Conflicted

     It appears that everybody has a reaction to the Zimmerman verdict.  There is great anger on the part of many and there is rejoicing in the minds of some. I am conflicted and confused.
     I am disappointed in the verdict. I was convinced that the verdict would be a manslaughter decision. The "Stand Your Ground" law is a mistake and a major step back to an old west mentality where everybody carries a weapon and we see who is the fastest draw.  When the event first happened and there was the possibility that Zimmerman would not even be charged with any crime because of that law, there was a great outcry of injustice. The demand was that he be arrested and charged with a crime.  Eventually that happened.  He was arrested and has been tried.
     So we have had the trial and the jury that was accepted by both sides of the legal proceedings found him not guilty.  That surprised me. That disappointed me, but I have been disappointed by the decisions of lots of legal trials.  Hedge Fund managers get off from fraudulent activities.  A major scammer in the Health Care in Alabama was found not guilty.  Mafia bosses walk away from lots of crimes.  Cases are dropped because they do not have enough evidence to convict an obviously guilty person. We live and die by that "reasonable doubt" clause.  North Carolina was very progressive for a few years with a Racial Justice act that allowed those condemned to death to reexamine their cases if race was a major factor in their sentence. The Republicans have since rescinded that law. But the legal system has disappointed lots of us lots of times.
     One of the times I was very surprised and disappointed by the legal system was the O.J. Simpson trial which had lots of the same dynamics involved as this trial, and it was a decision that was celebrated by the same people who are upset by this decision.  It is not a perfect system. We are not perfect people. We are still a society that has deeply flawed elements in it when it comes to race relations.  We are all racists.  Those attitudes will continue to be reflected in our behavior.  We have to continue to look at them and talk about them.  We will have a lot more of these kinds of events: Hispanics against whites. Asians against black, Arabs versus Jews as our society continues to become multicultural.  To claim we have made no progress in out ability to talk about them is to ignore the obvious. To think that we have solved the problems is just silly. All parents have to tell their children, be careful who you hang out with, be home before mid-night, consider what you wear and what people will think about you when they see you, say "yes sir and no sir" to adults and do be smart, see trouble, walk away, call 911. Those are not unique to any racial group.
     I am old and frustrated that so many of the fights that have been fought still have to be fought again. Our civil liberties are like a little clearing in a jungle and we have to keep fighting all the vines and weeds that try to grow up in the clearing.
     The Zimmerman-Martin case almost did not have a trial. There was a demand for a trial and that was held. The jury has spoken. The decision is not the one we wanted, but many of the people who "wanted a fair trial" were really just wanting to have a legal confirmation of their immediate opinion that Zimmerman was guilty.  The trial was held. The verdict was given.  I will put this in the O.J. Simpson file of cases I was shocked by the decision and move on.