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 ...
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.
Proofread is your friend....... got yo spell check turned off?
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, youre saying to say?
ATTORNEY: Right. Ill 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.
[[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-
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.
Any time I see an author instructing us on “otherness” or “the other”, I know I don’t need to read any more.
[[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-
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/
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.
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fruitvale_station/
Good catch. Coincidence? I think not.
Here are the comments on IMDB:
[[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
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
"...is no way to go through nine years of high school, missy!"
[[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’
"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.
[[Just how does prosecutions 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-
“He maintains it wasn’t meant to be accurate”
But the intended audience will see it as a documentary.
“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?
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