Zimmerman, no racist, has African-American ancestors

By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel

CHULA VISTA, California — The media did its best to portray George Zimmerman as a racist in its efforts to influence the public and the jury to convict him for the crime of manslaughter. Eric Holder, as of today, is still investigating whether Zimmerman might be prosecuted for civil rights violations.In the interest of brevity, here are some important facts why Eric Holder is wasting his time, not to mention our taxpayer money.

Simply put, Zimmerman is not a racist. In fact, his concern for the African-American community would probably put the most social-minded residents of Hollywood to shame.  Here are a number of examples why Zimmerman’s personal behavior reveals a man who bears no resemblance to the media’s attempt to vilify him.

  • In 2010, Zimmerman came to the aid of black homeless man named Sherman Ware, who was beaten by the son of a white policeman in Sanford, FL. After  Ware was assaulted, Zimmerman came to his aid and attended public meetings, demanding justice for the victim. He spent countless hours distributing fliers on cars parked at the local churches in the black community. Zimmerman was responsible for organizing a City Hall meeting on January 8th, 2011 at the Sanford City Hall.[1]
  • Together with a black associate, he opened up an insurance office in Florida.
  • Took a black girl to his high school prom.
  • Tutored black children who needed assistance in their school work.
  • Is a registered Democrat who voted for Obama—twice.
  • Only 50% of George Zimmerman’s neighborhood was white.[2]
  • Zimmerman has black relatives.

Now get a load of this, according to CNN analyst Mark NeJame,  “If President Obama says his son would have looked like Trayvon Martin, then if you look at these pictures, his grandparents and great-grandparents would have looked like George Zimmerman’s grandparents and great-grandparents,” Thus said NeJame during an appearance Thursday on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

NeJame points to a black-and-white picture of a family of tree, including a dark-skinned man he claims was Zimmerman’s great-grandfather.

He also identified a woman pictured standing above the man as Zimmerman’s grandmother, and a small child in the man’s arms as Zimmerman’s mother.

Speaking to News 13 Friday, NeJame said the photo was just one piece among many that led him to change his mind about whether Zimmerman was racially profiling Trayvon Martin.

“If President Obama says his son would have looked like Trayvon Martin, then if you look at these pictures, his grandparents and great-grandparents would have looked like George Zimmerman’s grandparents and great-grandparents,” NeJame said during an appearance Thursday on CNN’s “Piers Morgan Tonight.”[3]  I would have personally expected to hear such a story on FOX News, not CNN. In any event, NeJame deserves a lot of credit making this point at the CNN news program, for CNN gave an objective report that many of us probably did not expect to see on the news.

It would appear that proponents such as Eric Holder and others are making use of a classical “straw man” argument, which is an informal fallacy based on misrepresentation of an opponent’s position. NeJames is ironically correct. Obama’s son would really resemble George Zimmerman! It would also seem that George Zimmerman has been mischaracterized as a “white Hispanic,” when in reality he is also part African-Hispanic.

It seems to me that people will see what they want to see, and damn the facts!

Why is this so? Because well-meaning people want to see that the problems of racism still exist in this country. While there is undoubtedly some truth to this perspective, the George Zimmerman case has nothing to do with racism. But it does, as the jury unanimously concluded, has everything to do with a man who thought his life was in danger after he was brutally attacked. In the end, Trayvon Martin attacked a man who has African-American-Latino ancestry.



Notes:

[1] tp://dailycaller.com/2012/04/04/zimmerman-demanded-discipline-in-2010-race-related-beating-for-officers-who-investigated-martin-shooting/#ixzz2Z9MO5mLR

[2] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3044595/posts

2 thoughts on “Zimmerman, no racist, has African-American ancestors”

  1. Since our first President, George Washington, the American people have looked upon our leader as the Father of our Country, and what a disappointment that this President doesn’t see that George Zimmerman should also be counted among his children, regardless of skin color. Why could he not accept the word of a jury who listened to and weighed all the evidence presented, that Zimmerman’s wounds, a bloody nose and bruised head, verify that he was the assaulted. Yet rather than trying to soothe the nation of his children, Obama has intentionally caused dissension, pitting all his children against each other. Rather than calm the nation, he has done his best to pit one faction against the other, as if to encourage race riots and civil unrest. A believe he knows “a house divided cannot stand,” and this is another form of the Occupy movement for an agenda that bodes no good for these United States. I hope the Latino community can see they have no friend in the White House, and the African-Americans understand that Zimmerman’s Black heritage and background prove only that he’s being used for political reasons. Obama is using the African-American narrative for intentional ill will; how sad we have become.

Comments are closed.