Finally, George Zimmerman’s been arrested.
It’s amazing it took so long. If the roles had been reversed, if Trayvon Martin had shot Zimmerman dead in the street, you can bet that Trayvon would have been arrested and charged right away, not 46 days later.
And let’s be clear here: The only reason Zimmerman ultimately got charged was because people at the grassroots, in the streets, on Facebook and Twitter, on progressive talk radio and on MSNBC made a stink about it.
Otherwise, it would have been just another case of racist law enforcement, of “Stand Your Ground” injustice, of white Castle Doctrine.
Remember, it took a long while for the outrage to build over the Trayvon Martin case. He was killed way back on February 26.
Most Americans didn’t start hearing about the case for almost a month.
And had it not been for the outspokenness of Trayvon Martin’s family, and the help of Al Sharpton, and the anger that every parent, and especially black parents, felt at this injustice, we may never have heard about this case at all.
It’s a case much larger than Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.
It’s about racism in America.
And it’s about the control of our state legislators by pernicious, anti-democratic forces like the NRA and ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, which pushed through the “Stand Your Ground” bills in state capitols around the country.
Whatever the outcome of Zimmerman’s trial, the jury will still be out on the fate of our democracy.
If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story “Adrienne Rich, In Memoriam."
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