Soapbox: Weighing in on The Zimmerman Verdict, and What It Means For Race in America

I began this blog as a way to honor the fact that I am both black and nerdy. I usually find myself writing about the latter, but every once in a while I am compelled to write about what it means to be black. Tonight is one of those times. Tonight, it was announced that 29-year-old George Zimmerman, the overzealous neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, had been found not guilty of second-degree murder and acquitted of manslaughter. A lot of people are not happy about it. I am one of those people.

I am not, however, surprised. The first red flag was raised a few days after the incident was initially reported, when I learned that Zimmerman had suffered injuries to his face and head.

I could tell that those injuries would have far-reaching ramifications. They meant more than just a bloody nose and a few stitches. They meant that Trayvon Martin hadn't just stood there and let Zimmerman shoot him. They meant he hadn't gone without a fight. And ultimately, they meant acquittal for Mr. Zimmerman. You see, black people don't exactly have a great track record when it comes to drumming up national sympathy. There are countless cases to choose from, but here are a couple of the most highly publicized:

1. In 1992, Rodney King (may he R.I.P.) didn't resist arrest before he was beat by five LAPD officers, four of whom were charged and subsequently acquitted of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force.
2. In 1999, Amadou Diallo (may he R.I.P.) did nothing but reach for his wallet before four plainclothes NYPD officers shot and killed him. All four officers were later - surprise! - acquitted of all charges. Wyclef wrote a song about it.

Notice something? Neither of those young black men offered resistance of any kind, and the people who attacked them unprovoked got off scot-free. The defendants in both cases were given the benefit of the doubt because they were authority figures who believed they had probable cause to pull out their billy clubs and guns. Zimmerman did them one better; the evidence of his probable cause was all over the back of his head.

Right about then I began to have a bad feeling about the prosecution's chances. At this point, all Zimmerman's defense team had to do was convince the jury that he acted not because of race, but because he felt threatened. Here is where a lot of black people will call bullshit, but I believe he did feel threatened. By no means am I saying that he should, but I can see why he did and it has a lot to do with race.

For whatever reason, everyone seems to think that black people are tougher, stronger and more violent because of our unique role in America's history. This has been public opinion in Black America for a while, but for the scientific community it's a fascinating new phenomenon. The good people at Slate recently ran an article mentioning a new study where average people and medical personnel were asked to gauge a random subject's pain in a given situation. The results were surprisingly relevant to my current topic:

" In each experiment, the researchers found that white participants, black participants, and nurses and nursing students assumed that blacks felt less pain than whites...It turns out assumptions about what it means to be black—in terms of social status and hardship—may be behind the bias. In additional experiments, the researchers studied participants’ assumptions about adversity and privilege. The more privilege assumed of the target, the more pain the participants perceived. Conversely, the more hardship assumed, the less pain perceived. The researchers concluded that 'The present work finds that people assume that, relative to whites, blacks feel less pain because they have faced more hardship.'"

Here's the real kicker: the article that references this study was published as part of Slate's coverage of the Zimmerman trial. Trayvon Martin's skin told Zimmerman that he was a threat before his mouth ever could. Everyone believes that black people are somehow more resistant to life's various slings and arrows, whether it's trauma of a physical, emotional or mental nature. What's even sadder is that some black people believe it too (but that's a discussion for another time).

So in case you were (rightfully) bewildered as to how a husky Hispanic man, the jury that acquitted him and large swathes of the American public could perceive a 160-lb unarmed teenager as a threat instead of, I don't know, a scared kid fighting for his life with an oddly aggressive stranger...yeah, that's how. And here's how a mess like this can be prevented from happening again.

If You Find Yourself in George Zimmerman's Position

Back off and let the real police do their job. I know there had been a few robberies  and home invasions in the last few weeks and "these assholes always get away," but that's no excuse to ignore a certified emergency dispatcher's orders to stay put. Ideally, they have more training than you do, they're more experienced and, most importantly, they'll have more restraint. When in doubt, defer to the paid professional law enforcers.

If you do decide to ignore certified professionals and be an impulsive cockbag (I believe that's the scientific term for it), approach the individual in question and IDENTIFY YOURSELF so that he or she knows that you aren't a mugger/rapist/killer yourself. If a person runs after you audibly identify yourself as neighborhood watch, feel free to brand them with whatever unflattering label you like, give chase and swing your dick around as impulsive cockbags are wont to do.

If You Find Yourself in Trayvon Martin's Position

Relax, I'm not going to spew some ridiculous shit about not being able to wear hoodies anymore (fuck you, Geraldo Rivera).

I will, however, admit that there was something Trayvon Martin could have done to prevent his own death: cooperate. If you are a minority who is in trouble with an authority figure, whether it is a mall cop or the goddamn Attorney General (I don't know what you'd do to piss him off), the worst thing you can do is put up a fight. I understand that Martin was being followed by a strange man in a strange neighborhood, but his best bet was still to simply confront Zimmerman and find out what he wanted.

"Oh, you want to mug me? I'm broke, but here's some Skittles and iced tea. Please don't hurt me. I'd like to grow up and go to college."

"Oh, you want to kill me? I'd better run away!"

"Oh, you're an overzealous neighborhood watch captain? Actually I'm staying with my step mother down the street. Here's her address. You should have said so sooner; I thought you going to kill me or something."

And before you jump down my throat, demanding to know if I practice what I preach, rest assured that I do. You will never meet a nicer more cordial Aaron than the one who has just been pulled over. When I was pulled over for speeding outside of Jacksonville (coincidentally enough, I was driving back to school from Sanford, FL, where Trayvon Martin was shot), I was extremely cooperative. I cooperated when he quizzed me on my driver's license information to make sure I was who I really was. I cooperated when he felt inside of my car's wheel wells, looking for drugs and illegal contraband. I laughed good-naturedly as he asked me if I was on drugs.

Was it embarrassing? Yes. Did I want to cuss him out, yell "I'm not a fucking drug dealer!" and snidely ask him whether he took this much care with all of his speeding stops? Yes. Did I use some choice vocabulary when I was back in the privacy of my own vehicle, with two tickets totaling almost $500? You bet your ass I did. But I held my tongue and kept my hands where he could see them, just in case he turned out to be like that one cop from Boyz n the Hood.

It may not be your proudest moment, but it will be your smartest. The whole not dying thing is pretty nice too. Just imagine if Trayvon had confronted Zimmerman with words instead of fists that night. In the worst case scenario, let's say Zimmerman doesn't buy that Trayvon is staying just down the road and collars him until the police arrive, sure, Trayvon gets brought in and might have to spend a night in the bookings until someone can clear his name, but at least he's still alive. Plus he's got Zimmerman by the balls, to use legal terminology, and can sue the pants off of him for causing undue stress or defamation of character. And the court gets to hear something that was sorely missing from the actual Zimmerman trial: Trayvon's side of the story.

I'll admit it shouldn't have to be that way. Hopefully, this deeply unsatisfying verdict has inspired a new generation of future black voters, lawyers and lawmakers to revamp the justice system, and one day we'll get to complain just as loudly as we want when faced with undue hostility from authority figures, self-appointed or otherwise. In the meantime, they expect us to get loud, ignorant and disrespectful when confronted by authority, so let's throw them off by being very polite, reasonable and well-spoken.

And if the unfairness of this verdict (and all those that came before it) gets to be too much, just watch this video before you take to the streets:

Get angry or get smart. The choice is yours.