The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/148479
The Diversity Scene By Kevin Eggleston Martin, Zimmerman and the Twilight Zone It was raining the evening George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin. It was raining and it was dark, and this made bearing witness difficult. The details of the doomed encounter between the two were obscured by doubts, even as the far-reaching ramifications of the gunshot reverberated throughout the country. And a court of law is designed to be blind to all but the details. George Zimmerman was set free because he was given the benefit of the doubt. On that rainy night, George Zimmerman did not give Trayvon Martin the benefit of the doubt, because Trayvon Martin was black, and black people were suspected of stealing from neighborhood homes. And George Zimmerman, a cop in his own mind, was tasked with the Neighborhood Watch. He was, as a guard is tasked to do, looking for trouble, and so trouble is what he saw. It should not be dismissed that both men had the better angels of their nature at their ear, giving them wise council. George Zimmerman's role model, the police, told him not to chase. He chose to chase anyway, because George Zimmerman is a man of action. Rachel Jeantel told her best friend Trayvon Martin to run toward home. This he did, until — for unclear reasons — he confronted the man who would not leave him alone. These tragedies happen every day in America, and the ones that become touch- 10 O-Town Scene August 1, 2013 stones of our time tend to do so because media organizations see ratings and profit in the story. In this case, it was clear to the media that this was a story about race that would inflame passions and spark debate, a tragic American tale about how far we have yet to go. The gated community, the Retreat at Twin Lakes, where the shooting took place, was on edge. Over the past year, the police had been called hundreds of times to respond to thefts, burglaries, and many attempted break-ins, quite often reported to have been committed by African American men. To many, it felt as if the neighborhood was under siege. In the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street," the neighborhood builds itself up to panic over an alien invasion, and everything that happens or that the neighbors do becomes suspicious in the context of fear. They monsters are coming: this is the thought that overrides all else. At last, when a shadowy figure approaches the group, he is assumed to be the monster and is shot in the chest and killed. Of course, it was only a neighbor. When George Zimmerman saw Trayvon Martin, he did not see a 17-year-old walking home, chatting with his friend. He saw with a suspicious mind, and therefore he saw an "asshole," and a "punk" who "always gets away." Everything Trayvon did was filtered through Zimmerman's suspicions and fears, and so ev- ery move by Martin indicated malicious intent. George Zimmerman could not even conceive of how he would look to Trayvon Martin: like a creepy older man running after him in the dark. I cannot know the details, but I do know this: if I was 17 years old and George Zimmerman was staring at me in a neighborhood overrun with fear, I might also try to run away. And if I couldn't get away, because George Zimmerman was chasing me, I would be forced to stand my ground against this stranger accosting me in the night. Both of these actions by Trayvon Martin, to the suspicious mind of George Zimmerman, indicated guilt, when in fact they were the famous fight-or-flight response of fear. Fate was decided when a gun-toting George Zimmerman decided to chase an unarmed 17-year-old boy on the basis of his skin color and choice of clothes. But that's not what the trial was about. The trial was about whether George Zimmerman could reasonably have felt his life in danger after he initiated the engagement, which we honestly can never know. The jurors did what they were supposed to do according to Florida law. The justice system operated exactly as it was intended. Obviously, it does not mean justice was served. It means something is wrong with the law, when we are free to kill our neighbors. There has been much discussion about race this summer, and everyone from Paula Deen to the cast of Big Brother has been caught making offensive statements. But what happened in Sanford is bigger than just racism. It was a broken community, one in which fear had isolated the residents from each other, and every shadow in the night became a monster. Rod Serling saw it coming: "There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices — to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill. And suspicion can destroy." George Zimmerman, just days after his not guilty verdict, happened upon a car accident in which he helped rescue a family from harm, because George Zimmerman is a man of action and the universe operates on a level of poetic justice we can never comprehend. But thoughts matter. We have fearful thoughts regarding others for reasons, but such thoughts can override reason. We must watch our thoughts. We must not casually suspect. We must give our neighbors the benefit of the doubt. Kevin Eggleston is a playwright and teacher. He also works at Springbook. Reach him at KevinMichaelEggleston @gmail.com.