Wherever George Zimmerman Is, Don't Feel Sorry For Him

It's a good thing websites and blogs didn't exist back in the 1970s when Ted Bundy was killing women. If they had, I'm sure he would've started one proclaiming his innocence and framing himself as the victim. After all, that's what George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, 43 days ago has done.

If you think I'm going too far in comparing Zimmerman to Bundy, get this: Zimmerman's site includes a picture of Ohio State University's black cultural center, which was defaced with the words “Long Live Zimmerman” spray painted on the side. Who would post that other than a sociopath? If Zimmerman's trying to make us think that he's not only a murderer of a black teenager but also crazy, he's kinda succeeding.

Indeed, in Zimmerman's alternate online reality which went live yesterday, he writes:

"On Sunday February 26th, I was involved in a life altering event which led me to become the subject of intense media coverage. As a result of the incident and subsequent media coverage, I have been forced to leave my home, my school, my employer, my family and ultimately, my entire life. This website's sole purpose is to ensure my supporters they are receiving my full attention without any intermediaries."

Life altering event? Someone please tell this man the truth: YOU MURDERED A KID. He calls it a life altering event...I call it a life ENDING event. He ended Trayvon's life, ensuring that that child will never have the chance to go home and hug his mother again. Trayvon will never go to college, get a job, or start a family of his own.

Zimmerman subsequently asks people to donate money to his legal defense fund. "I would like to provide an avenue to thank my supporters peronally and ensure that any funds provided are used only for living expenses and legal defense, in lieu of my forced inability to maintain employment," he says.

So now I'm not only supposed to feel sorry for a murderer, I'm supposed to donate money because he no longer has a job? 

**Blank stare**

Sadly, a recent USA Today Gallup poll shows a deep racial divide about the murder of Trayvon, revealing that only 11 percent of people who aren't black think Zimmerman is definitely guilty. That means he probably has plenty of contributions from sympathizers.

Zimmerman has wrapped himself in the flag--you see it flying patriotically on his site--making himself the symbol of the type of folks who are tired of pretending in public that they like black people. Exhibit A: the folks in Michigan who decided to hack a construction sign so that it says this:

Seriously. And now Zimmerman's supposed attorneys (how are they his lawyers if they've never met him and he never paid them?) have resigned because their client has disappeared. I guess Zimmerman no longer needs money to pay legal counsel, right?

Maybe Zimmerman's arrest is imminent and so he will be forced to resurface, but at this point, who knows what will happen. He could already be out of the country.

I would be dishonest if I didn't admit to feeling increasingly depressed and angry over this case. I've had to stop reading most mainstream media articles having to do with it because the comments oozing hatred for black people, the venom toward President Obama because he spoke up and demanded justice, the suggestion that Trayvon deserved to be shot--it takes a toll on the psyche.

That said, I'm not giving up hope yet. I believe that justice will be served and Zimmerman will go to jail. I also keep thinking about how from the start of the fight for racial equality in this country, white folks and black folks have been there side by side. From the abolitionist movement to the Civil Rights movement to the present day, our history together is not all one of the George Zimmermans of the world shooting the Trayvon Martins.

Indeed, one of the benefits of growing up with a white father is that I got to see him speaking up for and challenging his white peers about the need for justice and racial equality. We need more of that. Dear white brothers and sisters, you need to talk to your peers because I'm not sure America's listening to black folks anymore. And, when you talk to those people, do me a favor: tell them that George Zimmerman doesn't deserve their empathy or financial support, wherever he may be.