Thursday, July 18, 2013

WHICH QUESTIONS TO ASK...TRAYVON MARTIN/GEORGE ZIMMERMAN

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.