• The George Zimmerman Trial Begins...

    George Zimmerman's trial for the murder of Trayvon Martin is well under way, with the court entering its second phase of jury selection. Right about now, George is probably hoping that out of those 40 potential jurors, his defense team can narrow those down to 12 fine folks who'll follow in the grand tradition of the all-white jury. Attempts to besmirch Martin's character as just another punk/thug/criminal-in-training whose forced departure from this plane was a net benefit came in the form of the following cell phone video shot by Martin of two unknown men fighting one another over a bicycle:


    Talk about a smoking gun. If earlier Facebook pictures of Trayvon being your average wannabe-gangsta teen didn't send chills down your spine, this video will give you near-epileptic fits and an urge to confront and possibly shoot a Negro of your very own. 

    Trayvon Martin's death, the initial response of law enforcement and the courts to his death and the outcry that was needed to bring Zimmerman to something approximating justice should speak volumes as evidence that we are not, contrary to popular belief, a "post-racial" society.

    Abagond lays out a few reasons why most of mainstream American society, including well-meaning liberals who purport themselves as open-minded and inclusive of all cultures, still hold on to the belief that racism is well and truly dead and that any unfortunate incident with racial undertones is likely to be "mere misunderstandings" that have been "blown out of proportion." It's an interesting read, to say the least. Abagond also lays out how calling out racism has turned into a much bigger crime than the actual racism itself.

    Until something's done about the institutional and structural components that allow racism to maintain its existence and until more Americans acknowledge racism without diving into a rather paternalistic and/or defensive response over it, there's not much hope in changing things for the better. 

    I won't promise to stay on Zimmerman's trial like white-on-bleached-and-processed-rice, but I will keep abreast of any major developments.