The Lynching of Trayvon Martin

When I initially heard that George Zimmerman wanted to auction off the gun he used to murder Trayvon Martin, I was livid. And when I found out that he intends to use “some of the proceeds from the sale [to] go toward opposing the Black Lives Matter movement,”[1] I was vexed. How do we live in a society where an adult can murder an unarmed child, get acquitted and then profit from his deed? Does capitalism know no moral limit? Furthermore, what type of person pays $140,000 to possess such an egregious relic of injustice and inequality? Why do these blatant acts of racism persist in our country?

What is particularly alarming to me about this whole tragedy is its startling parallel to America’s history of lynching blacks.[2] The horrors of terror lynchings peaked between 1880 and 1940 in this country. With the end of Reconstruction, southern whites felt embolden to terrorize black communities with this extra-judicious tactic. Through lynching, whites were able to enforce Jim Crow and racial segregation, with no fear of retribution.[3] The juxtaposition of terror lynchings from that era with the continuing saga of Zimmerman draws similarities in at least three respects.

The Assumption of Black Criminality

President Theodore Roosevelt once declared that, “the greatest existing cause of lynching is the perpetration, especially by black men, of the hideous crime of rape.”[4] This type of assumed criminality of blacks was endemic of that period (and presently), which led to very specious explanations for killing blacks. Blacks were lynched for committing social transgressions like not addressing a white person with the proper title, or not moving from the sidewalk for a white person. However, most lynchings occurred as a result of unscrutinized accusations of whites that a black person committed a serious crime like rape or murder.[5]

Similarly, Trayvon’s death was the result of his assumed criminality by Zimmerman. Zimmerman could not image that Trayvon was simply a child walking home. No, for Zimmerman he only saw Trayvon as some “a**hole” who “always gets away.” Sadly, his unscrutinized accusation of Trayvon proved fatal, just like it had for lynch victims before. Additionally, Trayvon unknowingly committed a social transgression by failing to grovel at the presence of this sinister stranger who lacked any authority to seize him. His failure to “know his place” cost him his life.

Lynching Souvenirs

Lynchings were public spectacles, drawing mobs that numbered in the thousands. Afterwards, spectators would divvy up “souvenirs” of the incident. These items included, among other things, the body parts of the victim, their clothes and the rope used to hang him or her.[6] Images of lynched bodies were also placed on postcards and mailed to distant consumers of this evil.[7]

In thinking about Zimmerman auctioning his gun, it is this aspect of lynching that is most evoked for me. Present day lynchings need not draw a physical mob because the Internet allows for a virtual one. Now the spectators can hide behind their computer screens while participating in injustice. Thus, Zimmerman does not have to be able to physically divvy up parts of Travyon’s body; he can do so virtually. Through Twitter he was able to post a picture of Trayvon’s dead body, creating a modern day lynching postcard. Through another website he is able to give away his gun as a souvenir of his ghastly deed. And just like before, there are consumers ready to claim this painful symbol of injustice.

Complicity of the Criminal Justice System

Finally, none of this would be possible, both historically and presently, without the complicity of the criminal justice system. Perpetrators of lynchings were rarely indicted or sentenced, and those that were, had their sentences pardoned.[8] Indeed, members of law enforcement attended many lynchings. As my great-grandmother use to note, “You couldn’t call the law to help because it was the law doing it to you.” The failure of the justice system to prosecute these vigilante crimes added to the terror within the black community because one could be killed for any reason or no reason at all. Many blacks fled the south to northern ghettos trying to escape domestic terrorism. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before they realized that the Promised Land was not up north.

Likewise, the Sanford Police initially showed a great unwillingness to arrest Zimmerman for murder. They were ready to simply accept his explanation of self-defense and let him walk away. Only after national protest did the state attorney step in to indict Zimmerman. But this particular state attorney was a member of the Tea Party, and was responsible for prosecuting Marissa Alexander, so I did not have much faith. In the end, the state failed to secure a conviction.  As I watched the prosecution’s performance, I can honestly say I was not surprised by the verdict. In my opinion, the will to convict Zimmerman was not there on the part of the state and the jury.

But where do we go from here? There is no Promised Land to escape to this time. And the truth is, there never was.  I suppose that means we must make a Promised Land out of the space we find ourselves. How do we do that? I do not know. For now, however, we must demand justice and refuse to recapitulate to this cycle of terrorized violence against black communities. We cannot let Zimmerman continue to profit from his murderous acts. We must find a way to shutdown the website UnitedGunGroup.com that allowed for the selling of lynching souvenirs. And finally we must expose the anonymous bidder who is wealthy enough to support racism, but too much of a coward to admit it!

–Until Next Time–

Palooke

[1] http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/gun-used-kill-trayvon-martin-earns-140k-bid-auction

[2]Other authors have observed the connection between Zimmerman and lynching. For further reading check out this article http://thehumanist.com/commentary/auctioning-responsibility-george-zimmerman-relics-american-whiteness

[3] Lynching in America: Confronting the Legacy of Racial Terror, Equal Justice Initiative. Full report http://www.eji.org/files/EJI%20Lynching%20in%20America%20SUMMARY.pdf

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6]https://books.google.com/books?id=O3ZldmMty7UC&pg=PA22&lpg=PA22&dq=lynching+souvenirs&source=bl&ots=p9fqRyhFBF&sig=UmfwKZVPaUgNCHhlvjHsBZ6z3BQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj9hKHggNXMAhUI2SYKHZMuCXsQ6AEINzAE#v=onepage&q=lynching%20souvenirs&f=false

[7] See http://www.cvltnation.com/nsfw-american-terrorism-lynching-postcards/

[8] See note 3.