It seems like such a long time ago now
that white Hispanic George Zimmeran shot and killed Trayvon Martin
during a heated argument in Sanford, Florida.
It was February 26th when
Zimmerman, a white Hispanic who served as community watchdog, ignored
police instructions to not follow the hooded Martin, an African
American teen, and got into a fatal confrontation that sent shock
waves throughout the country and brought race relations back to the
front lines once more.
No one can honestly say what happened
on that infamous night. The shooter, white Hispanic George Zimmerman,
claims to have shot the teen in self defense. Florida's “Stand Your
Ground” law gives citizens the right to use deadly force if they
feel their life is in danger. Nearly everyone else in the country and
in the media took the victims side, and labeled it a racist act from
a despicable man. He was given a free pass on it under the law, until
the race issue became buzz worthy and was suddenly put on trial for
the killing.
I'm not going to take a side in the
debate of a right to defense versus murder. I wasn't there, I don't
know the conditions that forced him to pull the trigger. I don't
think any of us will ever know what truly happened because the only
person that does has no doubt contorted the truth to fit his legal
defense.
My biggest gripe with this entire
situation is the media and their manipulation of America's emotions
to bolster their ratings.
If you noticed the term “white
Hispanic” thrown around in the beginning of this blog then maybe
you feel like I do about the media and their lack of bias or ethics.
George Zimmerman is not on trial for killing Trayvon Martin. Trayvon
Martin no longer exists. If the media could, they would label him
“Some Black Kid” and be done with it, so they could focus better
on making a martyr. His name doesn't matter. He doesn't matter. He is
a creation to push agendas. The media, and for the most part fame
whores like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, have taken what should
have been a tragic death and turned it into a media circus. And boy,
did the media run with it.
Before James Holmes shot up that
Colorado theater you would be hard pressed to catch a news program
that didn't involve George Zimmerman's mug shot next to “endearing”
shots of Martin, to further enrage a country that has still yet to
get over its racist past. That racism, which is just as bad in
support of Martin as it is for his murder, quickly became the focal
point of the investigation.
Remember, there was no investigation to
begin with. It was an open and shut case until the media caught wind
of it and turned into another black eye on our country.
White man shoots and kills black kid.
It doesn't get more clean cut than that. That is the equivalent of a
wrestling match where American hero Hulk Hogan fights evil foreigner
the Iron Shiek. Lines are drawn so thick that even Daredevil can see
them, and we know who to cheer and who to boo because the conflict is
built on a classic good vs. evil scenario.
Things for more interesting when it
came out that Zimmerman was Hispanic and not white. Suddenly, the
media had lost its edge and all of their attempts and poking the
sleeping elephant in the room became useless. But then, in true
American “never give up” fashion, they found any way they could
to keep him white and labeled him a white Hispanic, just in case you
were going to forget that this was a racially motivated crime and you
should tune in to CNN to boo the boogeyman while sucking down your
beer and grabbing another handful of popcorn.
White Hispanic? Seriously? I know they
exist, but was it so important to label George Zimmerman a white
Hispanic just for the sake of keeping your racism theory alive? What
if Martin had been white, had looked like Elijah Wood, and had been
shot and killed the same way? Where would the media be without its
precious fucking angle?
They would be fair and balanced. Their
ratings would be shit.
The invention of the internet and the
ability to get your news whenever you want it has put a dent in
powerhouses like Fox News and MSNBC. So of course they would have to
reinvent themselves with an edgier image by not only promoting
negativity and unethical standards, but by also creating issues where
there possibly was none to begin with.
Character witnesses for George
Zimmerman all say he is not a racist. His coworkers have said that he
is not a racist. In December of 2010 a homeless black man named
Sherman Ware was beaten by the son of Sanford police Lt. Chris
Collison, who wasn't charged with the brutal and unprovoked attack
despite video evidence of his guilt. Zimmerman championed the cause
of Ware and wrote a public letter calling out the officers who
covered up the beating, and made it his personal mission to get
justice for the man.
But that's not a very good hook to get
you to demonize white Hispanic George Zimmerman so you probably
didn't hear about it.
It's not like this is a new development
when it comes to the way the media handles the news. My own personal
experiences writing for my college paper, and especially my time as
editor, made me realize how being a reporter basically makes you a
living promotional tool. It's a business now, and a business will do
what it has to do to survive in this modern age. I lost my love for the commercialized news industry when asked to cover the death of a student and I realized I was more concerned with how to promote it properly than who he was.
My heart breaks for Trayvon Martin.
Whether he was an angel or a misguided youth, he was still a human
being. He is not a martyr. He is a teenager who ended up on the wrong
end of a gun and his death should be mourned like any other child who
lost their life way too soon.
But "respected journalism" will try to fool you. They will tell you how to think and who to hate, and it will be easy enough to follow their lead. But nothing easy was ever worth pursuing. Be your own person, have your own mind, and make your own decisions. Don't let who we are become a ratings
boost for the carnivorous media bastards that look at human life as
Neilsen numbers.
Don't believe everything you read.
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