racial tensions will be elevated.  Perhaps justifiably so?

The Big Red Car prays that America find the right course from here to a place where right and wrong are the lens through which such matters are viewed.

But, hey, what the Hell do I know anyway?  I’m just a Big Red Car.