Thanks to the media, the case of George Zimmerman has turned into one of the most politicized issues in recent memory. The social justice movement has latched onto Trayvon Martin as their martyr. In their eyes he was a child gunned down by the vilest of white men simple because he was black. Not to be outdone, the political right has latched onto Zimmerman as a paragon of community protection. To them Zimmerman was the victim of a vicious, and entirely unprovoked, attack while he patrolled his neighborhood to keep everybody safe.
As with most highly politicized issues, the truth lies somewhere in the middle:
Trayvon Martin is dead, George Zimmerman has been acquitted, and millions of people are outraged. Some politicians are demanding a second prosecution of Zimmerman, this time for hate crimes. Others are blaming the tragedy on “Stand Your Ground” laws, which they insist must be repealed. Many who saw the case as proof of racism in the criminal justice system see the verdict as further confirmation. Everywhere you look, people feel vindicated in their bitter assumptions. They want action.
But that’s how Martin ended up dead. It’s how Zimmerman ended up with a bulletproof vest he might have to wear for the rest of his life. It’s how activists and the media embarrassed themselves with bogus reports. The problem at the core of this case wasn’t race or guns. The problem was assumption, misperception, and overreaction. And that cycle hasn’t ended with the verdict. It has escalated.
Or, to quote Uncle, “Two idiots tried to out idiot each other. One was successful.”
Both sides have clung to their hero as a perfect person that was made a victim through no fault of his own. Truthfully, bad decisions were made by both individuals. It’s unfortunate but eventually enough bad decisions will accumulate to create a situation where one or more people die. While I don’t believe Zimmerman was guilty of murder or manslaughter I do believe he made some very poor choices that night, but none of them had anything to do with guns or racism.
Really? Whatever idiotic train of thought leads you to believe that “As with most highly politicized issues, the truth lies somewhere in the middle:”
That’s as stupid as the notion that gun owners should meet gun grabbers halfway, you know, somewhere in the middle. The truth lies where the truth lies, with no regard to the middle, periphery, outskirts, extremes, or center.
Tell us, what, exactly, were Zimmerman’s “bad decisions”?
If your view of the gun issue is so narrow that you only see gun owners and gun grabbers than I can see why you believe the truth isn’t somewhere in the middle. The topic of firearms is far more expansive than those two groups.
The gun grabbers are correct when they say firearms are dangerous weapons that are used quite often as criminal tools. Gun owners are also correct when they bring up the fact that firearms are used quite often in self-defense. But the truth regarding gun control is that it requires people with guns to take guns from other people, which makes the idea hypocritical. That doesn’t mean both sides aren’t making valid arguments but they tend to latch onto details that support their cause while ignoring details that go against their cause.
When you have to groups politicizing an issue each group tends to take the details that support their cause and ignore the details that don’t support their cause, which is exactly what has been happening with the Zimmerman/Martin incident. Meanwhile they treat Zimmerman as a subhuman creature that stalks the night to prey on the innocent.
If you look at the “Martin” side you see that they are treating their martyr as a flawless child who was gunned down by a white racist. The “Zimmerman” side, likewise, are treating their hero as a flawless “sheepdog” who descended down towards Martin like an angel descending to cast out a demon. They treat Martin like a thug who deserved everything that came to him because his history wasn’t “upstanding.”
Neither of these viewpoints are accurate because each and every human has flaws as well as redeeming qualities.
The article I linked to did a good job of articulating such matters. I advise you look there for your answers.