Iced Tea, Skittles and "Ground and Pound"...

 

 

"There are no winners here, and there are no monsters..."

 

Zimmerman defense team after the verdict

 

 

Last night ended one of the saddest episodes we have been exposed to for a long while. Somehow, this very sad event, which ended in the loss of young life, became all about race. It shouldn't have. It was about two young men, meeting for the first time on a dark, rainy night in a neighborhood located in a small Florida town. Both ended up doing regrettable things. As the defense team said last night - "{The outcome left} no winners, no monsters."

 

Now that it is over (we hope it is), I will paint two different scenarios. In the first scenario, Trayvon Martin walks through a neighborhood to buy some iced tea and Skittles at a local convenience store. On the way back through the neighborhood, he is challenged by a neighborhood watchman. Trayvon may have said something, but keeps walking. The neighborhood watchman takes out his gun and shoots Trayvon. George Zimmerman, the watchman, would have been charged with Second Degree Murder, probably already been tried, convicted and sentenced. The story would have never made the paper.

 

In the second scenario, Trayvon goes to the store to buy the iced tea and skittles. On the way back, he is challenged by Zimmerman. A fight breaks out, where Trayvon gets on top of Zimmerman and, in MMA style, pounds his head into the concrete with such force it either kills him or leaves him with a TBI (traumatic brain injury). Zimmerman either did not have a gun or had one and did not pull it out. Trayvon would have been caught, tried as an adult,  and convicted. The story would have never made the paper.

 

By the way, in the town I live in, an off duty police officer got into an altercation with a patron at a restaurant last year. Words were exchanged and the off duty police officer punched the man so hard, the man fell to the payment. Net result - in the contact between the pavement and the man's head, the pavement won. The man suffered a TBI and the off duty cop was tried and sentenced to four years. I bring this up because pounding someone's head into the pavement or sidewalk can be a real game changer for the victim. Zimmerman was lucky he was just bloodied.

 

Some "talking head" on the news last night said we really need to keep this tragedy from becoming a travesty. When questioned what he meant, the man explained the travesty would be social unrest, looting, violence and so on. In addition, another part of the travesty would be our President and/or Attorney General "taking sides" once again on this tragic event.

 

My hope is that we can all learn and grow from this. George Zimmerman will never be the same. In certain sectors, he will always be a "marked man". He will never be totally safe. In addition, he will be haunted by the fact he took a human life. Most people never get over that. Trayvon's family will never be the same. A son lost at seventeen - lost forever. Finally, we as Americans, lost once again. In our quest to knit together this most perfect union, forces that want us divided over race, have again emerged. We must get beyond this - we must grow from this. To let this very sad event continue to fester, will be the worst tragedy, the worst travesty, of all.