It's the question Pilate asked of Jesus, even though he didn't wait for an answer, and it's the question a lot of folks seem to be asking in regards to the Trayvon Martin shooting: what is truth?
Even with the aid of a million journalistic pieces, countless talk radio ruminations, endless Facebook posts, and a seemingly infinite number of water cooler conversations, we may never know exactly what happened the night Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman. And the sad fact of the matter is, that seems to be the way some people want it.
I read the CNN story this morning on Zimmerman's second-degree murder charge, as well as a story on Yahoo!, and the AJC. And in the interest of local voices, I read too.
The story is messy. It's polarizing. It raises questions about America's continued issues with race, violence, guns, and justice. It is, to be perfectly honest, the kind of story that makes me want to stick my head in the sand and just read a couple more blogs about the Braves horrific start.
But while I was reading these stories this morning, I noticed that none of the pictures of Trayvon seem to match the story. I keep reading that he was an innocent 17 year old, and I don't dispute that; but what flummoxes me is the fact that most of the pictures that accompany these stories are of Trayvon when he was considerably younger. In fact, this gallery on Yahoo! has pictures of Trayvon that seem to be at least five years old (Yahoo! cautiously notes that the pictures are "undated"). So I'm reading a story about a 17 year old but looking at pictures of a 12 year old?
Naturally, I started asking myself why?
Why not show Trayvon at the age he was killed? Why keep showing people photos that are clearly outdated?
The answers are as confusing as they are useless: maybe there weren't any current photos of Trayvon. Maybe the current photos of Trayvon would portray him negatively. Maybe the media wants a better story, and what's more juicy than a fresh-faced kid being shot by a scruffy looking old guy? Maybe it's a conspiracy to foster racial warfare.
I don't know.
What I do know is that there is no way to get the straight story. There is no way to get an honest account of the facts of that night because of the people who know the facts, one is dead and the other is apparently withdrawing into himself.
Quid est veritas? What is truth? Do we even know anymore? The cynic in me wants to scream at the top of his lungs that we are surrounded by a manipulative culture that wants a controlled narrative to better control the people. The idealist in me wants to argue for restrained observation, to see how it plays out and to trust that in the end all of the facts will come out. I want to believe that the truth will win, but the cynic seems to be gaining ground.
And in the midst of it all is the fact that I'm writing a blog about the issue, adding to the noise as it were, without offering anything but more conjecture and speculation.
I'm going to be honest: the fact that news outlets aren't running pictures of Trayvon that are closer to his age (heck, I'd be happy seeing him at 15) makes me skeptical about Trayvon's character. I have no right or reason to be skeptical, but the apparent desire to portray him as an innocent child just pushes me in that direction. And I'd feel the same way if you reversed the races. This skepticism is further heightened by the story that NBC ran an edited version of the 9-1-1 call that Zimmerman made the night of the shooting, a version that made Zimmerman seem racist.
I'm equally as skeptical of the people who are shouting that Zimmerman is a hero, and Trayvon was a hulking, snarling thug who deserved to be shot.
I guess the bottom line is I'm skeptical because I feel like someone, somewhere, isn't telling me the truth. And that bothers me.
Maybe I'm being naive for believing that objective truth exists. Maybe I'm being a complete Pollyanna in this day and age for wanting something more than spin, opinion and hype. Maybe I'm just an idiot.
But it saddens me to know that Trayvon Martin won't get justice, and neither will George Zimmerman, because justice is served by the truth. And it seems like no one wants the truth to be known.
But Mr. Martin should not have been conducting his neighborhood watch duties armed and this ultimately is the bottom line.
That said, I would NEVER want the "time of less information", then nothing can you help you get at the truth.
Zimmerman has black people in his immediate family. I still haven't seen this mentioned. Zimmerman was patrolling his neighborhood because there were 8 recent burglaries in it. Also not mentioned. He's being painted as an armed loon, stalking his neighborhood because he had nothing better to do. At least three of those burglaries are verified to have been committed by a young black male. The other five are suspected of being the same by some witnesses, but unverified. Missed this being mentioned, as well. 911 told him "we don't need you to do that" in reference to following Martin, but it was not an order. It was a suggestion, made by 911 with no authority. And no authorities immediately available. If I was Zimmerman, with what he knew and what his job was, I probably wouldn't have listened either. And, the police got to the scene, did their immediate investigation, and let Zimmerman go, handing him back his weapon. This is not something police do without some form of knowledge supporting that decision. Lastly, there was a grand jury called within what, a day of this all going public? Means there was some facts available, and they'd already been investigated.
There is no public record of Zimmerman doing any such thing. This "story" comes from an anonymous letter that was supposedly sent to the Seminole County NAACP from Zimmerman's family. They never received the letter and no one recalls Zimmerman's involvement in that matter. Read about it here: http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/purported-zimmerman-family-letter-demands-naacp-call-off-the-dogs.php#46979554
It has been my understanding/knowledge for years that Hispanics are counted on the Census as "white;" however, this link has a lot of variations. Another expression that is used is "people of color," which can be all who fall under the category Blacks, Hispanics, Latino, East Indian, etc. I think we have too many labels in this country. IN THIS CASE IT DOES NOT MATTER IF HISPANICS ARE BLACK OR WHITE, it's about what has happened in Sanford, FL and the loss of a young man's life. Another point of clarification: I didn't know that this was Zimmerman's "job." Also, I would think a reasonable & sensible person would have taken seriously and followed the suggestion "We don't need you to do that," and be concerned as to what could happen to him if he approached this "suspect." Perhaps Zimmerman was not concerned re what could happen to him because he had a gun. Did he stop to wonder if this person might have a gun as well, since he was concerned that Trayvon might be just another burgler in the neighborhood. We know what can happen when the adrenaline flows, "fight or flight."
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The problem some had with that article was his obvious claim that the shooting was racist, and then claiming he didn't say that. And then saying that he didn't believe everybody should be able to have guns, and then saying that wasn't what he said.
As I said, I'm also not defending Zimmerman. From what I can tell, he didn't act as intelligently as he really could have. Maybe he did feel secure because he was armed. Or maybe Martin was acting suspiciously, ducking into and out of shadows and looking in vehicles. Or walking down the middle of the street in plain view. Maybe Zimmerman walked up and got belligerent with Martin. Or Martin turned around and charged Zimmerman. All I'm saying is that with the lack of information out there, you just really don't know. And that was the only real point of my post. Jason made mention of not knowing what was going on because of the different things we're being told. I'm making mention of the many things that we know, but aren't being told. It's being told from a point of view and with an agenda....
What is your source of this information please? Just wondering because I have not heard or read this anywhere else. Gee, I have to stop spending so much time on this blog as I'm finding spelling errors in my writing; openess (openness), burgler (burglar) and probably others. Peace and love to all and I pray for justice in this case.
Regarding racism - Brian's whole first paragraph and a half - "The city of Sanford, Fla., has a checkered past with race relations. In 1946 Brooklyn Dodger great Jackie Robinson, the first African-American ballplayer in Major League Baseball, was run out of town while attending spring training there because of the color of his skin. On the evening of Feb. 26 of this year a 17-year-old boy, who happened to be black, was walking home alone from a trip to his local 7-Eleven store in Sanford, Fla., to buy some candy and a soft drink. His name was Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was followed and ultimately confronted by a vigilante named George Zimmerman, who had a known love of firearms and a history of making complaints about suspicious black males in his area." How anybody can arrive at a conclusion other than Brian was setting this up to be a question of discrimination doesn't make sense to me....
Regarding the gun thing - "That and the fact we let any darn fool walk around carrying a loaded weapon." It's kinda called the 2nd amendment. This started the handgun discussion. "Thanks for picking up on the thrust of my piece which was intended to spark a discussion not so much on race, though that's certainly a major element of this case, but on our out of control gun culture." "I am however not comfortable with any Tom, Dick, or Harry walking around with a Carry Concealed permit. I don't want my loved ones ending up like Trayvon Martin because some idiot wants to play Dirty Harry. We stopped talking about responsible gun control over a decade ago and have allowed the NRA to gain way too much power over legislative decisions." "I am however not comfortable with any Tom, Dick, or Harry walking around with a Carry Concealed permit. I don't want my loved ones ending up like Trayvon Martin because some idiot wants to play Dirty Harry. We stopped talking about responsible gun control over a decade ago and have allowed the NRA to gain way too much power over legislative decisions." Now, I may be reading too much into these, but this seems to be Brian questioning people carry guns. And forwarding the idea of more strict gun control.
2. any preconceived opinion or feeling, either favorable or unfavorable. 3. unreasonable feelings, opinions, or attitudes, especially of a hostile nature, regarding a racial, religious, or national group. For example: I do not like appropriate weight, healthy, beautiful, rich , etc., people! LOL