An Open Letter to George Zimmerman

Dear George,

I hope you don’t mind me calling you George, but I feel that in the last two weeks I’ve gotten to know you pretty well as I can’t avoid all the articles and publicity about you. So, I’m just wondering if you would grant me a simple request. Would you please rethink what you’re doing and turn yourself in, come clean and ‘fess up? It is true that you have not been charged with anything, and by your own account you were defending yourself, so why are you in hiding? What are you afraid of? You don’t seem to realize that your actions have unleashed a juggernaut that, if left unchecked, will engulf this country in really nasty circumstances. Let me explain:

“You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won’t have it! Is that clear?………… And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature, and YOU… WILL… ATONE!”

That quote is from the movie Network where one man was capable of turning public opinion just by talking. The head of his network is scolding him for speaking his mind and upsetting the apple cart, and, George, this is one hell of an apple cart you’ve got tipped over. I don’t know if it’s even possible to set it right again but you’ve got to try.

There is a groundswell building in the Black and the Progressive communities that will not be ignored. The rally in Ft. Mellon Park and the town hall meeting in the Sanford Community Center showed that there is a demand for justice. You’re only a part of it, although you are the key. The demands for arresting you continue to expose the Jim Crow mentality Seminole County as well as the rest of Central Florida to the entire world. Already you have caused two Seminole County public servants to lose their jobs because they tried to put a lid on it and there will be more to come. You have also created a Trayvon Martin industry which will continue to grow. A new special prosecutor with no ties or loyalties to the region can do irreparable harm to the good ol’ boy way of life here. Do you really want that to happen? FYI, The Orange County School Board still hasn’t fully complied with a Federal Court decision issued in 1961. We here in Central Florida need to keep that system in place.

At the town hall meeting Monday every speaker, Rev. Al Sharpton, Trayvon’s parents, Ben Crump, Re. Jamal Bryant, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rep. Corrine Brown (your congresswoman), Urban League CEO Marc Morial, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and young Mr. Mitchell of the NAACP college div. were all citing legal reasons why you should be taken into custody. The march before the meeting and the rally outside in the park afterwards attracted many thousands of people who demanded more of the same. All kinds of people- White, Black, Asian, Latino gay, lesbian demanding you stand trial. Now, here’s the problem; it’s not going to go away until something positive is done by authorities. These speakers are very powerful and they have a national audience and that audience is being whipped into a frenzy by all this. It won’t be violent as all the speakers are eschewing violence, but there is a much bigger thing to fear: these people are going to vote. Not only here, but in the rest of the country as well and you’ve given them a cause. You’ve done in one single act what ACORN, the President, the DEC, the unions and the League of Women Voters were unable to do-you’ve riled them up.

Imagine how many black churches there are in Central Florida alone. Then think about the entire state. Then think about Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and other Jim Crow states that have these voter suppression laws that won’t stop these people. Think about the “Shoot First” laws that all these states enacted to protect you from them. In one fell swoop that could all go away. Think about your hard working state senators Gardiner, Hays, Simmons and Altman, and your equally hardworking state reps Metz, Brodeur, Dorworth and Plakon. These men have worked diligently to ruin our public schools, restrict minority voting rights and give us our guns to shoot these people with and all that is in jeopardy of going up in smoke. You are endangering ALEC’s master plan and I’m sure they are not happy about that. After all, they have spent a lot of years and a ton of money keeping these people suppressed and in their place.

Think about the people who inadequately defended you. Lawrence O’Donnell absolutely destroyed any credibility that your Lawyer, Craig Sonner had because of his walkout. Rene Stutzman will probably never get another good tip from her sources, and Joe Oliver will probably never get a media job again after O’Donnell and Charles Blow got done with him and his inept performance. Hey, think about me! Do you know how hard it is to write this stuff and keep it interesting? Do you have any idea how many racist and hateful comments I’ve blocked on Youtube just to protect you from being associated with racists? I’m letting many comments in support of you and against Trayvon go through as long as they don’t contain cursing or racist language. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’m getting more hits than I can believe on these videos and since they are monetized I might get a little cash. Think about your legislators. If they get bounced your protection is over. You really have nothing to lose.

Think about it. Turning yourself in could bring a halt to everything. It could stem the momentum building in the Black community and blunt the investigations that are now underway. If you are indicted you’ll have to stand trial anyway so why not take a preemptive stance. Number one, you’ll have a legal defense fund based on lots of the comments I’ve seen and every Seminole County legislator plus their superpacs will assure you that the fund will be well financed. Number two, you’ll be able to get fabulous representation. There must be scores of lawyers much better (and braver) than Craig Sonner who would jump at the chance to defend you. Number three, you and your attorney can craft a credible story if what you’ve been saying is true, and get it out nationally. You may actually have to face manslaughter charges and some lesser charges, but people who kill other people in Central Florida many times are found not guilty. As long as you have a jury panel from one of the far northwestern counties, or actually get a change of venue you stand a good chance of walking free. Even if you have to serve a little time that’s going to be the price for righting the apple cart. So, George, it’s up to you to take one for the team and protect our time honored corrupt way of life here. Do it for your own self respect. Do it for all of your supporters. Do it for the “Gipper.”