Posted on 06/28/2013 8:23:28 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
I must admit, I’m kinda feeling Rachel Jeantel.
While watching the proceedings in the George Zimmerman trial in the death of Trayvon Martin, I have found the two days of testimony by the last person to speak with the 17-year-old student to be nothing short of riveting.
Let’s be honest. Jeantel is not your average witness. She is a 19-year-old Miami resident who is due to complete high school next year. Her speech mannerisms are utterly urban, about as far from the queen’s English as one could imagine. And her disposition on the stand ranged from annoyance to sheer antagonism.
Yet, what was incredibly fascinating about watching her on the stand was her clear determination to be herself and to stand firm in presenting her account of the events on the night Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman in February of last year.
She was peppered with questions by Zimmerman’s lawyers, who were determined to portray her as a witness with varying accounts and to cast her as being less than credible. But no matter what was thrown at her, she showed a determination to, well, stand her ground.
Jeantel is, of course, a star witness for the prosecution. She testified about the cell phone conversation she had with her close friend Trayvon Martin as he walked from a 7-11 convenience store to the home of his father’s fiancée in a gated apartment complex in Sanford, Florida, one evening. She talked about how her teenaged friend, Trayvon, had talked about his consuming interest in getting to the house and watching the NBA All-Star game.
She maintained that Trayvon was annoyed by the fact that he was being followed by a “creepy-a-- cracker,” a term he apparently used for Zimmerman and one that was apparently the source of captivation and undue focus by the defense attorneys. She told, in heartbreaking detail, how she heard Trayvon ask Zimmerman why he was following him. She told of the last thing she heard her teenage friend say on the phone, “Get off. Get off.”
Throughout her time on the stand, the lawyers for Zimmerman sought to find ways to puncture her credibility, often in condescending and pejorative ways. In fact, her time on the stand was so protracted because defense attorney Don West constantly asked her to repeat herself, to talk slowly, as if he were seeking to understand the language of an alien from another planet.
The daughter of Haitian and Dominican immigrants, Jeantel’s first language was Creole. She later picked up English and has clearly become conversant in the language of urban Miami. But West continued to speak to her as if she were some outlandish extraterrestrial rather than a teenager. He asked her about the expressions used in “your culture,” as though teenagers of all races don’t have their own linguistic idiosyncrasies.
Through it all, Jeantel would not be moved or dissuaded. She made it abundantly plain that she was not impressed with the authority of this lawyer and showed she could volley with the best of them. “What are you talking about?” she asked West at one point. “What are you saying?”
Jeantel is a teenager who has been thrust into an extraordinary situation. She is a star witness in one of the most highly watched trials in modern times, testifying about a phone call with a friend who was killed shortly after their telephone conversation. She admitted to feeling guilty about being Trayvon’s last conversational partner and not knowing how deadly that moment was for him. She never hid who she was or how she felt. Clearly she was reluctant and displeased about being there.
She has already been a highly talked about figure in the world of the Internet, with some finding her appalling and others applauding her (I suspect that how one views her has a great deal to do with one's familiarity with African-American teenagers). Her feelings are readily understandable and it's refreshing to see her resolve to state her perspective, even if it means refusing to kowtow to lawyers questioning her.
She is impressive to me because she never swayed from presenting Trayvon Martin as a young man who was thinking of nothing more sinister than the jump shots he hoped to see on television later that night. It remains to be seen what the jury will do with that information. But for her part, she presented it in a way that was consistent and that did justice to her friend.
I be down
=ground
There sure would not have been talk about what a great witness.
>>Is it possible that Rachel Jeantel encouraged Tray to assault Zimmerman?<<
I ax you: Do you *really* think she’s *that* smart?
“Rachel Jeantel egged Little Trayvon into attacking Zimmerman....”
I think you’re spot on.
This is the 3rd essay I’ve read in the past two days that’s excused Jeantel’s piss-poor performance on the witness stand from a PURELY racial point of view. How utterly disgusting, not to mention demeaning, to any citizen of any race who has been through the same ordeal.
Mr. Hicks, the next time you ask why “blacks” are viewed with contempt, READ YOUR OWN DAMN WRITING!
That is a little how I felt listening to the first “DEPO” to the bald guy.
No need to say more. Hicks thinks Trayvon was really getting the Sun Tea and Skittles for a snack too...
I suppose if I changed my story like I changed my underwear I'd have a hard time explaining it all in a court of law too. Dunno if I'd call it "refusing to kowtow"...maybe, "oh crap, they're on to me. Best just STFU."
“Get off” ? Whut ? Given that the thug son-of-a-Crip was on top of Zimmerman beating the crap out of him, why would the thug be telling him to “get off” ?
This is about the fourth article today I’ve seen where a black author is applauding Jeantel’s slang and antagonism as “keepin’ it real”. It’s like these black authors don’t understand the point of a trial witness or they think it’s more important to stick it to the white attorney then it is to endear yourself to the jury. Jeantel is there do one reason and one reason only — to convince the jury that Zimmerman murdered Martin. Potentially alienating the jury by calling defense counsel retarded and glaring at him jeopardizes her only purpose even if she is “keepin’ it real.”
And if these black authors are applauding Jeantel for acting ghetto, then why do they get so upset when white people point out the ghetto-ness they are now applauding?
That’s exactly what happened...that’s why she laid low. Then they tried to concoct a story around her...backfire.
Hicks should be ashamed of himself. He’s applauding that she has no respect for authority and stood her ground against them. That’s the problem with today’s youth... If they had respect, trayvon would be alive today and she wouldn’t be sitting there with her court nails. I wonder how Hicks would react if she were his daughter or DIL.
aaaaand how much story would you have to have to get it AROUND her?!
/I cant stop myself
/Like Rachel at the buffet
Looks like he’s lifting a side to let one rip...
Agreed. And well put.
This sweat hog is 19 years old and still in high school, can barely speak or understand English, tells lies with ease, can’t spell or calculate simple math problems, has a potty mouth, is unable to concentrate for more than 5 seconds, can’t read cursive, has a terrible attitude, is at least 100 pounds overweight (so overweight she can barely walk), has a pound of grease in her “hair” and fake nails that look like claws.
What a wonderful reflection on her parents and the Miami Public School System.
What employer in their right mind would hire her?
I wonder how blacks became so deluded. the successful ones are the worst. all they can do is make excuses. I am Italian and make no excuse for guidos, but am proud of all the college grads in my family. I don’t get it, it’s like they don’t want to move ahead as a group.
Don't kid yourselves.
We have no way of knowing but listening to this liar and simpleton on the stand I imagine they both thought it would be funny to go jump then beat the creepy cracka’s ass while she could hear it on the other end. WorldStar Hip Hop loves these kind of cell phone videos and pics of fights or someone being jumped or knocked out.
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