USA Africa Dialogue Series - Charles Berkley Got It Right!

 

      Dear All

 

 

     Charles Berkley got it right!

 

We do not have to always think alike.

 

Just like Great Minds Think Alike, Fools Are also For Ever in Consensus.

 

There should be no further debate about whether or not George Zimmermann was GUILTY.

He has been pronounced LEGALLY not GUILTY by a jury of his peers even though it might not have mirrored

a jury Treyvon Martin's peers. The justice system stipulates a jury of the accused's peers which may or may not  not resemble that of the victim. The verdict of NOT GUILTY does not necessarily mean that he]is INNOCENT,

 

The court has spoken. All law citizens in a country like the USA that is ruled by a set of laws, as imperfect as some of the laws might be, have no legal or moral choice but to accept the verdict, even if a substantial number amongst the citizens  neither like nor share the opinions of rationale of the members of the jury who rendered  the nit guilty verdict.

 

After much reflection since the not guilty verdict was delivered in the George Zimmermann's murder trial, I have come to the conclusion that the Justice system of the United States of America,  has reached the only a possible verdict regardless of whether or not the accused had plans to kill Treyvon Martin or any other young African-American on that fateful night in Sandford, Fl.

 

 

Just like Charles Berkley, I doubt if  murder was on George Zimmermman's mind that

evening.

 

George Zimmermman was most likely an overzealous, probably racist

volunteer neighbourhood patrol officer looking to help the police make an arrest

of a potential robbery suspect.

 

 African-Americans and all other peoples of African descent have no choice but to accept

the NOT GUILTY verdict--considering we did not protest when the same imperfect US justice

system exonerated O.J. Simpson of double homicide even when the state had more than ten times more solid evidence to convict him than it had against George Zimmermann.

 

 

The only offence George Zimmermann is guilty of that evening was that of Racial Profiling

and Harassment; he was neither guilty of secondary degree murder nor manslaughter.

The crown never had or if it had, did not present enough evidence to convict George Zimmermann on either of those two counts.

 

George Zimmermann could also have been charged with careless discharge of  a firearm causing death--but the crown did not lay this charge.

 

George Zimmermann was not tried for Racial Profiling-- an offence that may or not exist in the

criminal code for civilians even though it might be an offence under the Police Act in most jurisdictions. He was also not tried for harassment.

 

If racial profiling were an offence, at least a quarter to half of US citizens should be self indicting themselves almost everyday of their lives. Race is a reality in the USA just as it is in Canada, Australia and in fact in all multi-racial countries around the world. It percolates through and influences everyday interactions amongst US citizens. It is not only white Americans who engage in racial profiling; all Americans do, just like all Americans also profile fellow citizens based on their socio-economic class, the kind of automobiles they drive, where they live, gender and sexual preferences.

 

Treyvon Martins death was a tragedy and an accident; not a crime.

 

If Treyvon Martin and George Zimmermann had missed crossing each other's paths

even by some milli-seconds that evening, we would not have had the pre-arrest uproar and the onging controversy during and afer the trial. The accident was the fact that the two crossed paths that night; the tragedy was that the fight that ensued resulted in the death of one of the two protagonists. It would have been a tragedy regardless of who lived and who died!

 

Treyvon Martins death was an unnecessary loss of an innocent life.

 

Treyvon Martin was probably martyred  so African-Americans and indeed all Americans

could finally wakeup and realize that the frequent talk about a post racial America, (since Obama was elected President,) is nothing but a mirage--indeed a mere pipe dream and a delusion.

.

There is nothing post about race in America or anywhere else in the world. Ethnocentrism, and clanism (tribalism) are the substitutes for race in mono-racial societies.

Race is as much a reality in the USA as tribalism is in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and other monoracial but multiethnic countries in the world,

 

 

The jury had no other choice but to declare a NOT GUILTY verdict;

as there was insufficient evidence to secure a Guilty Verdict and overcome

the onerous burden bourne by the crown in every criminal trial that an offence must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt in order to secure a conviction.

 

The benefit of the doubt remained legally with George Zimmermann, the accused from the day he was arrested until the moment he was acquitted by the jury.

 

Charles Berkley got it right! It is time for all Americans and in fact all human

beings to start having a meaningful dialogue about race. There is nothing

real about a post racial-America, Canada, England, South Africa, Nigeria, China or anywhere

else in the world!

 

Bye,

 

Ola

 

 

---- Original Message ----
From: Jerome Niang Yakubu, SE., PE. <let_drb_peace2@yahoo.com>
To: talkhard <talkhard@yahoogroups.com>; NIgerianWorldForum <NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com>; TalkNigeria <TalkNigeria@yahoogroups.com>; Jerome Niang Yakubu, SE., PE. <let_drb_peace2@yahoo.com>
Sent: Fri, Jul 19, 2013 1:10 pm
Subject: [NIgerianWorldForum] Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict"....SO DO I.

 

 

 

Honestly asking:

Must anybody that agrees with the NOT GUILTY verdict be considered an enemy of the black African/American people?

 

I don't think so. You have the rights to your opinion and judgment, so are others. Live with it..........ZIMMERMAN IS NOT GUILTY.

 

When will we start asking for what really happened from the BEGINING, I repeat, the BEGINING, that progressed to the point at which the gun was pulled and fired?

 

That night was not the first night at work for Zimmerman, he was not out there searching for a nigger to kill.

 

At the BEGINING, if the teenager had been on the SOFT side, no gun would have been pulled.

I keep asking everybody, Why must a neighborhood need to hire VIGILANTES at all, do you hire VIGILANTES in your neighborhood?

For any neighborhood to hire a gun-carrying VIGILANTE, it has to be that the neighborhood is populated by not-so-good elements. You may disagree with me, Just pray that your neighborhood needs no VIGILANTES.

 

Now, the parents of Trayvon Smith and the rest of the world that were stung by the NOT GUILTY verdict are considered the VICTIMS of something, may I assume racism?.......Yeah, right.

 

Who and where are the victims of those ruthless, gang-forming, home-vandalizing, store-shoplifting, dope-selling teenagers of the neighborhood, who were the reasons the neighborhood had to hire Zimmermann as a VIGILANTE of the neighborhood?.

Be a victim of those once, 16-like-26, bearded-faced so-called teenagers first then come back and give me your opinionated verdict.

 

May the soul of the dead rest accordingly, preferably in peace.

 

The jury has deliberated, the verdict is NOT GUILTY, I say NOT GUILTY too.

 

Jerome Niang Yakubu, SE., PE.
     Civil/Structural Engineering.

From: Gregg Ukaegbu <gukaegbu@comcast.net>
To:NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com; 'Naija Politicse- Group' <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 11:33 AM
Subject: RE: [NIgerianWorldForum] Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict"

 

Just read this a while ago.

Charles Barkley and his foot-in-the-mouth disease.

Agree what verdict?

 

Does he agree with the verdict of the woman who fired shots in the air and got twenty years.

Intellectual laziness makes people agree with what they don't know, just to sound cute and curry favor. 

Charles Barkley may have hurt himself here.

 

There was no verdict.  There was no trial.  The dead boy was tried, his killer was not.

 

Trayvon Martin was a victim of the Republicans Party's determination to destroy the United States by turning the nation into a new wild wild west with this Stand Your Ground Law.  The law is pure positive reinforcement for wanton murder.  Almost all Republican Red States have passed the same time.  It is no different than the Taliban policy of policing society by killing as many people as they run into during the day.  There is no daylight between the Republican Party and the Taliban on every dimension.  Take time to compare and see for yourselves.

 

Whereas this racist stand your ground nonsense is aimed at hurting minorities and people of color, it propelled by Republican's insanity with wanting every American to be armed.  If every American is armed, it means the gun industry makes a lot of money; which means lawmakers who are supported by the gun industry make a lot of money too. 

 

To encourage more and more Americans to buy guns, the Republicans strive to water down the legal consequences of firing guns—that's stand your ground right there.  Stand your ground goes against the basic minimum of civility necessary for society to survive.  That's what the Republican Party is removing from the United States.  It is not funny.

 

Jeb Bush signed Stand Your Ground in Florida.  His presidential ambition was buried when Trayvon Martin was buried.

 

                                   *ezekwe*

 

  

 

From:NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com [mailto:NIgerianWorldForum@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of DIPO ENIOLA
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 12:00 PM
To: Naija Politicse- Group
Subject: [NIgerianWorldForum] Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict"

 

 

Charles Barkley On Zimmerman Trial: "I Agree With The Verdict"

CHARLES BARKLEY: Well, I agreed with the verdict. I feel sorry that young kid got killed. But they didn't have enough evidence to charge him. Something clearly went wrong that night. Clearly something went wrong. I feel bad for anybody who loses a kid, but if you looked at the case and you don't make it -- there was some racial profiling, no question about it. But something happened that changed the dynamic of that night, and I know -- that's probably not a popular opinion among most people but just looking at the evidence I agreed with the verdict.I just feel bad because I don't like when race gets out in the media because I don't think the media has a pure heart, as I call it. There are very few people have a pure heart when it comes to race. Racism is wrong in any, shape, form -- a lot of black people are racist too. I think sometimes when people talk about racism, they say only white people are racist. There are a lot of black people who are racist. I don't like when it gets out there in the media because I don't think the media has clean hands.

MARIA BARTIROMO, CNBC: I'm glad you made that point.

BARKLEY: Obviously I feel sorry that young kid got killed but just judging by the evidence, I don't think that guy should have went to jail the rest of his life. Something happened bad that night, obviously.

BARTIROMO: I like what the juror said, they both should have walked away. And if there is a shadow of a doubt, there is a shadow of a doubt.

BARKLEY: And let me tell you, Mr. Zimmerman was wrong to pursue -- he was racial profiling. I think Trayvon Martin, God rest his soul, I think he did flip the switch and started beating the hell out of Mr. Zimmerman. But it was just a bad situation. And like I said, the main thing I feel bad for, it gives every black and white person who is racist a platform to vent their ignorance.

That's the thing that bothers me the most because I watched this trial closely and I watch all these people are television talking about it. A lot of people have a hidden agenda. You know, they want their racist views, whether they are white or black --

BARTIROMO: The bias comes out.

BARKLEY: The bias, it definitely comes out. It was a bad situation, we all lost. And I feel bad for his parents. You don't ever want to see anybody lose a kid. (CNBC Closing Bell, July 18, 2013)

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