Highbrow Magazine - zimmerman trial https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/zimmerman-trial en Trayvon Martin and Oscar Grant: Accidental Heroes https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2619-trayvon-martin-and-oscar-grant-accidental-heroes <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 07/17/2013 - 09:42</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumoscartrayvon.jpg?itok=g1oUpX8m"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/mediumoscartrayvon.jpg?itok=g1oUpX8m" width="480" height="268" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/trayvon-martin-more-than-a-hoodiesup-hashtag.php">New America Media</a> and <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/">FirstPost</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> SAN FRANCISCO -- The woman in the pink stretch pants walked out of Theatre 15 holding her tray of movie theatre goodies -- an almost empty tub of popcorn, a large cup of soda. Her shoulders were shaking as she walked. She was weeping.</p> <p>  </p> <p> "He was just trying to go home," she told the man with her. "He was just trying to go home."</p> <p>  </p> <p> She was repeating a line from the film we had just seen. Fruitvale Station was based on one day, the last day, in the short life of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III. It was the early hours of New Year's Day 2009. Grant was coming home in the subway to Oakland from having gone to San Francisco to watch the fireworks with his friends. His mother had told him to take the subway because she was worried about drunk driving. Grant never made it home. An altercation with the subway police suddenly turned fatal. A police officer fired a shot at Grant while he was lying on the ground.</p> <p>  </p> <p> As he lay bleeding on the platform, he pleaded, "We're just trying to get home."</p> <p>  </p> <p> They were all trying to get home -- Oscar Grant in Oakland, Trayvon Martin in Florida, or the woman who was raped in a bus in New Delhi and christened Nirbhaya or the fearless one by the media, or the woman gangraped on her way back from college in Kamdhuni near Kolkata. They didn't want to spark off great protests. They didn't want to become symbols, placards or posters. They didn't want docudramas made about their lives.</p> <p>  </p> <p> One kind of iconic heroes -- like the young man who stood before the tanks of Tiananmen Square or the monk who set himself on fire in Vietnam -- are men and women who deliberately embrace a certain heroism. But the Grants and Nirbhayas are a different breed of heroes -- the accidental kind, ordinary people just trying to get home.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The release of Fruitvale Station coincided with the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man accused of killing Trayvon Martin. The 17-year-old was gunned down in a gate community in Florida, where he was staying with his father's fiancée. Zimmerman, a neighbourhood watch coordinator thought Martin looked suspicious in his hoodie, like he was up to no good. By the time the police arrived, Martin had been fatally shot in the chest. Zimmerman pleaded self-defense. On July 13, a jury found him not guilty of second degree murder or even manslaughter.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Now Trayvon Martin too is a poster, a hashtag, #HoodiesUp, a chant on the street.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2oscartrayvon.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 335px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> "Trayvon Martin did not have to die, We all know the reason why, the whole system is guilty," chanted hundreds of marchers as they walked through downtown San Francisco carrying placards with Martin's name, beating drums, shouting slogans. "We are all Trayvon Martin now," read the banners. But we are not, really. Just as we are not all Oscar Grants. Or Nirbhayas. These were individuals, not ideas, not symbols. These were people with flawed, ordinary lives which ended in a tragic moment of injustice. It's the imperfections of these lives that make the deaths so individually poignant.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In Fruitvale Station, we see Oscar Grant struggling with his relationship. He had lost his job because he was habitually late, he had a stash of drugs and a bit of a temper. But on that last day, he bought crabs for his mother's birthday, flirted with a young white woman at a supermarket and played with his little daughter. As the credits roll you realize this man will never again give his daughter a piggy back ride, will never fight and make up with his girlfriend, will never put gas in his car. The movie restores to Oscar Grant his ordinary humanity, flawed and real. In Fruitvale Station, he is once more a person instead of a rallying cry for protester or a punching bag for his opponents.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In the court room, the defense tries to put the victim on trial. Kolkata's Park Street rape victim finds her character shredded in the public square because she was drinking at a night club. Martin's mother is asked in court if she was avoiding the fact that her son could have done something to cause his own death. To counter those attacks, we look for the perfect innocent victim whose wholesomeness makes them unassailable. And in doing so, protestors often forget that essential humanity of the victims they put on their posters.</p> <p>  </p> <p> I walk out of Fruitvale Station wondering why HoodiesUp is the hashtag of the day when Oscar Grant didn't have his hoodie up. Then I realize I am confusing Grant with Martin, their stories blurring into one.</p> <p>  </p> <p> "It's important to remember the work of justice is a communal effort," said Rev. Theon Johnson III from the United Methodist ministry of Glide Church. "We have to stand up for the sake of all the Trayvon Martins." But the "communal effort" doesn't mean we are all Trayvon Martin now. It just means that in Trayvon Martin's short tragic life we might see a shadowy reflection of our own.</p> <p>  </p> <p> "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon," said President Obama in the aftermath of the shooting. At the rally protesting the verdict in San Francisco, Cinnamon echoes the sentiment: "I work with high risk youth in Berkeley. I have a brother the same age as Trayvon. Some of my students knew Oscar. So I came out."</p> <p>  </p> <p> Maya Robinson Napier too is worried about her husband and her father. As the protesters shouted in Union Square surrounded by curious tourists, cops in blue uniforms and the great buildings of Saks Fifth Avenue and Tiffany's, Napier shakes her head.</p> <p>  </p> <p> "We are standing here with all this Louis Vuitton and stuff. And this kid had nothing. And what he had they took away from him," she said. "He was not a perfect kid. But he didn't deserve to die."</p> <p>  </p> <p> Her voice shook. And a tear trickled down her cheek. More than the angry slogans about white supremacy, black incarceration rates and rotten systems, that tear felt real, restoring for a moment, through its quiet mourning, the humanity of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/">FirstPost</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/oscar-grant" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">oscar grant</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/fruitvale" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">fruitvale</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trayvon Martin</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-zimmerman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Zimmerman</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/verdict-zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">verdict in zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/race" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">race</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/race-issues" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">race issues</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/discrimination" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">discrimination</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/civil-rights" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">civil rights</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Sandip Roy</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">New America Media</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 17 Jul 2013 13:42:06 +0000 tara 3189 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2619-trayvon-martin-and-oscar-grant-accidental-heroes#comments How the Zimmerman Jury Failed Us https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2606-how-zimmerman-jury-failed-us <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 07/15/2013 - 09:56</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29_1.jpg?itok=t0vIYfQZ"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29_1.jpg?itok=t0vIYfQZ" width="480" height="384" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/why-the-zimmerman-jury-failed-us.php">New America Media</a> and <a href="http://www.theroot.com/print/73673">The Root</a>:</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Opinion:</strong></p> <p> </p> <p>America is racist at its core. I used to doubt this simplistic claim. Today I cannot. The murder of Trayvon Martin demands total, simple, honesty. A jury in Florida failed us. We have not seen a moral failure this grave since a similarly all-white jury in Simi Valley, Calif., in 1992 acquitted the four LAPD officers who beat Rodney King.</p> <p> </p> <p>Writing in the same year as that ill-fated verdict, the distinguished civil rights lawyer Derrick Bell declared that "racism is an integral, permanent and indestructible component of this society." In most circumstances, I treat this declaration as a foil: a claim to be slowly picked apart as, at best, too easy and, at worst, deeply unfair and wrong. Not today.</p> <p> </p> <p>The most elemental facts of this case will never change. A teenager went out to buy Skittles and iced tea. At some point, he was confronted by a man with a gun who killed him. There is no universe I understand where this can be declared a non-criminal act. Not in a sane, just and racism-free universe.</p> <p> </p> <p>There is only one universe in which such a judgment can happen. It is the same universe in which jurors can watch slow-motion video of four armed police officers beating a man and conclude that the man being beaten dictated everything that happened.</p> <p> </p> <p>Two features of this universe loom large. First, it requires immersion in a culture of contempt, derision and at bottom, profound dehumanization of African Americans, particularly black men. You have to be well-prepared to believe the very worst about black people in order to reach such a conclusion. In particular, you have to proceed as if that person constituted a different, lesser form of humanity. Without that deep-rooted bias in the American cultural fabric, we would find that people would readily bring a powerful sense of basic shared human insight and empathy to the Trayvon-Zimmerman encounter.</p> <p> </p> <p>Second, it requires that the panel judging whether or not a crime has taken place include not a single member of the victims' racial background group. It really doesn't work without that condition. The odds that anyone in the jury room openly rejected the arguments of "reasonable racism" -- i.e., that enough of these people are criminals that it is basically OK to treat them all as suspects until they prove otherwise -- went from low to near absolute zero when a singularly non-diverse jury was empaneled, as was true in Simi Valley. As a result, there was almost certainly nobody there who would say during the deliberations: "No, it is not OK to view me, a law-abiding black person, as a criminal. It is not OK to ask me, in my own neighborhood, if I 'belong,' 'what I'm doing' or 'where am I going.' " And it certainly is not OK to do so armed with a gun and in a presumably threatening manner. This is why diverse juries are critical to achieving justice in a case like Zimmerman's.</p> <p> </p> <p>But that is not the jury that was empaneled. In fact, the defense was wisely strategic in opting for a six-person jury; this decreased even further the odds that the panel would include someone likely to raise such concerns.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p>I feel ineffable anguish for Trayvon's parents. Their son has, effectively, been murdered twice. No parent should have to suffer such pain and indignity. I feel sad for black parents from one end of this country to the other, especially the parents of young black boys. What do you tell a black teen today? What should they take away from this trial? That a prosecutor wasn't as good as the defense in a particular trial? That the evidence just wasn't strong enough? That six honest people did their duty? I don't think so. This just isn't good enough.</p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/1zimmerman%20%28Chris%20Waldeck%20Flickr%29_0.jpg" style="height:415px; width:331px" /></p> <p> </p> <p>The reason it isn't good enough is that the elemental facts of this case will never change, and this jury made the wrong, morally bankrupt decision. We have public trials so that we may all observe and see a system dedicated to justice under the law striving toward that end. On too many dimensions, this trial sent the wrong message.</p> <p> </p> <p>Truth is, however, I expected no more than what we got. As soon as the jury was empaneled, I had the terrible feeling of déjà vu and dreaded expectation that this would prove to be another Simi Valley situation. And it did.</p> <p> </p> <p>I might not feel so bitter if the U.S. Supreme Court had not just gutted the Voting Rights Act. I might not feel so bitter if the same court had not just effectively established, in my estimation, an unattainable standard for constitutionally permissible consideration of race in pursuit of diversity in admission to colleges and universities. Indeed, I might not feel so bitter if stop and frisk was not an accepted practice in arguably the most tolerant city in America. But all of these things are true.</p> <p> </p> <p>Aggravating me almost as much is the lack of any organized, focused response to all these conditions from within the African-American community. To be sure, this is not the place or time for another critique of black leadership or the black middle class.</p> <p> </p> <p>Were he still with us, I think Derrick Bell would counsel realism, which to him meant giving up on the naive dream that America would ever relinquish a commitment to racism and white supremacy. I am angry, outraged and disappointed with this verdict, but even at this moment, I cannot embrace this level of pessimism.</p> <p> </p> <p>The path ahead is not an easy one. Trayvon's killing demands justice. The need to bear witness here is clear. A decision that is the living embodiment of racism in our body politic happened, even if not a single member of that jury understood themselves as acting in such a way (I'm quite sure they didn't). That is the power of cultural racism: When it is this deeply embedded in our basic cultural toolkit, it need not be named or even consciously embraced to work its ill effects.</p> <p> </p> <p>Many of us are disappointed and angry right now. Seething bitterness, however, is not a solution, nor is violence or striking out. The way forward is one of hard work on social and political organizing, as well as of forcing honest and painful discussions, and a passionate insistence on change and justice. This country still has a serious problem with racism. Let's stop pretending this isn't the case or that it is all somehow healing itself. The second murder of Trayvon Martin compels this conclusion.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p><em>Lawrence D. Bobo is the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences and Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.theroot.com/print/73673">The Root</a></p> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Photos: Werth Media; Chris Waldeck (Flickr).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-zimmerman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Zimmerman</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trayvon Martin</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-jury" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman jury</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-zimmerman-verdict" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">george zimmerman verdict</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-acquitted" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman acquitted</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/justice" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">justice</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/law-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the law</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rodney-king" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Rodney King</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/african-americans" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">African Americans</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/civil-lawsuit" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">civil lawsuit</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Lawrence D. Bobo</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Werth Media (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:56:58 +0000 tara 3170 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2606-how-zimmerman-jury-failed-us#comments Why Trayvon Martin’s Marijuana Use Should Be Irrelavant in the Trial https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2598-why-trayvon-martin-s-marijuana-use-irrelavant-trial <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Thu, 07/11/2013 - 09:35</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29_0.jpg?itok=OoujiW_q"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29_0.jpg?itok=OoujiW_q" width="480" height="384" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/did-marijuana-use-make-travon-martin-violent.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> The instant that Sanford police officials in March, 2012 leaked to the media school records that showed Trayvon Martin had been suspended from school for possessing a trace amount of marijuana, there was little doubt that George Zimmerman’s defense attorneys would jump all over this to prove their point about Martin. The point was, and is the centerpiece of their Zimmerman self-defense claim, that Martin’s marijuana use made him edgy, aggressive, and violent. And since this is supposedly the case, it bolsters two of Zimmerman’s contentions that Martin came under his watch because of his drugged-out, suspicious behavior and more importantly, that Martin attacked him and he had to resort to deadly force to save himself from mortal harm from a doped-out Martin. A toxicological report found a trace amount of marijuana in Martin’s system the night of his slaying.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Zimmerman’s attorneys wasted no time in loudly demanding that this be entered as prime evidence of Martin’s alleged aggressiveness. Prosecutors rightly opposed its admission as being irrelevant since Zimmerman could not have known this and even if he had ESP and did know it, there is absolutely no evidence that marijuana use predisposes anyone to violent behavior. Judge Debra Nelson initially seemed to agree. Her reversal and decision to allow Martin’s alleged marijuana use into the trial is potentially a huge sop to the defense.</p> <p>  </p> <p> But if facts mean anything, it shouldn’t be. The few studies that have tried to link marijuana use to violent behavior have managed to prove only two things. One is that there is no firm connection between the drug’s use and individual violence. The other is that whatever violence an individual who tokes up may exhibit is because that individual has a violent or criminal history. In other words, there’s a predisposition to violence that has absolutely nothing to do with their marijuana use.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The White House, relying heavily on a report from the Office of National Drug Control Policy, takes a hard-nosed stance against marijuana liberalization and any slack off in tough federal enforcement of medical marijuana regulation. But it did not make any case that marijuana increases violence. It focused instead on the need for enforcing the law and continued to insist that marijuana represents a health hazard, and a harmful addiction, but violence due to its use, no. Even if there were no studies on marijuana use and violence or White House concern over marijuana use and its alleged harmful effects, the notion that marijuana use spurs violence is ludicrous.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 2009 and 2010, report found that nearly two-thirds of the nation’s adult population aged 21 to 54 has used marijuana at least once. Common sense would tell us that if even a fraction of the tens of millions of people who have tried marijuana rampage in their homes and in the streets, the jails would be bursting at the seams with those arrested for drugged-out marijuana induced violent acts. However, that’s only part of the problem in trying to separate fact from deliberate distortion about marijuana use.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/1zimmerman%20%28Chris%20Waldeck%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 331px; height: 415px;" /></p> <p> The other part is the public perception of who uses drugs and their effects. Studies and reports have overwhelmingly found that African-American students are far more likely than white students to be suspended or expelled from school for marijuana use and possession. They are far more likely to be arrested and convicted for drug use than whites. This despite countless studies that show that blacks do not use drugs in any greater incidence than whites, and in some cases, even less than whites. This reinforces the deeply ingrained stereotype that not only is the average drug user and pusher a young black male, but that a young black is the cause of most of the drug related violence in the country.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Zimmerman’s defense attorneys, however, aren’t interested in these facts or the corrosive effects of racial stereotypes and drugs. Their defense game plan is to tar Martin as a violent druggie and further muddle the issue for jurors whether Martin’s behavior was the trigger for his killing. This was crudely and insultingly put by one of the attorneys to Martin’s mother on the witness stand when he flatly asked her whether she thought he had any culpability in his death.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The issue then boils down to whether the Zimmerman jurors can separate his defense attorney’s deliberate muddle of the facts and trashing of Martin and see that there’s absolutely no credible proof that marijuana use in and of itself induces violent behavior in anyone. There is not a scintilla of evidence that Martin was inherently aggressive and violence prone. The prosecution’s job is to make sure that they see this. Anything short of this could bolster the terrifying thought the defense has worked overtime to implant and that’s that marijuana use made Martin a legitimate target.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new ebook is America on Trial: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin (Amazon). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KTYM 1460 AM Radio Los Angeles and KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/did-marijuana-use-make-travon-martin-violent.php">New America Media</a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: Werth Media; Chris Waldeck (Flickr, Creative Commons); photo on main page: David Shankbone (Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trayvon Martin</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-zimmerman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Zimmerman</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/don-west" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">don west</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin-marijuna-use" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">trayvon martin marijuna use</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/marijuana" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">marijuana</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/drug-use" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">drug use</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Earl Ofari Hutchinson </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Werth Media (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Thu, 11 Jul 2013 13:35:43 +0000 tara 3154 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2598-why-trayvon-martin-s-marijuana-use-irrelavant-trial#comments Zimmerman Attorney’s ‘Literacy’ Test for Jeantel Takes Us Back to 1865 https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2579-zimmerman-attorney-s-literacy-test-jeantel-takes-us-back <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Fri, 07/05/2013 - 10:14</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=TEmll4LG"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/3mediumtrayvon%20%28WerthMedia%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=TEmll4LG" width="480" height="384" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/07/zimmerman-attorneys-literacy-test-for-rachel-jeantel-takes-us-back-to-1865.php">New America Media</a> and the <a href="http://www.thehartfordguardian.com/">Hartford Guardian</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Commentary</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Watching the testimony of Rachel “Dee Dee” Jeantel last week and the strong reaction her testimony elicited in the press and on social media provides a fertile opportunity for us to examine if we are—as Justice Roberts and the Supreme Court argued in <em>Shelby County v. Holder</em>—truly post-racial.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 1865, the state of Mississippi sought to disqualify blacks from participating in legal proceedings as witnesses by subjecting them to “rules and tests of the common law as to competency and credibility.” At a time when very few African Americans had the benefit of an education, literacy was the most common device used to exclude the testimony of black witnesses and relatedly through the denial of the right to vote, black jurors (selected through rolls of eligible voters). The inability to read and write was often used to challenge a potential witness’s competence, while the inability to articulate oneself clearly was used to establish a lack of credibility.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Although clearly not barred from providing testimony in the Trayvon Martin case, it seems that many in the public sought to hold Rachel Jeantel to the same “racialized” standard. While the ridicule and mockery cut across racial lines, it is hard to believe that critics would shower such harsh treatment on a white witness of similar speech and disposition. While her language and demeanor may not have been palatable to some, neither should impugn either her credibility or integrity as a witness. The intense focus on her conduct alone, and not in conjunction with the actions of George Zimmerman’s defense attorney, is equally problematic. The failure of Zimmerman’s lawyer to show compassion for a young woman who was the last person to speak with Martin and “felt guilty” over his death was hardly the most egregious example. Don West’s highly objectionable attempt to stand during the beginning portion of Ms. Jeantel’s testimony looked very much like a form of witness intimidation.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While one might expect such outrageous antics from a defense attorney, whose primary job is to challenge the evidence against his client, the public reaction to Jeantel’s testimony was even more troubling.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Despite Americans’ fascination with the law in the form of television programs like <em>Law and Order</em>, the inner workings of the court can be scary and intimidating for young people, especially for many people of color whose primary experience with the judicial system is adversarial. I am not suggesting that this was the case with Jeantel before the trial, but the presumption that she should have conducted herself like a seasoned witness is out of bounds. She is a 19-year-old from the city of Miami who suddenly found herself thrust into the epicenter of, for what was for most of us, a national news story, but for her the intensely personal murder of a childhood friend.</p> <p>  </p> <p> While disgusted by the treatment she received, I am equally frustrated by the failure of most to appreciate this as a litmus test on so many other issues of import that still plague our nation’s schools and inner cities, not to mention our young people’s perception of themselves and the world around them.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediumjeantel%20%28CNN%29.jpg" style="width: 600px; height: 392px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> It would have been refreshing indeed, for instance, if Jeantel’s testimony elicited public outcry about the sad state of public education, even as we are in the midst of major budget cuts that have led to a significant reduction in teachers and services in large urban school districts from Hartford, Connecticut, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Los Angles, California.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It would have been equally refreshing if concerns about Jeantel did not so transparently coincide with her critics’ observations about her failure to approximate Eurocentric standards of beauty. References to her weight and color, not to mention comparisons with the main characters in the movie <em>Precious</em> and Tyler Perry’s <em>Medea</em> series underscore the narrative of “Black Pathology” that continues to be employed as a measuring stick against African Americans — a measuring stick where one unfortunately is guilty until proven innocent by performing respectability.</p> <p>  </p> <p> This, of course, is the same measuring stick that cost Trayvon Martin his life, at the hands of self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman. In a world where young people like Jeantel are afforded very little respect, whether they are just returning from the corner store or shouldering the difficult task of testifying about the murder of a close friend, their frustration should not be surprising. However, Jeantel’s impatience with Zimmerman’s counsel has somehow confirmed her status as part of the angry, violent, belligerent, and illiterate black underclass.</p> <p>  </p> <p> By extension, Trayvon Martin, her friend, was also a member of that group, and in the words of one tweeter “got what he deserved.” What we all deserve is a system free from the taint of racial prejudice and those with the courage to speak out against the larger societal injustices that have helped to make the system what it is.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Yohuru Williams, Ph.D. chairs the Department of History and directs the Black Studies at Fairfield University.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://www.thehartfordguardian.com/">Hartford Guardian</a></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/geoge-zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">geoge zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trayvon Martin</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/rachel-jeantel" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">rachel jeantel</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/don-west" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">don west</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmermans-lawyer" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman&#039;s lawyer</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/literacy" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">literacy</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/education" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">education</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Yohuru Williams</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Werth Media (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:14:56 +0000 tara 3125 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2579-zimmerman-attorney-s-literacy-test-jeantel-takes-us-back#comments How Will an All-Female Jury Affect the Outcome of the Zimmerman Trial? https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2550-how-will-all-female-jury-affect-outcome-zimmerman-trial <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Tue, 06/25/2013 - 09:40</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1zimmerman%20%28Chris%20Waldeck%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=7gWkyWxy"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1zimmerman%20%28Chris%20Waldeck%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=7gWkyWxy" width="331" height="415" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> From <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/06/concerns-over-all-female-jury-in-zimmerman-case-are-baseless.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> The speculation has been nonstop over whether an all-female jury is a good or bad thing for accused Trayvon Martin shooter George Zimmerman. There is no consensus on this. But the view of women jurors in major case trials is rife with myths, stereotypes, and preconceptions. Researchers have found that in the decades before and even after the Supreme Court ruling in 1979 that knocked out biased exclusions of jurors based on gender, there’s still the deeply embedded notion that women jurors are different than men in that they are more easily swayed by emotions, more likely to empathize with defendants and less predictable in how they will decide a case, even one that on the surface appears to be a lock for the prosecution.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A series of informal studies and the experiences of defense attorneys in major criminal cases have continued to try to find differences between female and male juries and jurors.</p> <p>  </p> <p> They claim that women are more compassionate than men in most criminal cases, but can be ruthless when it comes to sex crimes. Men tend to be harder on defendants. Women are sympathetic to mistreatment. As one seasoned criminal defense attorney noted, "Like black people, they are sensitive to injustice because they have had a lot of it put on them."</p> <p>  </p> <p> Majority female juries came under much scrutiny and criticism after they voted to acquit O.J. Simpson. The criticism was not just that their decision to acquit Simpson allegedly was a race biased decision but also that as females they were supposedly more sympathetic to the defense. Jurors that spoke on the record following the verdict hotly denied that race, gender or empathy toward celebrity Simpson had anything to do with their decision to acquit him. They were virtually unanimous that the prosecution presented a jumbled, slipshod, and badly tainted case that came nowhere close to meeting the hard legal requirement for conviction of guilt beyond reasonable doubt. Most legal experts, when the emotional dust finally settled, agreed that the prosecution badly bungled the case.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/mediummartincase.jpg" style="width: 620px; height: 346px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> Despite the volumes of studies on juror attitudes, none have conclusively found any evidence that women are less capable then men of weighing the evidence, testimony, and arguments of prosecutors and defense attorneys and arriving at an objective decision in a case based on the quality of the evidence for and against a defendant. There is no real evidence that majority female juries have a higher acquittal rate of defendants than majority male jurors.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Zimmerman’s fate, as Simpson’s and countless other defendants that majority women juries have decided, will be determined as always on how vigorous, professional, and pointed the prosecution presents its case against him. And how well prosecutors parry the ploy of defense attorneys to relentlessly try to paint Zimmerman as a victim of Martin while further impugning Martin’s character. If it does its job, Zimmerman will fare no better or worse than he would if he faced an all or majority male jury.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Author Bio:</strong></p> <p> <em>Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new ebook is America on Trial: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin (Amazon). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KTYM 1460 AM Radio Los Angeles and KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network.</em></p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/06/concerns-over-all-female-jury-in-zimmerman-case-are-baseless.php">New America Media</a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: Chris Waldeck; David Shankbone (Flickr, Creative Commons).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/trayvon-martin" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Trayvon Martin</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/george-zimmerman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">George Zimmerman</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/zimmerman-trial" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">zimmerman trial</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/stand-your-ground-law" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">stand your ground law</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/court-case" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">court case</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/jury-selection" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">jury selection</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/law-0" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">the law</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Earl Ofari Hutchinson </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Chris Waldeck, Flickr</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Tue, 25 Jun 2013 13:40:18 +0000 tara 3070 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2550-how-will-all-female-jury-affect-outcome-zimmerman-trial#comments