Posted on 07/28/2013 12:47:05 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The Zimmerman verdict sits like a stone in the guts of many Americans. We struggle to put our finger on what sickens us, but we know something feels really bad.
It wasn’t until I read Guy Farmer’s commentary (“Zimmerman trial marred by racial politics,” July 21) that I started to get it. Amid hundreds of words reviewing the facts of the case, which we all know by heart, Farmer reveals in 13 words what is wrong with the Zimmerman verdict: “Martin wasn’t an innocent young boy; he was a head taller than Zimmerman.”
In that profoundly disturbing sentence, Farmer demonstrates the deep, probably subconscious, generational and regional biases that fester in our complex American culture. In a sentence, Farmer absolves Zimmerman of the termination of a fellow human being’s existence and judges Martin guilty and culpable for his own death — because Martin was taller than Zimmerman.
That sentence makes me think about both Zimmerman and Martin in a new light.
Zimmerman, a 29-year-old man, possessed something — in addition to a gun — that the just-turned 17-year-old Martin did not possess — a fully developed prefrontal cortex.
In human beings, the maturation of the prefrontal cortex is not achieved until about 25 years of age. That gave Zimmerman an advantage over Martin in the areas of cognitive analysis, abstract thinking, problem solving, determining and evaluating consequences, calculating strategies in shifting or urgent circumstances, recognizing and controlling intense impulses and emotions, modulating behavior and considering complicated incoming information in fight-or-flight situations.
In other words, Zimmerman, almost twice Martin’s age, had a mature prefrontal cortex and a gun, while Martin had an immature prefrontal cortex still overruled by primitive limbic structures, a can of sweet tea, and Skittles.
Farmer sums up his analysis by quoting Reno attorney David Houston: “This was a case where [Zimmerman] forced a confrontation, but did what he had to do when he was attacked.”
Houston’s words reveal what makes our guts clench when we realize the sickening abdication of Zimmerman’s personal and social responsibility as a grown man in a position of power. Using Houston’s logic, maybe Martin did what he had to do when he was confronted — or more accurately, maybe Martin did what his immature prefrontal cortex thought he should do.
So if Farmer is suggesting that 29-year-old Zimmerman was frightened for his life, I am suggesting that 17-year-old Martin was too. But Zimmerman possessed all the ammunition to prevent this tragedy.
We’ll never know exactly what happened that night. According to Farmer, Martin wasn’t followed and killed because he was black, but because he was tall and therefore not innocent. And therein lay the convoluted and absurd rationalizations being offered to justify the uninvited confrontation and subsequent killing of an unarmed, immature, and yes, innocent boy by an armed, mature man.
The gnawing in our gut confirms that something is wrong here: In the case of George Zimmerman, the law may be satisfied, but justice is not.
Evidence and facts be damned....
If he was so scared of Zimmerman..why didn’t he run away? Younger and fleet of foot he would have been home free.
Mentally-challenged vote Democrat; that's WHY !
I’m sorry, I don’t know what I just read.
The Zimmerman verdict sits like a stone in the guts of many Americans …. . . because the mainstream media and hack academics such as the “author” here keep ramming it down everyone’s throat—especially the lies about it.
Perfessor dumbass sez..
The liberal view is that Zimmerman should have been the one to run away, even if they accept the finding that Trayvon threw the first punch.
But, the liberals don’t say how exactly Zimmerman was supposed to escape when he was on the bottom, getting his head bashed in.
Remember all this the next time your head is getting bashed in by a teen “youth”. Remember that his brain function is not fully developed yet, and cut him a break for not thinking through consequences of his actions and all that.
What a silly article. Mind you, Zimmerman did have 10 actual advantages over Martin in their struggle...all of them 9mm hollowpoints.
So we know that the six foot two burglar and gun merchant was really a child because he wasn’t twenty five yet?
I take it we should raise the driving age, drinking age, age of consent, voting age, and age of military service to twenty five.
Had Trayvon simply not ATTACKED Zimmerman he’d still be alive today. It’s no more complicated than that.
Martin brutally assaulted Zimmerman... and was a head taller (if you like).
Another liberal moron hiding behind the whore’s robes of academia.
One advantage was that Zimmerman had an IQ at least 100 points higher than Trayvon. What’s the other advantage?
“That gave Zimmerman an advantage over Martin in the areas of cognitive analysis, abstract thinking, problem solving, determining and evaluating consequences.....”
That also applies to the below mentioned police officer and USMC veteran. I guess he was, unfortunately, either slower or plain unluckier than Zimmerman.
A gang of Latino punks thought it was amusing to key the private car of a police officer (and USMC Afghanistan/Iraq vet) Jonathan Molina, who lived in their neighborhood. When he confronted them, they assaulted him. One knocked him unconscious, and straddled him, beating his skull against the concrete. There’s a news story about the accused doer’s indictment.
Just like Trayvon Martin did to George Zimmerman. Just like Trayvon, the accused, Juan Gonzalez, was “an unarmed child” of 17. Unlike Zimmerman, Molina had more restraint, or perhaps he was already unconscious.
He suffered “a fractured skull, internal head injuries and multiple facial fractures.” He never regained consciousness and died nine days later.
Gonzalez’s fellow gang members ratted him out to save their own skins. Gonzalez’s skin is safe; despite being charged with capital murder of a police officer, he can’t be executed because of his calendar age, but if convicted he can expect life without parole.
These are only accusations at this point, filtered through the media, and who knows what will come out in court (a lesson we learned from the Zimmerman case, as well as from Popehat and TalkLeft, two informative blogs by working defense attorneys).
Because Molina was a police officer, and because the homicide occurred in Texas, he’s quite unlikely to have been charged if he had shot Gonzalez.
Just a teen. A kid. An unarmed kid.
Who killed him stone cold dead.
You don’t need a weapon in your hand to commit murder. Not if you have murder in your heart.
And those primitive limbic structures made very good use,indeed,of a particular stretch of concrete sidewalk.And that clever usage,if allowed to continue,would very probably have killed Mr Zimmerman's "fully developed prefrontal cortex" the death of which,in turn,would have killed Mr Zimmerman.
FFS!! How much longer are we going to have to listen to this crap?
Trayvon wasn't attacked by George Zimmerman, it was Trayvon who initiated the fight.
Take a poll of NYT readers and see how many of them believe that. 10% maybe.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.