We are all George Zimmerman

(Recently, the sad story of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was in the news again.  It reminded me that I had started this essay on the anniversary of the event in late February.  Here it is a month and a half late, but still relevant.)

At the end of February, it had been the one year anniversary of the tragic killing of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman in Sanford, FL.  While the case continues to be worked out in the courts and the exact details remain unknown and perhaps unknowable, the impact that the killing had on our culture continues and was remembered by many at the time of the anniversary.  Vigils were held, candles were lit, and many wondered how it is that these kinds of things happen in our world.  The dynamics of the tragedy have been revisited in this last month with the death of 16 year old Kimani Gray in Brooklyn.

As I remembered the story of what happened to Trayvon Martin, I also remembered the initial public gatherings that occurred not only in Sanford but in many places around the country.  Of the signs I remember people holding up at these gatherings, there were many with some version of “We are all Trayvon Martin”.  The message was that anyone could be mistaken as being something they were not based on the reaction of another person.  Some crazy “George Zimmerman” out there could shoot me, too!

Even at that time, I knew that this was only partially true.  For me especially as a middle aged, middle class, white male, I was not Trayvon and it was disingenuous for me to think that I could identify with him and others who are routinely judged because of their outer characteristics.  I have never been followed in a store, something that is not true for many African Americans I know.  I have not been “profiled” by the police as is seen in people being pulled over for various trivial car equipment problems, something that seems to occur more frequently to people who don’t look like me than to those who do..   When I wear I hooded sweatshirt (a hoodie),  probably the worst that someone thinks is, “Look at that old dork wearing a hoodie!” 

I am not Trayvon Martin.

It is unlikely that we interested but disconnected observers of this tragedy will ever know the exact details of what happened when Trayvon Martin was killed.  But some things are known and I want to focus on one.  This incident would not have happened if George Zimmerman had not made some assumptions about who he thought Trayvon was.  There is another time to discuss the whole idea of neighborhood watch people patrolling the streets armed in the first place.  But leaving that aside, the incident between Trayvon and George took place because George saw something about Trayvon that led him to initiate a contact with the young man.  Without George’s judgment of the threat posed by Trayvon, George never would have approached him.  What happened after that the specific details will likely remain shrouded to all but God.  But certainly George’s assessment of who he perceived Trayvon to be led to the incident in the first place.  And George’s emotions related to whatever Trayvon’s reaction was to the initial contact were certainly based in part on what he expected someone like Trayvon to do – based on George’s initial assessment of who he perceived him to be. 

And this was where I began to realize that while I am not Trayvon Martin and don’t feel comfortable saying that I can identify with people of color who experience regularly, maybe daily what I have only experienced a few times,  I am George Zimmerman.  In fact, I think we are all George Zimmerman.  It is human nature to judge others based on our preconceived ideas of what we expect them to be based on our picture of what “people like that” are like.  This natural tendency to judgment is not exclusive to any race, age, gender, religion – we all do it.  And our initial actions towards others based on our preconceptions lead to all kinds of divisions, conflicts, disruptions, and in the worst cases, physical confrontations and even, as in the case of Trayvon Martin, death.   

In addition to being George Zimmermans, we also tend to group ourselves with others who see things the same way that we do, thereby affirming our impressions, opinions, or probably more accurately, our prejudices.  We all prefer to be with others who are “like us.”  But in order for us to be with people who are like us, there must be others who are not like us.  And we are all too skilled at defining that “unlikeness” in negative, judgmental terms.   When we see kids doing this in junior and senior high school, we talk about cliques and peer pressure and how bad it is.  But when adults do it, it somehow seems more refined to us!

Another aspect of seeing the George Zimmerman in ourselves  relates to how we can ever make things better.  When I acknowledge and begin to deal with my own George Zimmerman, I take responsibility for my thoughts and actions that contribute to judgment and division in my community.  When I try to identify with Trayvon Martin, I am identifying with the victim and I need someone else to change.  Put another way, if I hold up a sign that says “We are all Trayvon Martin”, I am telling all the George Zimmermans in the world that they need to change in order for our communities to get better.  The responsibility and power for change lies in someone else’s hands.  But if I hold up a sign that says, “We are all George Zimmerman” (figuratively, of course!), I am identifying with those who judge and justify their actions based on their judgments, and I am acknowledging that I have plenty of my own judgments.  The responsibility and power for change are now in my hands.  I can do something about it!

As best as we can understand, George’s judgment of Trayvon and his decision to act on that judgment began a series of events that ended in tragedy.  It is unlikely that I will ever be involved in something like what happened in Sanford, but do my judgments ever start a series of events that contribute to division rather than reconciliation?  It is a serious question that everyone needs to consider for themselves.

I think this dynamic is something of what Jesus was referring to when he advised people to “first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5)   I don’t pretend to know what exactly happened between George and Trayvon when this tragedy took place.  I am using the figures that they have become in our cultural discussion to make a point:  We are all much too accomplished at seeing the fault in others and much less skilled at the introspection that exposes our own contributions to the problems that we face personally, in our families, and in the broader society.  All the “isms” are the result.  The solution starts with me because I am George Zimmerman.