The Treyvon Martin affair has started to take an ugly turn. AND WE ARE ALL TO BLAME, including me. Predictibly we politicos have taken a side in this tragic matter. We are hearing bad things about both guys. We seem to only pay attention to the so-called facts about the "other" guy. Look at some of these thread headlines:
RIGHT WING SMEAR CAMPAIGN
TRAYVON'S FAMILY NOW LOOKING FOR TRADEMARK
NEW BLACK PANTHERS NOW OFFER $10,000 BOUNTY FOR CAPTURE FOR CAPTURE OF GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
SPIKE LEE TWEETED WRONG ZIMMERMAN ADDRESS POSSIBLY PUTTING SANFORD WOMAN IN DANGER
Now consider this: In 1992 after the verdicts in the Rodney King case in Los Angeles, L.A. burned. The Rodney King case has many parallels to the Martin-Zimmerman case. Back in '92 I was living in L.A. and the debates fell on political lines like the case we have today. But the case we have today IS ALREADY A NATIONAL CASE.
LONDON RIOTS: In summer of 2011, the death of a man name Mark Dugan led to some peaceful protests. From Wikipidia: "The immediate spark for violence was when large numbers of police arrived to disperse the demonstration and a 16-year-old girl, who police claim was brandishing a bottle, was pushed and alledegy punched by officers"
STATISTICS: LOS ANGELES RIOTS RESULTED IN 52 DEATHS, 2,500 INJURIES, $446 MILLION IN PROPERTY DAMAGE.
LONDON: 5 DEATHS AND $320 MILLION IN DAMAGES.
But these damages were pretty much confined to the Los Angeles and London metrpolitan areas. The Martin-Zimmerman has already become a NATIONAL case. All the networks are covering it and it's debated in all fourms.
Consider this: There will probably be some kind of criminal outcome. Zimmerman will be found guilty or exhonerated.
The timing of all of this is bad. We all know our economic situation, with high unemployment. The crime rate is rising. People are in despair and want somebody or something to blame. So many of us partisans have taken this case as a reason to blame the other side.
I think it's time to start slowing down with all the thetoric about these two men involved in this tragic case and start realizing where it could take us. There already are all kinds of rumors of civil unrest this summer. And I'm just as guilty as anybody else of fanning the flames. I'm hoping for a fair outcome, but I will no longer be discussing the case because we need to pull together right now.