by Angel Rodriguez
Clash Daily Contributor
Human beings have always been divided. Since the beginning of time there have been the haves and the have nots, the blacks and the whites, the North and the South. With the exception of Adam and Eves time, BEFORE the apple, I cannot think of any period in our history where mankind was not divided. Sadly, division is a way of life.
That being said, in this great country we have a legal system that is setup to be fair and impartial. Trial by a jury of your peers is in essence a voting panel for a criminal proceeding. It is up to the politicians, the lawyers, to pick favorable representatives for their causes while getting the opposing lawyer to agree with their selections. It is an interesting dance indeed.
So do you think that political stance, or any of the aforementioned points, will factor into the George Zimmerman\Trayvon Martin murder trial? I do. There is absolutely not a shred of doubt within me that political affiliations, race, religion, financial status and many more factors will massively play into the George Zimmerman trial. From the very first day that this story made national news America was divided.
I have debated this story with people from every which angle possible. Having grown up in a predominantly Latino and Black area, most of the people I know have automatically sided with Trayvon Martin. You know, hes a young black man that was targeted by a white man with a gun, then shot and killed in cold blood.
Ill be completely honest here, when I first heard the story my reaction was exactly the same. I had a moment where I wanted Zimmermans head on a platter. However, unlike my brethren, I quickly realized the error in my thinking. My stance changed, not in favor of either of the two men, but in favor of the facts and what really happened.
Recently I saw a post where someone wrote about how upset they were when they learned that Zimmerman may be have been the one whos screams for help were heard in the 911 police audio recording. The post read something along these lines: Im so upset to learn that the screams that you could hear may have been George Zimmermans. That killer may end up getting away with murder.
The person that wrote this is of Latina descent and her entire wall came out in support of her view while expressing unrelenting hate for George Zimmerman. Never mind the fact that this information regarding the screams may be proof that Zimmerman didnt want to kill Trayvon Martin and was being attacked. These folks dont care about the facts, they are set in their views and they want the white guy to be wrong regardless of the truth and what really happened. No matter what the law says, George Zimmerman will be at fault here.
It works both ways though. There are some people that decided that Zimmerman was in the right and that Trayvon Martin was just a criminal thug right from the offset. Before knowing any concrete facts, these decisions were made solely on race or other prejudices and are just as biased as our friends above.
The question is, given these types of divisions, can George Zimmerman get a fair trial? My stance remains the same as it was before, I want the truth to come out and justice to be served. Regardless of what that may entail, the truth should be the deciding factor here. Not emotions, not your political alliances, not your race and not your financial or social status. The truth, that is what shall set you free.
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It won't be long now. Will it be a fair trial? Will there be fair coverage? How many will be surprised by the evidence that comes out and will it change any minds? And if he is found not guilty, will there be wide spread riots?