We're All In This Together

Where to start?  George Zimmerman got off for killing a boy.  Yes, boy.  I am tired of seeing "child" written and said sneeringly.  He was a child, legally and in reality.  Sweetie's brothers are kids, children, boys, who are about the same age as Trayvon Martin.  I have a friend who was a big kid in high school.  Any of them could have been, or still could be, in the same situation, not doing anything wrong, and get killed- for what?  Because someone is nervous?  Because someone has a complex, thinks he needs to guard his neighborhood?  I learned a long time ago, from my parents and by experience, to call the cops if something's going on.  Why did Zimmerman feel the need to follow Martin, and get out of his car?

That's really the main thing that makes this not self-defense.  How can you start something, put yourself in a situation, make it worse, and then when you start getting your ass kicked, kill them and claim self-defense?  You can, if you forget everything that happened up to that point, I guess...  But let's try a few things out.  What if Martin had been the one in the SUV, called 911, was told not to follow Zimmerman.  But he did, got out, there was a fight- which he started losing- and he shot Zimmerman and left him lying on the ground.  Self-defense?  Would the cops arrive and accept his story, and not arrest him?  Or how bout two white guys, or two black guys?  Is it still self-defense in the same situation?

What if I go into a biker bar, pick a fight with a big leather-clad biker, and when I start getting my ass kicked as I surely would, shoot him?  Is that self-defense?  Or just me getting what I deserved?  What if I rob a bank, and on the street out front a guard or a passer-by tackles me and slams my head into the pavement?  Can I kill him and claim self-defense?  I'm just "standing my ground."

How about if we reimagine the exact situation that happened.  Not that we know all the details, just Zimmerman's account.  But accepting all that, what would have happened if Martin had a gun?  When Zimmerman confronted him, I'm sure one or both would say "what the fuck are you doing?"  (I'm guessing something like that was said by one or both in reality.)  Let's say Martin feels threatened, and kills Zimmerman.  Standing his ground, right?  No biggie.  He'd be acquitted, surely...

Race is clearly woven tightly into what happened.  I can't add much to the huge amount of commentary out there about this case.  But these thoughts have been on my mind.  And even if you can pull race out, there is no way it was self-defense.  Legal in Florida, maybe.  But not right.

Heck, I was a teenage boy once.  I wasn't big, but maybe if I wore a hoodie I would look threatening in the dark, in the rain, to someone who was looking for trouble.  I was a boy, so I did dumb stuff (some would say I'm still a teenage boy, and still do dumb stuff...)  Was I a threat, walking home from the store?  Or as a pudgy middle-aged white guy, will I now be seen as a potential threat by black kids?  If I drive behind them, maybe stop to ask directions, will I make them nervous?  Anyone could be a vigilante.

What happens now?  Already it looks like there are Zimmerman wannabes, claiming SYG when they are just shooting who they want to shoot.  And what should young black kids do?  Should they carry a gun, so that there's at least a chance of not ending up dead?  Robert Heinlein said "An armed society is a polite society."  I hope that's true.  But it feels like it's just going to be a twitchy, heavily-armed one, and we're going to have more dead people because of this.