I wrote The Fort Myers News-Press Letters to the Editor my thoughts on the Zimmerman trial. They wrote back that I should send a photo and they would print it as an Op-Ed but I didn't see their E mail because my inbox was overloaded. When I did see it, the trial was over, but they said a re-write would be fine, so I re-did it and sent a photo and they printed it this morning, cutting it somewhat to fit. Here is what they printed.

The State of Florida v. George Zimmerman trial is over and the jury “following the law” decided that Zimmerman’s version had merit. Knowledgeable friends of mine (one is a judge) tell me the jury was intelligent and that the prosecution did not present a compelling alternate theory of events. Those of us not sequestered, who followed the trial on TV, and listened to the analysts pointing out the flaws in the defense, wondered why the prosecution did not do the same.

The court did not allow the events leading up to the killing of Treyvon Martin to be part of the deliberation. These events were highly questionable. When Zimmerman was told by law enforcement to stay in his car, Zimmerman disobeyed. He wanted credit for “getting” this guy that he had convinced himself was “up to no good” – a black teen coming home from the store with groceries. Something fishy there.

Zimmerman, full of righteousness, went out hoping to find someone black who looked “suspicious” and he succeeded in convincing himself that Treyvon Martin was that person. Zimmerman’s role is key – it is the only reason Treyvon Martin is dead. Martin decided to confront his stalker, to “stand his ground”. He got the upper hand. The teen without the gun was winning the fight. The man with the gun finally had a reason to use it.

Why didn’t the “Stand Your Ground Law” work for Martin? After being followed and frightened, he decided to confront his stalker, to stand his ground. Silly boy, he was walking at night while being black, the unpardonable sin.

The tape with the screams for help was judged not clear enough by an FBI expert to say who was doing the screaming. Martin’s mother says it was her son. The FBI couldn't say for sure and a mother’s claim is not reliable. For a jury with women on it, I find it hard to figure out why they would not believe a woman who had to know her son’s voice.

Zimmerman profiled a black teen going about his own business. It was almost a month before the police took him into custody and then only because of an outcry. Somehow, the police, forced to deal with a dead black teenager and a white vigilante, just relied on their gut feeling that the white guy must be right.

And finally, if Zimmerman had not appointed himself “Godly stalker” – judge and jury and, ultimately, executioner, regarding a young man he did not know, just because to Zimmerman, he “didn’t look right,” no one would be dead now. No one. God save us from untrained do-gooders with weapons and a mission and, dare I say it, a racist heart.

I went to an almost all-black grammar school. I saw what discrimination did to my classmates. I know what racism looks like. It sucked then, it sucks now.

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Ed said his only criticism was my use of the word “sucks” – I told him it was useful because I sounded more like I was part of today’s society than one where people go “tut tut”. Ed is always mindful of my inclination to not “sound like a lady”. I keep telling him that ladyhood was never on my wish list, that I detested what the word “lady” had come to mean, and I never wanted to identify with that mind set.

xx, Teal