http://madamenoire.com/284037/rachel-jeantel-who-we-should-really-be-ashamed-of/ Sorry Colin Powell....
Rachel Jeantel & Who We Should Really Be Ashamed Of...
Rachel Jeantel is a reminder that even in our righteous claims for justice, there is sort of a sad realization of just how much we perpetuate the very things that we claim we are against.
I often wonder what would our collective response to this tragedy have been if Martin wasn’t the baby-faced boy we had seen in pictures. What if he had a neck tattoo, baby dreadlocks and gold teeth? What if his linguistic patterns included a bunch of vowel splitting and “G” dropping? What if he rolled his eyes a lot and was known for speaking in an aggressive manner and tone? Would our convictions about George Zimmerman’s guilt have been less strong? Would folks have marched for justice or made George Zimmerman Wanted Poster-memes as their avatars; would they have taken “selfies” of ourselves in hoodies, holding a can of Arizona Ice Tea and Skittles?
The more optimistic part of me would like to believe that we would be just as vigilant. The realist in me knows differently. I don’t understand the lack of empathy we have for Jeantel – actually I do. She is everything that makes some of us cringe in front of white America. She is an uncouth, abrasive, dark skinned, overweight black woman with a weave and an attitude. As far as some of us are concerned, she is confirmation of everything that “they” think negatively about us. And for that we grit our teeth and wave our fists about how she is making us look bad.
However she did not ask nor volunteer to represent us. If not for bad fate, she would be another nameless black girl that we passed indiscriminately by every single day on the streets of America – unconcerned about her past or her future. And yet for circumstances outside of her control, she was plucked from her insular existence and thrust into the center stage of a highly profiled murder trial – and worse under the scrutinizing eye of people, our people, who went onto social networking sites to make fun of her weight; her color; who compared her to the fictional character Precious and other unwarranted attacks. I can understand why Jeantel is a defiant witness. As bad as she is getting it from the defense it pales in comparison to virtual beat down she is getting from us.
It can’t be easy, sitting in the same seat for hours, hashing and rehashing the same story you’ve told probably dozens of times before – to different people, in different venues at different intervals – and having to tell it again, this time to highly-skilled lawyers badgering you, trying to poke holes in every single utterance you make, fishing for ways to twist your words into gotcha moments. I know I would certainly get flustered and angry if I had to explain in front of a room full of people I don’t know why my relationship status with the victim was “complicated” – all the while wondering why that is even relevant to the facts of the case to begin with. And to her credit, the amount of resolve it must have taken to not respond more belligerently at the line of questioning about why she did not want to attend Martin’s funeral.
To which she tearfully responded, “You got to understand, you the last person to talk to the person and he died on the phone after you talked to him — you got to understand what I’m trying to tell you…I’m the last person, you don’t know how it felt. You think I really want to go see the body after I just talked to him?”
But in our haste to condemn and disassociate ourselves for what is nothing short of truthful emotions, we forget that she is hurting too – way more than any of us sitting at home watching the trial on television or in front of our computers. That this, for her, is not some political rallying cry she can put a hoodie on or rock a nifty slogan on buttons about to make it all feel better. Just like Martin, his parents and Zimmerman, her life changed that faithful night too. And for the rest of her life, she will have to live the memory – and probably guilt – of what happened. And not just what happened the night in question but during this trial, where people, particularly her own people, treated her worse than the man that is on trial for the actual crime. And quite honestly, that is what we should feel ashamed the most about here.
Making this deeper than it is. Truth is the girl is borderline retarded. End of story.