Analysis of Negrophobia: The George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin Connection
On Wednesday CNN reported that the George Zimmerman jury pool has been narrowed to 40 people and that the judge will soon select the final ten. However in lieu of this revelation the question still lingers in the mind of millions, "What motivated George Zimmerman to pursue a teenaged Black youth whose only apparent offense was walking down a rainy street wearing a hoodie while drinking an ice tea from a can?"
My latest article attempts to answer this question. As always, thanks for tuning in to my work as a writer.
A definition of Negrophobia: An intense and irrational dislike / fear of Black people, their culture and their success as they strive to achieve their version of the American Dream.
Question: "What is the value of a Black person's life in the United States?"
For the nearly two hundred million Americans who subconsciously see past the color of another person's skin color as they mundanely go about their daily routine of pursuing their own version of the "American dream", to be asked by a reputable pollster, "What is the value of a Black person's life as compared to the value of a White person's life?", the very essence of the question seems almost too absurd an enquiry to be asked an American in the 21st century.
After all didn't the majority of Americans vote to elect and re-elect our nation's first Black president? Or upon reflection is that great achievement in American history the genesis of the re-eruption of racial intolerance and hatred that Americans have been condemned to re-experience since November 2008? And to our Arab American brothers and sisters who experienced the extreme hatred directed towards them after 9/11, you are not forgotten.
Jim Crow in the 21st Century
The rebirth of Jim Crow-like laws that resurfaced with a vengeance in early 2011 (just in time for the 2012 Presidential elections) had a devastating effect on American civil liberties and the people they intended to demoralize.
Specifically, laws passed by Republican state legislators unabashedly intended to impede Blacks from voting in state and national elections. Their logic, [Black] Democrats were "more inclined" to commit voting fraud.
Of equal importance, laws that upheld (sanctioned) the shooting of "suspicious-acting" Blacks by Negrophobia plagued Whites who felt compelled / justified to commit violent / deadly acts against Blacks under the protection of "Stand Your Ground" laws, created a sense of invincibility against legal retribution that had not been felt since the heyday of George Wallace, Bull Conner and the Dixiecrats.
Topping off Jim Crow's trifecta of hate in the 21st century is the disproportionate imprisonment of Black and Brown people. Beginning in elementary school, children are identified as candidates for "The Farm". Metaphorically "The Farm" represents a penal system that is designed to remove the humanity from humans. Ran by "God fearing Christians" who earnestly believe that Black and Brown people are inherently criminals, "The Farm" is where Trayvon Martin would have been condemned to for life should the role of he and George Zimmerman had been reversed.
Reality
On February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida at approximately 7:17 pm, George Zimmerman a multi-racial Hispanic American (his mother is Peruvian and his father is an American of German ancestry) shot and killed an unarmed 17 year-old African American male named Trayvon Martin. The circumstances and the motive behind the death of Trayvon Martin have ignited a worldwide rage that reopens "old wounds" of racial intolerance in U.S. history.
Zimmerman, who was unofficially on patrol as a neighborhood watch volunteer in the community that (ironically) Trayvon lived in, called the Sanford Police Department to report what he thought was a "suspicious acting" Black youth.
Zimmerman: "This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about and looking at all the houses".
Adding fuel to the worldwide anger / condemnation of Zimmerman's killing of an unarmed African American teenager is the fact that Zimmerman lied about Trayvon's behavior. Police investigative reports clearly indicate that Trayvon committed none of the criminal acts that Zimmerman described to the Sanford Police Department.
So, besides being Black, wearing a hoodie and walking in a neighborhood that Zimmerman felt Trayvon shouldn't have been walking in, what was Trayvon Martin's crime?
The Relevance of Sundown towns and the mindset of George Zimmerman
"Nigger, don't let the sun go down on you in our town". Usually displayed with the town's name on a sign at both the town's entrance and exit, "Sundown towns" are an ugly reminder of a dark chapter in American history that many argue still exists across small segments of the United States.
Intended to discourage Blacks from living in all-White towns that wanted to remain hundred percent White, Blacks clearly understood the life threatening consequences of violating the town's ordinance of "No Blacks allowed after dark".
Although it's doubtful that Zimmerman understood the history of American Sundown towns, it is reasonable to believe that George Zimmerman's negative stereotype of young Black men, compounded by his belief that Trayvon Martin did not belong in that community, strongly reflected what the Sundown town laws intended to project, that being, "Blacks are persona non grata".
Civil disobedience, stalking, confrontation, killing
The gist of George Zimmerman's defense is based on the distortion that Trayvon Martin without any provocation by Zimmerman physically accosted him and as a result lost his life when Zimmerman shot him in self-defense.
It's important that the world know that George Zimmerman (1) lied about Trayvon Martin's "suspicious" behavior, (2) disobeyed the police dispatcher's directive to NOT pursue / confront Trayvon Martin and (3) after what appears to have been a scuffle / fight between he and Trayvon, Zimmerman withdrew his weapon and shot and killed a young man who besides carrying a cell phone, a bag of candy and a cold-drink was totally unarmed.
Question: "In what alternate universe is the leopard the victim and the gazelle the provocateur?"
Recapping Zimmerman's Negrophobia
At approximately 7:09 pm Zimmerman called the Sanford police non-emergency number to report what he considered a suspicious person in the Twin Lakes community.
Zimmerman: "We've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy". He further describes Trayvon Martin as an unknown male "just walking around looking about" in the rain and said, "This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something".
Zimmerman reported that the suspect had his hand in his waistband and was walking around looking at homes. On the recording to the police dispatcher, Zimmerman is heard saying, "These #*##, they always get away".
Question: "What #*#& in particular is Zimmerman referring to?"
About two minutes into the call, Zimmerman said, "He's running." The dispatcher asked, "He's running? Which direction is he running?"
According to the police dispatcher the sound of a car door chime is heard, indicating Zimmerman has opened his car door. Zimmerman follows Trayvon, eventually losing sight of him.
The dispatcher then asks George Zimmerman if he was following the suspect. When Zimmerman answered, "yeah," the dispatcher empathically states, "We don't need you to do that". "I'm sending a police officer to investigate the situation".
Zimmerman responds, "Okay". Zimmerman then asks that the police call him upon their arrival so he could provide his location. Zimmerman ends the call at 7:15 pm.
In-between 7:15 pm and 7:17 pm a short scuffle occurs between Zimmerman and Martin. A woman tells the police while on the phone that she hears a male voice begging for their life, seconds later a gunshot silences the voice and when police arrive they find Trayvon Martin lying on the ground mortally wounded from a shot to the chest.
Question: "When does a man with a gun ever beg for his life?"
In closing….
The Sanford Police Department's decision not to arrest George Zimmerman for murder / manslaughter although it was determined that Zimmerman was guilty of disobeying the police dispatcher's directive NOT to pursue (stalk) the suspect, (Trayvon Martin) including the indisputable fact that Zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed teenager clearly indicates gross negligence / prejudice on the part of this small town police department.
Again, the question must be asked if the roles had been reversed and Trayvon had been the shooter while Zimmerman lay dead, would Trayvon already have been tried, convicted and sitting on death row? Reasonable people already know the answer.
Negrophobia and a series of laws that are meant to eradicate and subjugate Black people but specifically Black men, is what killed Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman represents the worst of Negrophobics simply because he cannot admit that he hunted down and shot and killed an unarmed young Black male simply because in Zimmerman's twisted mind Trayvon fit the description of all that made America less Norman Rockwellish.
Evidently to Zimmerman and the Sanford Police Department that tried to whitewash (pun intended) Zimmerman's crime, the life of this young Black man (Trayvon Martin) meant very little.
For the nearly two hundred million Americans that agree with my analysis, "Fret not because Jah's love and justice is real, George Zimmerman will be punished for needlessly taking the life of Sybrina Fulton's and Tracy Martin's baby boy". Of this we can be certain.
As always the New Orleans Examiner is interested in what you think. Will a lengthy prison term for George Zimmerman deter Negrophobics from using "Stand your ground" as an excuse to kill unarmed African Americans? Inquiring minds want to know.
BY: GREGORY BOYCE
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