A Nation Divided: The Acquittal of George Zimmerman vs. The killing of Trayvon Martin

MAMARONECK, N.Y. - July 17, 2013 - PRLog -- Were you there?

         Were you there the night of February 26, 2012, when a verbal confrontation between two young men escalated into a physical scuffle, ending with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old?

         Were you there as a jury of six women sat through a month-long trial of listening to arguments by prosecutors and defense attorneys and testimony by witnesses, and also inspecting physical evidence associated with the scene of the shooting?

         Were you there when the jury deliberated for more than 16-hours before reaching their verdict?

         We weren’t.  And while many people followed the trial closely, their opinion of guilty or not-guilty was very likely influenced by media commentary and even a reporter’s choice of words and voice inflection to describe the courtroom scene.

         As President Obama rightfully stated, George Zimmerman received a fair trial and a jury found him “not guilty”.   As painful as this verdict is for the family of Trayvon Martin, the American judicial system succeeded by giving both sides their day in court.  Obviously, Mr. Martin was not there to present his side of what happened and had he survived the shooting and a civil suit was brought, the verdict might have been different.

         What failed and continues to fail is this country’s inability to come to grips with gun violence in America.  Seven months ago we were largely united as a nation by the consensus that something has to be done about gun violence after the elementary school shooting in Newton, CT.  Vice President Biden was appointed to head up a commission to review existing legislation that, in 2013, interprets the 1791 language of the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment that gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms.  (That amendment was influenced by the English Bill of Rights of 1689.) A lot has changed in the 222 years since the passage of the Second Amendment, including an increase of nearly 100 fold in the nation’s population.  Just imagine how many guns there would be on the street if every man, woman and child eligible to legally purchase a gun in 2013 exercised their Second Amendment rights.

         On the six month anniversary of the Newtown shooting, Vice President Biden blasted the Senate for defeating proposed legislation that would require an extensive background check on buyers of firearms anywhere in the United States.  He vowed that his committee will not give up the fight and President Obama renewed this pledge with his statement about the outcome of the Zimmerman trial.

         Now drop, for a moment, the word “Minority” from this organization’s name.

         As a National Business Council we urge the Vice President and his committee, as well as all members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, to not rest until something is done about gun violence in the United States.  Background checks seemed like an obvious first step, and yet it was defeated.  Addressing gun violence also needs to be a critical priority for educators nationwide by reinforcing the obvious: Human beings are all created equally and all are entitled to live in peace, without fear of a violent death, in our great society.

         We don’t need another “blue ribbon panel” to contemplate the blood red consequences of senseless killings.  We have all of the expertise already needed to come up with viable solutions for putting an end to the domestic violence that is destroying the very fiber of our great nation and the potential of every member of this wonderful melting pot we call the United States.

The National Minority Business Council, Inc. (NMBC), a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) corporation, was founded in December 1972. The primary purpose of the organization is to enhance the success and profitability of the small business community through the provision of high-quality services, programs, advocacy and networking support. The secondary purpose is to act as an information clearinghouse for the women- and minority-owned business enterprise (MWBE) community.

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