Now is the time for your tears...

But you who philosophize disgrace, and criticize all fear...

Bury the rag deep in your face... now is the time for your tears.

-The Lonesome Death of Hattie Caroll

Bob Dylan

So George Zimmerman is not guilty...

Even though a bullet from a gun in his hand ended up in Trayvon Martin's chest and ended his life, Zimmerman is not guilty of murder, or manslaughter, or even unlawful possession of a handgun.  He didn't break the law.

I have read recently that I shouldn't really have much to say about this, because I'm white, because I'm "privileged," but to me, telling someone they shouldn't have an opinion, or shouldn't speak up, because of their race and their class sounds a lot like oppression.  I think that telling someone to shut up because they're a white middle class person with a master's degree is something that could really only happen in the hyper-sensitive and often ironic world of postmodern America.  

But I will admit, I'm white, I'm middle class, even if my bank account doesn't necessarily show it, I'm educated, and if that invalidates my opinion on something that happened to a poor black kid in Florida, judge me and stop reading right now.

Still reading?

Okay, then here's why I think I need to say something.  Actually I have three reasons, their names are Logan, Jonathan and Kevin, my nephews, whose fathers are all black.  While you're at it throw in Mike, Logan and Jon's father, who I often call a brother, even if his marriage to my sister didn't work out.  The point is these boys are people I care about, and the boys, particularly Logan, are just about to enter Trayvon country, they're about to become young, urban and non-white, which is, quite frankly, treated as though it's illegal.

I'm not naive enough to think that these relationships somehow absolve me of all claims of racism, but I do want you to know that I care enough about these boys to want them to live in a world where it's not okay to shoot them in the chest and not even be breaking the law.

Depending on what story you believe:

Trayvon Martin was a kind, innocent kid on the way home from the store with some tea and skittles

or

Trayvon Martin was a thug, high on something, who went to the store because he had the munchies, and who was probably looking for a house to burglarize on the way home.

George Zimmerman is an upright citizen who was doing his duty as a citizen and keeping his neighborhood safe,

or 

George Zimmerman is a coward and a racist who was literally hunting down young black men just hoping for a chance to use his gun.

The fact of the matter is, most people would rather believe the latter statements, it's just simpler and helps them deal with the tragedy of a young man who died rather senselessly, but the reality is probably closer to the first statements.  The tragedy is that we live in a world where both of them can actually be true.  Trayvon doesn't have to be a thug and Zimmerman doesn't have to be a racist psychopath for something like this to happen.

Race is a big deal.  Black men are immediately suspects in any dark alley.  That doesn't mean that Zimmerman was a racist, it means he was human and he was scared.  It means that there had been burglaries in the neighborhood, and black youth were the most likely culprits (not necessarily the culprits mind you, just the usual suspects).  Zimmerman said he was doing his duty to observe and report suspicious activity.  To him, a black kid in a hoodie, at night, was suspicious, he observed and he reported.

Trayvon then did something wrong, he decided that he wasn't just going to keep walking.  Not an unusual mistake, especially for a teenager.  It wasn't illegal, but it was stupid.  He didn't deserve to die for it, but that simple mistake set up a tragedy.

Once the confrontation was underway several factors kicked in: Zimmerman probably had a healthy infusion of, "Authorititis," his "authority" being inflamed by his esteemed position on the neighborhood watch and, more importantly, because he had a gun.  Guns make you feel powerful, I know, I've shot them.  You hold the power of life and death in a neat, shiny little package.  We love our guns in this country, no matter how many of us they kill and maim.  If Zimmerman had not had a gun,  he never would have gotten out of his car, he would have driven away after an angry black kid said some things and pointed at him.  But because he felt like a big man with his gun, George Zimmerman did something wrong, he got out of his car and was no longer just doing his duty to observe and report.

The score card is tied at this point, one stupid mistake per person.

Almost inevitably, violence happens.  Apparently the jury believed that Trayvon attacked Zimmerman and Zimmerman defended himself.  Trayvon brought fists to a gunfight, stupid mistake number two, he's not going to get a third strike.

That is the clearest picture that I can get of what happened that night from the various media outlets.  I think that is probably something like the narrative that the jury thought was true.

In that case, given Florida's laws, what he did was not illegal, but was it right?  Was it righteous?

No.

A kid is dead.

Even if you believe the worst about that kid, he didn't deserve a bullet in the chest.  His parents don't deserve to have to mourn their son.

The problem is, our culture is the guilty party, more so than Zimmerman.  Even if he wasn't a racist, racism is still a big problem.  Even if his gun was legal, guns and violence are still a big problem.  Trayvon wasn't exactly Medgar Evers, but he has now joined a list of martyrs to the American hobgoblins of racism and violence and guns.

It's up to all of us, white and black, privileged and underprivileged to fix these problems.  If we don't, our children are going to keep dying in the streets and our world is going to become more and more hellish, and no laws are going to be able to stop it.

See what happened in that court room was not injustice, it was the result of flawed justice.  The courts do not have a duty to see that righteousness triumphs, they only have a duty to uphold the law.  If followers of Jesus learned anything from him we would notice how many times he told people how flawed the law actually was.  Most of the Sermon on the Mount, goes like this: "You have heard it said, but I say to you..."

The court did what it was supposed to do: it sorted out a tragedy and doled out justice based on the evidence.  It wasn't perfect, it was human, just like Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.

I read a rather wonderful prayer in a facebook post yesterday:

"Lord, I pray for a world where George Zimmerman offers Trayvon Martin a ride home, because it's raining."

I pray for that world too.  I pray for my children and my nephews that they will live in that world, but I think I'd better prepare them to live in the world we've got.

Bummer.