George Zimmerman may not be a racist, but our society as a whole, and our security and justice systems still reflect — and, in some cases, actively engage in — racism and racial-profiling.
Zimmerman evidently profiled Trayvon Martin because he resembled other people he had seen in the area, who, apparently were black and — in some cases — were actually responsible for burglaries. This does not intrinsically mean Zimmerman was racially profiling. In fact, the issue of race was specifically “removed” from trial procedures and proceedings.
The issue of race and racism in this whole situation has more to do with the immediate actions by police, the vocal requests by the Martin family for an arrest, and the involvement of high-profile black opinion-leaders; in that chronological order.
Let us assume that Zimmerman was following Martin. At some point there was a confrontation and someone threw the first punch; and eventually the two were on the ground struggling. It is likely that both men felt threatened at that point and were in a self-defense mode. What if Martin had been able to get Zimmerman’s gun and shot him; or perhaps he killed Zimmerman through some other means? How would that have been handled by police? In that scenario, it is likely that even once Martin was able to prove he had no ill intent and was a guest in the neighborhood, he would have been drug tested and taken into custody. Why? Because he was a black youth/man. THAT is where racism (and racial-profiling) reared its head first in this case.
It is understandable that Trayvon’s parents would want some semblance of justice in this case; at the very least, a closer examination of what happened that night and why their son was shot dead. The Sanford Police were satisfied overall with Zimmerman’s explanations. He was never drug tested, and was generally allowed to go free. It was at this point that many people — of a variety of races — believed that, indeed, this case merited closer examination. Once the high-profile people and the family’s attorney started talking on TV, it was clear that race was going to be a prominent issue in the case. Even Obama chimed in with his remark “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” I don’t believe Obama was implying that Zimmerman was a racist, but rather that he (Obama) had empathy for the family, because black men are often wrongly profiled by society and often, the police.
By the time of Obama’s remarks, however, Pandora’s box was already open and many in the public started viewing this not as a “this dead black man deserves justice” case and more of a “this non-black man racially profiled a black man and killed him” case.
But the police and community are not on trial here. It is George Zimmerman, who we can choose to believe or not, because he and a lot of circumstantial evidence are the only things we can use as guides to try and figure out what exactly happened that night.
Sadly, everyone loses in this case, regardless of the verdict. Zimmerman will be significantly affected by this tragedy for the rest of his life. The Martin family has lost a child. There are no winners. However, it will be even more tragic if future death or injury occur because one group or another see an acquittal or sentencing of Zimmerman as racially-based, when that is NOT what is on trial.