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In Defense of Rachel Jeantel-After days of mocking, viewers of Zimmerman trial speak out...
The Root ^ | June 27, 2013 | Tracy Clayton

Posted on 06/28/2013 11:24:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

The George Zimmerman murder trial has captured the nation's attention since it began. When Rachel Jeantel, the last person to speak with Trayvon Martin (aside from Zimmerman), took the stand, it ignited a dialogue on race, class and the cultural shaming of our own.

Many people have been very critical of the way Jeantel speaks -- her subject-verb agreement, her Southern accent, her tendency to say "axe" instead of "ask." Speech is a cultural marker often used to highlight one's otherness. The problem with "improper speech" is not that people who speak in such tongues cannot be understood. It's that they speak in a way that makes others uncomfortable; that it forces people to acknowledge and deal with an otherness that they may otherwise prefer to step around. It is an otherness that makes whites uncomfortable and, apparently, shames blacks to the point of publicly attacking Jeantel for who she is.

In discussing Jeantel's testimony, news_anchors made sure to point out that she wasn't using "the queen's English," harped on the defense's inability to understand her and questioned whether she understood her importance to the trial. On Twitter, black folks said much of the same but also called her fat, ridiculed her complexion and made memes mocking her.

Writer Sherri Williams of the website Backbone compiled a Storify of some of the tweets and memes and further noted: "The black_respectability_police pondered if her father is in her life. They said if George Zimmerman is acquitted it would be her fault because of her sassy attitude. Black folks said girls like Jeantel are the type to keep away from their children."

The important context of what Jeantel has been forced to endure both on the stand and on the night that she last talked to Trayvon Martin has been cast aside.....

(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: blacks; eubonics; racheljeantel; trayvon; trayvonstroops; zimmerman
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To: CottShop

Just how does prosecution’s “stoke the fires of racism” convince the Jury to wrongly convict Zimmerman in the face of all the evidence?

This prosecution was foolish for bringing this case to court.


61 posted on 06/29/2013 6:38:50 AM PDT by X-spurt (I'm copywriting creepy ass cracker, send royalties to BR549)
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To: CottShop

Proofread is your friend....... got yo spell check turned off?


62 posted on 06/29/2013 6:42:28 AM PDT by X-spurt (I'm copywriting creepy ass cracker, send royalties to BR549)
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To: RegulatorCountry
She reportedly suggested to Trayvon that Zimmerman might be a rapist. Now, why would that thought enter her mind? Implication appears to be that Trayvon was homosexual.

6/27/2013 testimony of Rachel Jeantel

WEST: Well, what culture is that, where people describe other people as creepy ass crackers?

JEANTEL: Pervert.

WEST: I'm sorry? Do you understand what I mean by the culture, the culture that you were raised in, the culture that ‑

JEANTEL: The area I was raised, you’re saying to say?

ATTORNEY: Right. I’ll say it this way: The people that you live around and with call white people creepy ass crackers?

JEANTEL: Not creepy but cracker, yeah.

ATTORNEY: So the creepy is the pervert part that you were talking about?

JEANTEL: No.

"Ass cracker" is defined in urbandictionary as "one who engages in anal sex." If that is to be believed, then Jeantel was trying to be polite in court. West was not getting it. From Jeantel's perspective, West was being dense for not getting ghetto slang, and as a witness, it was not her job to respond more than the minimum necessary to answer the question.

Why would defense want to plant that suspicion among an all female jury? Weakness, sympathy.

It is actually the prosecution witness, Jeantel, who used the term, but only in allegedly quoting Martin. If Jeantel is to be believed, Martin was saying that he thought Z was following him because Z was homosexual and sexually interested in him.

63 posted on 06/29/2013 8:44:26 AM PDT by SteveH (First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.)
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To: GOYAKLA

[[My father (b,1899) came off a dirt farm in Alabama. Left the farm 1924 and self taught himself to electrical and a refrigeration engineer degrees. His creedo was if anyone else can do it so can I, even if it is brain surgery. He also invented some machinery safety equipment when he saw some fellow employees lose life and limbs to badly design machines he worked around.]]

Sounded liek a great father- accomplished much- and you’ree right- stupid and ignorant are two distinct ‘conditions’- But liek I mentioend in previous post- there are times when ‘being ignant’ is fine, and times when it’s not- being o n a wtiness stand isn’t one of those times- Is she was ‘celebrating her selfness’ and can’t turn off her selfness when it’s appropriate to do so, then yeah- she’s stupid- which does appear to be the case-


64 posted on 06/29/2013 8:56:20 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: Secret Agent Man
nobody made her lie but her

A quibble: It may yet be shown either that her testimony and evidence, including what is in practical terms a forgery attributed to her after the fact, was created before she was auditioned, cast, and paid to deliver it, or that Parks/Crump, the attorneys for Trashcan's parents, are paying her out of a slush find derived from the HOA settlement to lie in the manner they specify.

65 posted on 06/29/2013 8:58:25 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Lancey Howard

Any time I see an author instructing us on “otherness” or “the other”, I know I don’t need to read any more.


66 posted on 06/29/2013 9:00:24 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: Eric in the Ozarks

[[This leads right up to the present occupant of the White House. There has never been a more racially divisive president in the history of our republic.]]

Exactly- what he did in htis case alone should have been enough to turn America from supportign him- He BLATANTLY tried to stoke the flames of racial hatred- did his damage, and then dissappeared when all the damage was done-

Any DECENT president woudl have been calling for calm, woudl have WARNED the black panther movement who issued death htreats that the fedetral govenrment owuld NOT tolorate such vigilantism- and would have demanded that proper charges be filed, asnd if none coudl be filed, then george shoudl have been let go because he was already foudn innocent by an investigation

But nope=- not htis president- Not htis antiamerican president- He was all too ready to further divide htis coutnry and to put george zimmerman’s life at risk because he thouight george was white at that time-


67 posted on 06/29/2013 9:01:51 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: stormhill

While I was watching the trial coverage on HLN yesterday, I saw an ad for a new movie about how a white BART cop in SF accidentally shot an unarmed black teenager and killed him. It comes out on July 12. There is no way the timing is just a random coincidence.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fruitvale_station/


68 posted on 06/29/2013 9:02:00 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: tanknetter
why the prosecution was ok with having no Blacks on the jury?

Early reports were that blacks were wildly, statistically improbably, overrepresented in the line at the courthouse on the first day of jury selection. But many were dismissed for cause. Some just came right out and declared their bias, some unconvincingly pretended they weren't biased, and at least one was a "stealth juror" who was sniffed out by the excellent work of the Defense team.

69 posted on 06/29/2013 9:08:59 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: jiggyboy; stormhill
While I was watching the trial coverage on HLN yesterday, I saw an ad for a new movie about how a white BART cop in SF accidentally shot an unarmed black teenager and killed him. It comes out on July 12. There is no way the timing is just a random coincidence.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fruitvale_station/

Good catch. Coincidence? I think not.

Here are the comments on IMDB:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2334649/reviews?ref_=tt_urv

70 posted on 06/29/2013 9:10:55 AM PDT by thecodont
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To: Jess Kitting

[[And how would that help their case? (Even if race riots are going on outside the courtroom, that should not affect what is going on inside the courtroom.)]]

Because if that is ifnact what is goign on, it will subtly work i nthem inds of jurors the idea that an ‘upper class’ man hunted down a lower class minority- After weatchign thecasey anthony case, I learned nev3r to underestimate the guillibility of a jury

[[They have to examine Ms. Jeantel’s testimony on its own merits, not on whether someone outside the courtroom might be upset.]]

In an ideal world you are right- in the world of florida and california (OJ simpson trial) the jurors were manipulated by emotions and jsutice was not served-

Remember, the prosecution began the volley by appeaklign to the jury’s emotions- and I of course don’t know for sure0- but I suspect this ‘may be’ a calculated move o ntheir part to manipulate the emotions of htep ublic- she ‘may have been’ instructed to act even more ignorant and beligerant- the prosecution knowing hte judge wouldn’t dare chastize her for innapropriate court conduct because she’s black and becasue the media has sio racially charged htsi trial that everyoen now must tiptoe around the delicate sensitivities of a cvrowd that’s ready to explode at the slightest provocation


71 posted on 06/29/2013 9:13:33 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: Jess Kitting

and don’t get me wrong- I’m just guessing- I suspect the prosecution is devious- but they may not too- it was just a feelign I have about hte case


72 posted on 06/29/2013 9:15:02 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: LibLieSlayer
Angry, illiterate, immoral, uneducated, liar, racist, hate filled and unable to comprehend what truth is...

"...is no way to go through nine years of high school, missy!"

73 posted on 06/29/2013 9:15:09 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: peeps36

[[They probably tried to coach her but gave up in frustration.]]

You coudl be right- and probably are- But I never liek to udnerestimate the potential deviousness of an opponent- sorta liek ‘prepare for the worst, but hope you’re overestimated’


74 posted on 06/29/2013 9:16:19 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: thecodont
Much obliged. The last one is a somewhat ominous:

"This film embodies what happens when a filmmaker is ignorant of some of the facts and twists the others. He maintains it wasn't meant to be accurate; if so, he should have chosen a less incendiary topic. Left out is the most salient point that Mehserle had been warned by Dispatch that the huge "partying" crowd arriving soon that would coming out of the door had been already stopped by the police, found to be drugged and drunk, many had known records, were behaving rowdy and violently, and some had been arrested earlier on the spot for weapons violations.

75 posted on 06/29/2013 9:25:59 AM PDT by jiggyboy (Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
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To: X-spurt

[[Just how does prosecution’s “stoke the fires of racism” convince the Jury to wrongly convict Zimmerman in the face of all the evidence?]]

4 words:

Casey Anthony

OJ simpson

[[This prosecution was foolish for bringing this case to court.]]

Perhaps- but we’ll see how corrupt the court system is there i nflorida- IF it is a just justice system, then the judge will allow charges be field against the prosecution for falslely chargign george zimmerman with a crime he was NOT guilty of- they charged him as havign a ‘depravede indifference to human life’ and ALL trhe evidence that the police collected do NOT even begin to hint at such a wild accusation-

As I said in previous post here or in another htread- the judge shoudl have read the case, read the evidence, and been able to determien that there was NOT any evidence to brign such charges agaisnt george- thsi shoudl have never even got to this point- BUT because it’s such a racially charged issue- with our dear leader even weighing in for crying out loud, and the FBI threatening to fuerther bring charges DESPITE the lack of evidence, there is NOTHING just abotu htis case at all- George was FALSELY charged- and the prosecution engaged in serious prosecutorial misconduct and IF justice is to be served, shoudl be charged and disbarred for her blatant violation of the law

Hell, even hte previous judge was corrupt- Remember when george and his wife were charged with lying and brought before hte judge? I watched a tape where Mrs’ zimm asked hte judge “Do you want me to call my brother inlaw and find out how much is in the account?” The JUDGE said Nope- not necessary- He’s on record stating that- and hten he turns aroudn and ruels that she ‘lied’ about how much money was in the account? How did he determine that? She said point blank her cousin was handklign them oney and she didn’t know exactly how much was in there- she even offered to fidn otu for sure- buit hte judge said ‘not necessary’ and ruels that she lied-

This hwole case has been a serious violation of hte law- I am very suspicious that the jury will be much better, especially concidering we can’t even expect that thsoei n charge of the law carry out hte law any logner apaprently-


76 posted on 06/29/2013 9:28:31 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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To: jiggyboy

“He maintains it wasn’t meant to be accurate”

But the intended audience will see it as a documentary.


77 posted on 06/29/2013 9:31:30 AM PDT by thecodont
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To: P-Marlowe

“Rachel is a functional idiot. I blame her parents and her segregated culture for that.”

The MSM defends her. On Fox last night (Laura hosting O’Reilly, IIRC), two talking heads both commended Rachel as being an “excellent” witness. The whole situation brings to mind that quote about “The soft bigotry of low expectations.” (D.P. Moynihan, I think.) Everyone in her life has failed her. She has chosen to fail herself. She is applauded. Why should she aim higher?


78 posted on 06/29/2013 9:31:45 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (I feel much better since I gave up hope.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Oh, the extremes to which some black folk will go to distance themselves from the lot of us in the name of looking like the right kind of black. I can't say it better than Michael Arceneaux did: "I'm embarrassed for you uppity Negroes going out of your way to live up to standards imposed by those who'll never respect you."

Well Ms.Clayton, I'll respect her for her ability to "Twitter". I can't do that myself (not that I've tried much, I suppose).

Beyond that, I have serious reservations about her ability to survive in society without bucketloads of taxpayer assistance from her birth to her parting, whenever that may be. Her progeny, should she be so blessed, will grow up themselves to be recipients of ever increasing amounts of the very same assistance. THAT my Dear Blogger, is what I cannot respect.

I guess I'll go stand with the black folk who wish to distance themselves from the Rachel Jeantels of the world in the name of looking like the right kind of citizen.

Just one question: Does that make me a Racist, Uncle Tom lover, Creepy Ass Cracker or all of the above?

I already know I'm a brain damaged asshole. I have the patch & paperwork certifying it.
79 posted on 06/29/2013 9:43:21 AM PDT by BraveMan
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To: SteveH
[["Ass cracker" is defined in urbandictionary as "one who engages in anal sex." If that is to be believed, then Jeantel was trying to be polite in court.]] Reading motive into someone's unclear sentence structrures- it coudl just as well be read 'creepy ass' cracker- akin to saying 'he's one creepy ass football player' or whatever- it doesn't have to mean 'ass cracker' as defined by urban dictionary- it wil lbe a stretch tryign to prove one way or the toher just what the timing of the sentence referred to- wehther it was 'creepy ass' cracker, or whether it was creepy 'ass cracker' [[If Jeantel is to be believed, Martin was saying that he thought Z was following him because Z was homosexual and sexually interested in him.]] Again, that is a stretch- it's very possible martin was not aware that the term ass cracker meant homo- we know that black folks refer to white folks as 'cracker' and it's 'likely' martin knew that too and is why he used the term- but again- one can't know for certain what the itnent of the wording meant- as described above- Had west continued the questioning as follows i nthe hypothetical scenario, then we coudl say for certain martin meant it to mean he thought george was gay WEST: so creepy doesn't mean pervert i nyour culture, so I msut ask, does 'ass cracker' mean pervert then? JEANTEL: Yes. WEST: Did martin often refere to gay peopel as 'ass crackers'? ‑ JEANTEL: Yes, he always referred to gay peopel as ass crackers ATTORNEY: Did martin ever use the term 'creepy ass' to describe say a football player, or white person, or whatever? JEANTEL: Not that I know of- I never heard him use such a term ATTORNEY: So the 'ass cracker' is the pervert part that you were talking about? JEANTEL: Yes. (They probably woudl have had to have been much more caREFUL in their questioning than that scenario- but you get the idea- I don't think West went on far enough i nthe questionign to establish the differecne between 'ass cracker' and 'creepy ass'
80 posted on 06/29/2013 9:43:27 AM PDT by CottShop (Scientific belief does not constitute scientific evidence, nor does it convey scientific knowledge)
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