This Is My Rifle: Confronting the Truth Behind Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman Posted by Jason James on 07/17/13 | Filed under Opinion, This Is My Rifle

As an American Indian man I am very familiar with racism. My grandfather, who passed before I had a chance to meet him, was a survivor of Canada's residential school system. First instituted in 1876 and made compulsory for all aboriginal peoples in 1920, residential schools were boarding schools ran by the Catholic church in cooperation with the federal government, and were intended to be a means of assimilating Indian children into Anglo-Saxon society. In reality, these schools were giant torture chambers where children were physically and sexually abused, starved and/or frozen to death, and sometimes even murdered. As a child my grandfather used to run away from school, only to be caught by the authorities and returned multiple times, until finally they grew tired of chasing him and removed him from the education system completely. My grandfather died at home on his couch in 1974- a business owner and a 2 time golden gloves winning boxer with a 4th grade education. The last residential school closed in 1996.

I don't cry very often. I've watched many people come and go throughout my lifetime and I can only recall losing control of my emotions at a funeral twice. But in my quest to find my true last name, my grandfather's name was James (my middle name) and his last name was British since it was changed through the residential school program, I've broken down and cried every time I re-visit my mission. My grandfather never spoke about the horrible things that were inflicted upon him during his time in the residential school, but through my own research I've come to have a fairly strong understanding of just how traumatizing his early years were and as I dig deeper I find myself welling up with anger.

In my own life I have found that racism has slowly faded away as I’ve gotten older. Being American Indian in Canada is what I imagine it must feel like to be Black in the southern United States- for the most part everyday life is perfectly normal, but every now and then prejudice rears it's ugly head to remind you that you are definitely not a part of the "club". I mostly experienced this as a child and have rarely come across it as an adult because, to be quite honest, there is no tolerance for disrespecting any race - more specifically aboriginal culture or people - in my presence. Do it once and get a warning. Do it twice and we will throw hands. It's not tough talk, it's just who I am and it's a principle I live by, for better or worse. That being said, I generally enjoy a life free from racism, although I am aware that it happens behind my back quite often. I've heard the laughs, seen the stares and I have been excluded because of what I am with no explanation given.

Knowing this, I've resisted the temptation to write about the George Zimmerman trial on numerous occasions because I am not in line with the popular opinion. Additionally, I know how a large majority of Black Americans feel right now and they have every right to be angry. To be told that your life is not valued and that you are expendable is not a sentiment that one can easily accept. In the past, my reaction to the knots of confusion and anger twisting in my stomach after coming to the realization that my mother, my brother and myself are not appreciated in the same way as other human beings was to lash out violently. In short, I understand how you feel and I commend you for having more restraint than I typically would.

But what's been troubling me about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman saga is the lack of responsibility being displayed by the media and the country as a whole. The portrayal of both Martin and Zimmerman have been extremely inaccurate and very few of those passing judgment on either person have taken the time to actually read through the information available to them. The media has labeled Zimmerman as a "White Hispanic", although he's clearly Latino and I highly doubt has ever been referred to as "White" in any way until now, and they have ran pictures of a prepubescent Trayvon Martin in order to further instill the image of an innocent child, viciously snuffed out by the hands of a monster, rather than show him as we was, a 17-year-old, nearly fully grown man.

The result of this, as we all know, is a growing racial divide, with those in support of Trayvon flooding Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with pictures attempting to make him a martyr or a saint, some even going as far as to super-impose his head on Jesus' body or offering to please him orally when they get to heaven (seriously, no joke), while those who question Zimmerman's guilt are automatically dismissed as bigots. It seems as if in this particular circumstance there is no room for fact checking or searching for truth. It's black and white, us and them- 2 sides ignoring some harsh realities surrounding this case and attempting to sweep them under the rug in order to push their own agenda.

We now know that Trayvon Martin was most likely the aggressor in his confrontation with George Zimmerman. The prosecution's own witness, John Good, even testified that Martin had physically attacked Zimmerman and was bashing his skull against the pavement. Does this mean that Trayvon Martin deserved to die? Absolutely not. But what it does tell us is that Zimmerman was acting in self-defense- an entirely different situation altogether in the eyes of the law.

Further analysis of the 911 call also now reveals that George Zimmerman was afraid of Trayvon Martin. This changes the landscape of their confrontation immensely. What this tells us is that Zimmerman was a terrified citizen of an upper class neighborhood and not a blood thirsty racist eager to pounce on and kill any Black male that crossed his path.

So here’s what we have now: a 17-year-old boy entering into conflict with an untrained, armed coward. No matter how the confrontation began, we all know that there was no way both of them were going to walk away from their encounter alive. Did George Zimmerman racially profile Trayvon Martin? Perhaps. Was justice served in finding Zimmerman not guilty? That’s debatable. But what we do know for sure is that the story the media has told us is a gross exaggeration of the truth. George Zimmerman is not White and he is not racist. Here’s a fact that most of you probably don’t know: Just 2 years before he shot and killed Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman printed and distributed copies of a flier actively petitioning the local police to criminally charge a White man- and son of a police officer- who had physically assaulted a homeless Black man a few months prior. The White male was released from police custody without any further investigation into the assault and Zimmerman publicly accused the police force of being corrupt, while actively working to see that justice was done.

I am not writing this in defense of George Zimmerman. What I am trying to do is clarify a story that until now has been murky at best. Don’t let the media and politicians stretch this out any further. There are some serious issues at hand right now and they are using this story to drum up controversy and divert us away from subjects that desperately need our attention. Don’t allow yourself to be divided along a line drawn by a media that lies to you repeatedly every day. We have to let go of Trayvon Martin and if Eric Holder and the DOJ want to federally charge George Zimmerman with manslaughter, then so be it. The legal system is still backwards, our governments are still corrupt and the people are still suffering. We have to get back on track.

(Jason James is an artist, freelance columnist and writer for RefinedHype.com. You can read/download his free eBook, "This Is My Rifle" and listen/download his most recent album, "Pyramids in Stereo". You can also contact him here and here.)