Racial divide grows wider in wake of Zimmerman trial

Common sense and decency appear to have reined in the exploitive calculations of Juror B37, her lawyer husband and her publisher as they announced they have scrubbed plans for a book about the trial of George Zimmerman whose fate she helped decide.

Then again, propriety may have had less to do with the decision than a hard realization that such a book would have to overcome a backlash of ill will and loathing to reap any rewards.

Juror B37, the label given her to guard her identity, was one of six women who acquitted Zimmerman of the murder of Trayvon Martin. She was quick out of the jury box, getting herself on television two days after the verdict, albeit with her face blacked out, and even quicker to solicit the book deal, calling an agent within 24 hours of the verdict.

Her conduct was appalling, though not unexpected. After all, many others have cashed in or tried to lengthen their 15 minutes of fame, regardless of damage.  

There has been a lot of damage already.

A black teenager is gone from this world for doing nothing more than walking in the rain in a hooded sweatshirt and responding when confronted by a man self-assigned to target “these a–holes” who “always get away.”

Juror B37 told a TV interviewer that she didn’t see the case “as a racial thing.” The unrealistic observation buttresses the fantastic claim that because Zimmerman is part Hispanic, he could not possibly have considered Martin’s race in deciding the teenager was a threat, as if bigotry cannot enter the soul of someone who isn’t white.

The harm here is a failure to grasp what it is like to have to be on guard simply because of your appearance. It is about black parents trying to explain to their children what to do and what not to do when approached in a situation like Martin’s. How hard it must be to tell their sons and daughters that although America has a black president, the color of their skin alone still puts them at risk.

The damage comes also with widening a rift that separates us, and while there is hope for an upside that could result from thought and discussion about race, any development will likely be incremental, if at all.

Though Zimmerman’s lawyers did not cite Florida’s broad “stand your ground” law, B37 told a television interviewer that she allowed him his claim to self-defense, ignoring the fact that defending himself would not have been necessary had he not pursued Martin despite a police dispatcher’s instruction to stay away.

If such laws get a second look, as Attorney General Eric Holder has called for, the damage this disaster has caused could be moderated.

Zimmerman himself is damaged. Acquittal has not freed him. His life for the foreseeable future will be encumbered by legal challenges, notoriety and fear, his quest for heroism irreparably beyond reach.