Here's my take after watching the whole thing, having a different viewpoint here and there but finally agreeing with the jury:
People are confusing ‘racism’ with ‘bias’. Racism is hatred and there was no evidence Zimmy 'hated' any race or acted out of 'hatred'. Had the person he pursued been Latino, Caucasian or American Indian, he would have still been packing because that’s the way he rolled, that’s the law in Florida and he was licensed for packing. He didn't see Martin was black, then load his gun. This nullifies the charge of 2nd degree murder. The case was overcharged.
On the other hand, when a crime occurs and suspects are seen, police dispatchers usually broadcast something to the effect: 2 black males in van or 2 white males in van or 2 Latino males in van. This isn’t racism, its description and yes – it ‘biases’ the search towards a ‘race’ but how else can you do it?
As several prominent attorneys have pointed out, in some states, simply having a gun and engaging in a fistfight where a shooting death occurs, there is an automatic charge ( not conviction but charge) of manslaughter. In some states there is not.
Bottom line: for simple matters of descriptive purposes, our entire legal system and society uses race as way to bias a search in a more accurate direction. This might be unfortunate but this is the way we evolved – different races with different characteristics. I mean what should a police dispatcher say? “Two men in a van, one may not have shaved today and one wearing a button down shirt?
Time to dump this one, the jury has spoken, let’s see what happens with Aaron Hernandez………….
