A touch of insanity
Charles Krauthammer’s column ("The Zimmerman case: A touch of Sanity," July 22) should have said INSANITY.
He says, "In a civilized society….justice is defined by the verdict that follows a fair trial. It’s the best that humans can do."
A later quote: "Divine punishment? It’s not for us to judge. All we have is the human kind whose only standard in a civilized society is this: A jury has spoken."
Our civilized society decided that what happened to Trayvon Martin was a "tragedy"—not a crime. The "tragedy" was that a vigilante stuck a gun in his pocket (with hollow-point bullets in the magazine), followed a young, unarmed man (both in a vehicle and on foot) until he decided it was time to pull that gun and fire into the boy’s chest.
Did he yell, "Back off, I have a gun!"? No. That was also part of the tragedy.
That is the decision of a civilized society? Excuse me. That’s insanity.
Krauthammer also says, “Zimmerman’s misjudgments contributed mightily," his "reckless zeal" were a part of this tragedy. His choice of words soft-pedal and obscure what were lethal actions. A tragedy, to me, is a horrible accident that we could not foresee. This was not an unlocked gate at a swimming pool, or a faulty wheel on a toy, or a crib spring that failed. This was caused directly by the wanton actions of a man with a weapon. There was a trial, but justice was not done.
Krauthammer speaks of a lack of catharsis, but seems to find some in stating that Zimmerman will carry "the mark…[of reckless zeal]…for the rest of his life."
What about the rest of Trayvon’s life? Well, we don’t have to worry about that, do we? I’m having a really difficult time with this civilized society’s justice.
Krauthammer also uses his column to take to task "irresponsible politicians," the "usual racial entrepreneurs," and President Obama for inserting race into the story.
He fails to learn something very important: this was the first president of the United States who can speak about race from personal experience—a president who told us about a very common phenomenon.
I estimate that almost every black person in the U.S. (particularly black males) can tell you a story about being guilty of Driving While Black or a similar offense. I believe the majority of Zimmerman’s (50 or so) previous calls to 911 must have involved black males in his neighborhood, and that it contributed to his suspicion regarding Trayvon.
I don’t even think of it as overt racism anymore (which is kind of sad). I hope what we can learn from it is we still have a distance to go.
Maybe this is the catharsis—that we have a president who let out the secret, that we sometimes still view each other based only on appearances, and we have to start talking about it, thinking about it—and stop the insanity.
What we did was not the best that humans can do. We can do better. We must.
— Frank D’Alessandro, Chicago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-20130723-dalessandro_briefs,0,4213050.story
He says, "In a civilized society….justice is defined by the verdict that follows a fair trial. It’s the best that humans can do."
A later quote: "Divine punishment? It’s not for us to judge. All we have is the human kind whose only standard in a civilized society is this: A jury has spoken."
Our civilized society decided that what happened to Trayvon Martin was a "tragedy"—not a crime. The "tragedy" was that a vigilante stuck a gun in his pocket (with hollow-point bullets in the magazine), followed a young, unarmed man (both in a vehicle and on foot) until he decided it was time to pull that gun and fire into the boy’s chest.
Did he yell, "Back off, I have a gun!"? No. That was also part of the tragedy.
That is the decision of a civilized society? Excuse me. That’s insanity.
Krauthammer also says, “Zimmerman’s misjudgments contributed mightily," his "reckless zeal" were a part of this tragedy. His choice of words soft-pedal and obscure what were lethal actions. A tragedy, to me, is a horrible accident that we could not foresee. This was not an unlocked gate at a swimming pool, or a faulty wheel on a toy, or a crib spring that failed. This was caused directly by the wanton actions of a man with a weapon. There was a trial, but justice was not done.
Krauthammer speaks of a lack of catharsis, but seems to find some in stating that Zimmerman will carry "the mark…[of reckless zeal]…for the rest of his life."
What about the rest of Trayvon’s life? Well, we don’t have to worry about that, do we? I’m having a really difficult time with this civilized society’s justice.
Krauthammer also uses his column to take to task "irresponsible politicians," the "usual racial entrepreneurs," and President Obama for inserting race into the story.
He fails to learn something very important: this was the first president of the United States who can speak about race from personal experience—a president who told us about a very common phenomenon.
I estimate that almost every black person in the U.S. (particularly black males) can tell you a story about being guilty of Driving While Black or a similar offense. I believe the majority of Zimmerman’s (50 or so) previous calls to 911 must have involved black males in his neighborhood, and that it contributed to his suspicion regarding Trayvon.
I don’t even think of it as overt racism anymore (which is kind of sad). I hope what we can learn from it is we still have a distance to go.
Maybe this is the catharsis—that we have a president who let out the secret, that we sometimes still view each other based only on appearances, and we have to start talking about it, thinking about it—and stop the insanity.
What we did was not the best that humans can do. We can do better. We must.
— Frank D’Alessandro, Chicago
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/chi-20130723-dalessandro_briefs,0,4213050.story
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