My
commentary on this protracted presidential campaign season
was ready for editing when I stopped in my tracks: I want
to continue waxing, if not eloquently, then coherently,
about justice served and at times deferred/denied in the
Trayvon Martin matter. So my series picks up with: I watched
and listened to TV and radio commentators in the 72 hours
prior to the April 12 arrest of George Zimmerman,
the citizen�s patroller who gunned down 17-year-old Trayvon
on February 26. The Special Prosecutor, Angela Corey,
appointed two months later by Florida Governor Rick Scott,
finally arrested the shooter.
Corey�s
statement that Zimmerman�s arrest came, not because of
�the public outcry, but because it�s the law,� is an insult.
You see, �the law,� should always be followed when
crimes are committed, let alone alleged. Response, investigation,
arrest and all subsequent steps in the criminal justice
pursuit constitute due process. The several government
entities that now expect the Black community and justice
advocates worldwide (i.e., We the People) to be satisfied
that due process was rendered, better think twice.
I contend that we must not be satisfied,
pacified, or mollified into this guise of justice delivered.
I
had a recent conversation with a Black Southern Baptist
Minister who argued that the Fifth Amendment�s Due Process
clause of the US Constitution was denied to George Zimmerman
after he fatally shot Trayvon Martin. In arguing Zimmerman�s
�deprivation of liberty,� the minister felt that the �lynch
mob mentality� infecting the analyses deprived Zimmerman
of his privacy and the equal rights enjoyed by all
Americans. My response must have conveyed how stunned
I was. �What?� was all I could say. I had to re-group
my senses.
I
find the minister�s argument borderline insanity! The
deprived party in this fatal shooting is the dead person.
As a young person my generation and I, were taught to
�fight to live another day.� Guns are good for nothing,
except depriving humans of their liberties! I fear
that as a minister (over 60, I might add), he�ll lead
thousands of Blacks off the cliff of justice.
When
the vagueness of statutes, ordinances, laws - and Constitutions
are exploited, humans suffer. Only the authors benefit.
Lawmakers write laws and work against our interests, in
favor of their own (money talks). Let us recognize
truth and the reality: We live in a country - the USA
- that tries at every turn to downplay or downright cover-up
its racist legacy. Our leadership has continually perpetuated
unreasonable interpretations or what is contemporarily
referred to as revisionist history - i.e., lies - to justify
perverse explanations for denying to its every citizen
the fundamental and inalienable rights of protection afforded
by our US Constitution. As US citizens for justice, stand
your ground and don�t allow misinterpretations
to delay due process.
BlackCommentator.com
Columnist, Perry
Redd, is the former Executive Director of
the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author
of the on-line commentary, �The
Other Side of the Tracks.� He is the host of the internet-based
talk radio show, Socially Speaking in
Washington,
DC.
Click
here to contact Mr.
Redd.
