The Real Trayvon Martin Tragedy

One month following the death of Trayvon Martin, it seems less is known about what really happened. As is all too often the case in these scenarios, information surrounding the actual events that took place in Sanford, FL has been manipulated to the point where it is virtually impossible to know what the facts are. Let's take a look at who the players are in this ever-unfolding drama.

Pictured: George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin

First of all, there is George Zimmerman. This man has been vilified, and marches have been staged in protest of his actions. He has maintained his assertion that he is an innocent man, merely acting in self-defense. More on this later.

Second, there's the person who isn't around to tell his side of the story. Trayvon Martin has become a martyr in the eyes of many, but what did he die for? Pictures of a bright-eyed, innocent teen have been all over major television news networks, newspapers, and websites. T-shirts bearing his image are being sold, and his death has sparked a movement... towards what, exactly, I am not sure.

The whole story is a colossal clusterfuck. Nobody knows what really took place, and an endless stream of opportunistic politicians and would-be movement leaders are jumping on the vague narrative and twisting it to suit their agendas. Anti-gun people are loving it. Racists are loving it. Presidential candidates are loving it. There are so many people profiting from the death of this kid, it certainly seems like there are very few people who are actually occupied with, you know, seeking actual justice.

For those who may have forgotten, justice is what happens when all of the facts are researched and some type of fair and reasonable resolution happens. Reactionary cries of "racism!" or "trigger-happy cracker murders innocent black teen!" don't exactly hasten the process. The water has been muddied up, and that is exactly what is profitable. A clear-cut court case doesn't necessarily offer as many opportunities for political or social advancement as a confusing tornado of inflammatory rhetoric.

Pictured: Someone who isn't helping.

So, what really happened? This is a tough question. A better question might be: "What can we know?" 

Well, we know that a kid was killed. 

We know that he was shot to death by a man who was over ten years older and over one hundred pounds heavier than him. 

We know that a 911 dispatcher can be heard clearly saying, "We don't need you to do that," after hearing Zimmerman say that he was following Trayvon.

We know that Zimmerman said the words, "This guy looks like he is up to no good. He is on drugs or something," on the 911 call. 

We know that Rev. Jesse Jackson said that Trayvon Martin (who he referred to as a "martyr") was shot in the back of the head.

We know that the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Trayvon Martin assaulted George Zimmerman, and that Zimmerman shot him in the chest at close range.

Given what we know, what can we infer from this information?

Well, we can state with absolute confidence that George Zimmerman is a huge idiot. We can't conclusively state that he is a racist, but we can safely say that he is a dumbass. There is a difference between being a generally stupid person (which is what it looks like Zimmerman is) and a specifically stupid person (by which I mean a racist, whose stupidity is focused on a specific belief that black kids in hoodies are universally up to no good). Maybe Zimmerman is a racist. It's hard to say. It would be great if people could zero in on dealing with what they can and do know, instead of spending so much time on speculation. The overwhelming majority of media coverage surrounding this tragic night essentially boils down to speculation, and it reveals the sad truth about this incident, or what I like to call The Real Trayvon Martin Tragedy.

The real tragedy here is the ongoing tragedy. I'm not diminishing the horrific nature of the death of Trayvon Martin, but the events following his death have been truly disgusting. Rather than steer the dialogue following the death of an unarmed teenager in a positive direction, the American media machine has been content to do what it does best: MAKE A LOT OF NOISE. It's stupid and it should be beneath us, but, tragically, it's not. Our culture eats it up. People march, with great seriousness and heavy emotion, but without any real purpose beyond jumping on the bandwagon.

Are there problems with Florida's Stand-Your-Ground law? Yeah, probably. We could be talking about it, if we weren't so busy trying to make a martyr out of a kid who was probably just a victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Was George Zimmerman wrong? Yeah, probably. Was he legally wrong? Maybe not. We could be having a productive dialogue about it if people would stop dismissing him as a racist before they fully research the man.

Our knee-jerk reactions to troubling issues demonstrate (repeatedly) the widespread lack of emotional maturity in American media culture. Accurate information is not as important as up-to-date information. Rational dialogue is secondary in importance to simply having SOMETHING to say.

Will there be justice for Trayvon? The way things are looking... No. There won't be justice for George Zimmerman, either. The teachable moment is fading fast, and nobody is learning anything because people aren't stopping to ask questions.

Oh, and Geraldo Rivera should be ashamed of himself.