What do I think about the verdict in the Zimmerman trial?

Truth is, what I think doesn’t matter.

What I think doesn’t change the verdict. What I think doesn’t bring Trayvon Martin back from the dead.  What I think doesn’t ease the pain of Trayvon Martin’s parents.  What I think doesn’t change Florida’s “Stand Your Ground Law.”

What I think doesn’t end racism, stereotyping and discrimination.  What I think doesn’t soften hearts and change minds so that people of different races and ethnicities look at each other like people and not like cardboard cutout stereotypes.

What I think doesn’t change the fact that in this country there are too many guns, they are too easy to purchase, and too many people (especially, and tragically, children) get shot with them every year.

What I think doesn’t change the fact that Congress has continually failed to enact important legislation to regulate guns.  You wanna argue that the 2d Amendment guarantees you the right to own a gun? Okay.  That’s fine. Respectfully, I disagree, but, I’m not here to debate that point.  However, no one can argue that even Constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms can be regulated when it’s in the public interest.  And, I think that stopping people from getting shot is in the public interest.

But, again, what I think doesn’t matter.

However, if you’re asking or if you’re interested in what I think about this incident, it’s this:

America has a race problem. We have a gun problem.  And, of course, we have a combined  attention-span and priorities problem.  Because with all our problems, we can’t seem to stay focused on the real problems.  Instead, we get distracted by celebrity marriages and pregnancies, by “shark week,” and by what movies gross (a statistic irrelevant to everything include the quality of a movie).

Will fixing any of our problems bring back Trayvon Martin or “do justice” for what was done?  No.  Sadly, there is no real justice for his family.  Even had Zimmerman been convicted and sent to prison for life, that doesn’t give Trayvon’s parents the one thing they want more than anything — for their son to be alive.  There is no true justice for victims’ families no matter the sentence given to the offender.  The only “justice” we can hope to do is learn, be better as we go forward and hold accountable those who do wrong. To read about “Justice for Trayvon Martin” rallies, see this link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57593992/sharpton-organizing-justice-for-trayvon-rallies/

Oh, and by the way, I have one other thought on this issue:  why was a neighborhood watch guy walking around with anything more than a flashlight and a whistle?  Zimmerman needed a gun like North Korea needs more nuclear weapons.