Saturday, December 1, 2012

Robert Zimmerman Jr., a class act

Today Robert Zimmerman Jr., the brother of George Zimmerman, wrote an open letter to Michael Skolnik, the editor in chief of Global Grind and political adviser (?), to Russel Simmons (Def Jam Records).  George Zimmerman stands accused of Second Degree Murder for the shooting of Trayvon Martin, a Miami Gardens youth who attacked George on February 26, 2012.  George, by witness accounts and forensic evidence, was defending himself against that attack and the possibility he would be killed.  George was charged and turned himself in on April 11, 2012, a month after this op-ed piece by Michael Skolnik, where he blatantly and with malicious agenda, calls George Zimmerman a murderer.

White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious Like Trayvon Martin! by Michael SkolnikPosted March 19, 2012
So, today I decided to hit the ball.  Making a choice.  A choice to stand up for Trayvon Martin. 17 years old. black. innocent. murdered with a bag of skittles and a bottle of ice tea in his hands.

He calls George a murderer not once, but twice in his editorial opinion piece.  He bases his opinion on....
I got a lot of emails about Trayvon.  I have read a lot of articles.  I have seen a lot of television segments.  The message is consistent.  Most of the commentators, writers, op-ed pages agree.  Something went wrong.  Trayvon was murdered.  Racially profiled. 
He then blatantly lies or believes everything he is told and is simply repeating the misinformation....not good for an "editor in chief".  He says he talked to the family before writing his piece, Tracy knew the following to be untrue.  
For heaven's sake, for 24 hours he was a deceased John Doe at the hospital because even the police couldn't believe that maybe he LIVES in the community.
 Trayon was identified as soon as his father got around to calling in a missing persons report with the SPD about 13 hours after Trayvon was killed 70 yds from where Tracy was staying.
And you know, like I know, it wasn't because of the hoodie or the jeans or the sneakers.  Cause I had on that same outfit yesterday and no one called 911 saying I was just wandering around their neighborhood.  It was because of one thing and one thing only.  Trayvon is black.
The race card.  Michael throws the race card and incites violence against Zimmerman and his  family based on the fact that no one called 911 on him the day before when he was wearing a hoodie and sneakers. 

Even with all of this, Robert Zimmerman had the class and grace to accept an invitation from Skolnik to speak with him, the call lasted 90 minutes.  Robert was also scheduled to do an interview today, but due to safety issues, he had to cancel. Instead, he wrote an open letter to Michael Skolnik.  Despite calling his brother a murderer and inciting countless threats to George and his family from the people who listen to commentators like Skolnik, Robert wrote a wonderfully moving letter.  He took the high road.  Please read and retweet - his words do not apply only to this case, but the state of our society in general right now.  We could also learn from his diplomacy.
From the Desk of Robert Zimmerman Jr. 
An Open Letter to Michael Skolnik, Editor in Chief, Global Grind
(Excerpt) George did not “profile, pursue… confront… and then kill Trayvon Martin in cold blood”, there was no “shot, a clear shot… boy begging for his life… then… a second shot”- scenarios attorneys Crump and Jackson would report. There was no use of the racial slur “coons” as was suggested by CurrentTV and then by CNN. But there were producer edited phone call recordings,false talk of leaving a truck after being “told not to by police”, questions about the entire Zimmerman family being a family of racists, and allegations that the Sanford police and State Attorney ’s office had “conspired to sweep the murder of Trayvon Martin under the rug” for racist reasons.
There was an agenda – a profitable one – one that relied on anything but facts to advance, and there were people all too happy to throw their hands into the bucket and throw stones at an innocent man’s reputation in order to be assured they would have a place at the table when the forthcoming feast would be served."

Bold emphasis and tweet below are mine (renewsit)