Recently a verdict was handed
down in the case against George Zimmerman.
It claimed that Mr. Zimmerman had killed Trayvon Martin unjustly and
with prejudice in his heart and mind. In
the press he was found guilty far before the trial even began. We might ask why. Mr. Zimmerman was charged with second degree
murder without the process of a Grand Jury which resulted in the trial that
took place. This occurred after the
local police and District Attorney did not find cause for arresting him in the
first place. We might ask how this
occurred in a country where the law is supposed to be the governing factor.
That part in our eternal drama of
justice, truth, honesty and search for power raises many questions. Questions that ask who we are as a society
that allows a condemnation before a trial and an acquittal because of a
trial. Looking at the
whole situation, the fault lies not with the individuals involved, but with all
of us. We have become a society involved and invested in finding fault rather
than solutions. A society seeking gratification
for what “I” want. Rather than me doing
something positive to attain or earn those things, the attempt is made to gain
through fear and intimidation. We choose
to see and to react to (imaginary and real) occurrences through our own set of
blinders. That is the real prejudice of
our time.
Perhaps the Martin/Zimmerman case would not have happened if we (the American people) were to approach racism
from a more realistic viewpoint. The old
saying of “one bad apple spoils the bunch” can also be turned around to “your
apples won’t spoil if you throw out the rotten ones.” The national approach to
eliminating prejudice has been focused on stopping the symptoms rather than
healing the infection. The approach we
have been taking is not “what can I do to make it better”, it has been “what
can we do to them to get what I want.”
We learn the majority of our interaction skills and attitudes from our
environment by the age of six and spend the rest of our lives adjusting and
honing those attitudes. Our learning in
terms of prejudice can go in many different directions depending upon who we
rely upon for our growth.
The institutions and people we
should be able to rely upon for positive examples are deserting their
responsibilities. Our educational
institutions are filled with a high percentage of activists who are convinced
that showing the ills of our society (real or perceived) are the fault of “fill
in the blanks”. The institution of the
Press has deteriorated into promoting their point of view
rather than giving our society facts. Our
government is acting in service of power for self and party rather than for the
people they were elected to serve. The
labor unions have grown into a point of power, deceiving their membership to
gain power for their leaders. We have
elevated the position of court jester (the entertainment industry) to one of
knowledge and wisdom. A sizable portion
of our parental responsibilities have been abdicated to those listed
above. With little positive input, our
young people are being misled for the purposes of those seeking power.
The problem of racial prejudice
is centuries old and we, as a society, are not curing it, we are exacerbating
and caressing it by listening to the wrong teachers. Rather than listening passively to those who
would teach and inform us, we need to start asking them “How does what you are
saying make me better, make the condition better, address the real causes of
the situation?” Who is in charge of teaching our children the right questions
to ask? Who will we use to show our children
the example of the “Good Samaritan” is a better solution than teaching blame,
distrust, separation and segregation from those “other people?” As long as we continue to teach from the
pulpit of “we have been wronged and they deserve what they get” our wounds will
never heal. Some in the position of
power achieve that position by continually scratching the scab off any chance
of healing. The ignorance of continually
seeking retribution rather than repair is not good for us as individuals or for
our society. Repetition of error cures
nothing.
In the case of Martin/Zimmerman, the question
is not who did what, the question should be why it occurred in the first
place. Both men were acting on their
individual belief systems.
