The Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman case fascinates me because it shows how fragile the rule of law is even in an advanced democracy.
There was quite clearly no evidence that George Zimmerman was guilty of a crime and he was found not guilty, but even so the fact that he was tried at all and the US government is still investigating him is an affront to justice.
The fact that so many people are willing to publicly denounce the verdict despite not actually being able to explain what evidence the prosecutors presented that showed that Zimmerman was a murderer is also shocking. It seems that the US Department of Justice is still trying to lynch Zimmerman by making it a civil rights case, despite a complete lack of evidence for any racial bias on the shooter's part.
What makes so many people lose their minds, lie shamelessly and dispose of the rule of law?
Tribalism.
By turning a tragic event into a racial issue- despite the fact that there is a lot of evidence that Zimmerman is no racist- the media have ensured that the question wasn't "did Zimmerman kill Martin" but " are you on the side of Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln and Rosa Parks or are you a KKK sympathiser".
It's not an approach that is likely to uncover truth but is sells papers and enables idiots to preen self righteously and pretend to care about a dead kid (although not enough to actually look at what actually happened).
The Joy of Six 1301
1 hour ago
4 comments:
It shows how divided the US is on race lines. Everyone remembers Martin Luther King but his dream that people are not judged by their colour seems to be forgotten.
What would the reactions have been if Zimmerman was black ?
Reefknot- I don't think anyone outside of Florida would have heard about the case if he'd been black.
Anon- true.
Can do nothing but agree.
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