Opinion
Zimmerman Tries to Speak for God
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
B ERNIE F OSTER
Founder/Publisher
B OBBIE D ORE F OSTER
Executive Editor
T ED B ANKS
Advertising Manager
J ERRY F OSTER
Account Executive
L ISA L OVING
News Editor
H ELEN S ILVIS
Multimedia Editor
D AVID K IDD
Graphic Designer
M ONICA J. F OSTER
Seattle Office Coordinator
J ULIE K EEFE
S USAN F RIED
Photographers
The Skanner Newspaper, established
in October 1975, is a weekly publica-
tion, published each Wednesday by
IMM Publications Inc.,
415 N. Killingsworth St.,
P.O. Box 5455, Portland, OR 97228.
G
eorge Zimmerman, the
Florida man who killed
Trayvon Martin, told Fox
News personality Sean Hannity
that the events that occurred on
Feb. 26 were “God’s will.” What
a cynical manipulation of our Cre-
ator, to suggest that the massacre
of an African American teenager
by a crazed vigilante is the will of
God. Actually, if one wants to
know about God’s will, one might
simply to go to the Ten Command-
ments, the sixth of which is quite
explicit: Thou shall not kill.
George Zimmerman has proven
himself to be a multiple liar. He
called himself destitute while col-
lecting tens of thousands of dollars
from a website that was formed to
fund his defense. A judge put him
back in jail for that lie. He
declined medical attention the
night he killed Trayvon, and then
showed up the next day with
bumps on his head, but no evi-
dence of who put them there. This
is the equivalent of a drunk driver
fleeing the scene of an accident
and turning himself in sober the
next day. Now, Zimmerman faces
a camera from an undisclosed
location because he fears death
threats, faking sincerity and
regrets but saying that Trayvon’s
death is God’s will.
Trayvon Martin’s death is not
God’s will but Zimmerman’s, and
the will of those legislative vigi-
lantes who have passed “Stand
Your Ground” laws in many
states. Trayvon’s death is the will
of those who have peddled these
vigilante laws all over the nation.
Just as Zimmerman has manipu-
lated the God’s word, he has also
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
manipulated the truth, and he
ought to be ashamed.
Note that “Stand Your Ground”
laws are different from the “Castle
Laws” that allows residents to use
force against those who unlawful-
ly enter their property. These laws
have their own downside – wit-
George Zimmerman says this
case has divided our nation, and he
is, perhaps right. How else could
an admitted killer garner more
than $200,000 via the Internet
unless some rabid souls choose to
support the wanton massacre of
young African American men? At
the same time, this admitted killer
has had hubris enough to provoke
the New Black Panther Party to
make him the target of incendiary
rhetoric. But the New Black Pan-
ther Party, a small organization
that is more bark than bite, may
have offered a death threat. Zim-
merman, who was told not to fol-
low Trayvon Martin, actually
Trayvon Martin’s death is not God’s will
but Zimmerman’s, and the will of
those legislative vigilantes who have
passed ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws in
many states
ness the case of a man who shot
Halloween trick-or-treaters. But
these laws allow folks to shoot
people (as opposed to formerly
held laws where one was required
to retreat) if they are in a place
where a defendant is allowed to
be. Using such laws, had Trayvon
had a weapon he might have justi-
fiably used it on Zimmerman,
since he had the same right to be
on the streets as Zimmerman. But
does anyone have any doubt that if
the shoe were on the other foot,
Trayvon would have been allowed
to leave jail without being
charged?
committed one, and were it not for
the national attention this case has
garnered, might have never been
charged with the evil he commit-
ted.
I had the opportunity to meet
Sybrina Hudson, Trayvon Martin’s
mother, and attorney Benjamin
Crump at the most recent Rain-
bow/PUSH annual conference.
Sybrina is soft spoken but deter-
mined, a woman who would not
have sought the limelight but for
her commitment that her son, and
other young Black men targeted
by
racists,
should
have
justice. She has started a website
www.justicetm.org, that will pro-
mote justice for Trayvon and the
many other young Black men
whose lives are placed in jeopardy
by “stand your ground” laws. She
is to be commended for turning
her pain into passion and power.
The rest of us who love young
hoodie-wearing Black men who
have every right to walk through
streets, to stop at stores to buy iced
tea and Skittles, to hang out at bus
stops, as other teens do, to play
basketball on courts at night, now
must tell them the racist rules of
the game.
One friend told me that she
instructs her sons never to look a
White policeman or a threatening-
looking White man in the eye. She
says she hates the Reconstruction-
inspired instructions but embraces
it if it will keep her sons alive.
Another has banned evening
excursions, choosing to drive her
sons to get snacks rather than to
have them walk. Still another,
who lives in a tony suburb in
Maryland, has instructed her son
to turn on the microphone embed-
ded in his phone so that, in case of
confrontation, she has a record of
what happened.
George Zimmerman’s says his
murder of Trayvon Martin was
“God’s will. He knows another
God than most of us do.
Julianne Malveaux is President
Emeritus of Bennett College in
Greensboro, North Carolina
Read the rest online at
www.theskanner.com
Telephone (503) 285-5555.
E-mail: info@theskanner.com
World Wide Web site:
http://www.theskanner.com
Fax: (503) 285-2900
The Skanner is a member of the
National Newspaper Pub lishers Associ-
ation and West Coast Black Pub lishers
Association.
All photos submitted become the
property of The Skanner. We are not re -
spon sible for lost or damaged photos
either solicited or unsolicited.
© 2012 The Skanner. ALL RIGHTS RE SERVED.
REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT PERMISSION PROHIBITED.
To see The Skanner
News on your smart
phone go to
theskannermobile.com
or scan this QR code
with your app.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Local news
Opinions
Jobs, Bids
Sports
Entertainment
Music reviews
Bulletin board
RSS feeds
Page 4 The Portland Skanner
Blacks Allow Obama to Disrespect Them
W
hile watching Mitt Rom-
ney’s speech before the
NAACP in Houston, it
dawned on me how Romney and
President Obama are out of touch
with the needs of Black communi-
ty. Last week, I dealt with Rom-
ney. This week, it’s Obama’s turn
to be scrutinized.
Much has been made of
Obama’s decision not to address
the annual convention of the
NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil
rights organization. It’s troubling
how many so-called Black leaders
almost tripped over one anoth-
er apologizing for the president’s
behavior. Ben Jealous, president
and CEO of the NAACP, said on
TV that, “they (NAACP) will give
the president a pass because they
were told he had a scheduling con-
flict.”
Scheduling conflict? That’s the
oldest trick in the book. It’s such a
lame excuse that whenever the
term “scheduling conflict” is men-
tioned in Washington – which is
pretty often – people laugh openly.
In most cases, it’s not a scheduling
conflict, it’s a case of people
scheduling a conflict.
But, once again, Obama has con-
cluded that there is no price to pay
for such presidential disrespect.
Unfortunately, he is correct.
Obama believes that pretending
that he is not Black will make peo-
ple believe he is not Black. As one
“public intellectual” put it, Obama
runs from Black people like Black
July 25, 2012
GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Raynard Jackson
people run from cops.
I am amazed at the silence from
the Black community on these
snubs. Blacks seem to have
accepted this insulting treatment.
The silence in the Black communi-
ty is deafening. Blacks get exact-
unemployment rate in the Black
community], we probably would
be marching on the White
House…There is a less-volatile
reaction in the CBC because
nobody wants to do anything that
would empower the people who
hate the president.”
How about empowering the peo-
ple who put him in office?
After President Obama’s spoke
to the National Urban League con-
Much has been made of Obama’s
decision not to address the annual
convention of the NAACP, the nation’s
oldest civil rights organization. It’s
troubling how many so-called Black
leaders almost tripped over one
another apologizing for the
president’s behavior
ly what they deserve from
Obama—nothing!
Ben Jealous is not the only
prominent Black person to make
excuses for the inexcusable.
Consider what Congressional
Black Caucus Chairman, Emanuel
Cleaver (D-Mo.) said last year on
“Meet The Press.” With no sense
of shame he said, “If [former Pres-
ident] Bill Clinton had been in the
White House and had failed to
address this problem [the high
vention this week in New Orleans,
even the NAACP pretended that
he hadn’t snubbed them.
For the record, I voted for
Obama in 2008. And as a Republi-
can, I took a lot of heat from those
in my party for doing so. My vote
for Obama had little to do with his
race. He was by far the better can-
didate. There was no way I was
voting for a ticket that included
Sarah Palin. The Republican
Party did not deserve my vote. I
will vote every time on a case-by-
case basis because nobody owns
me or my vote.
Last week, I talked about the
importance of Black business
leaders. They justifiably complain
about limited access to capital –
which is not good in a capitalistic
society – and the failure of gov-
ernment at every level to make
sure Black businesses get a fair
shot of landing contracts. After all,
Blacks pay taxes too, often at a
higher rate.
You would think that this would
change under President Obama –
but it hasn’t.
According to a recent story in
the Washington Post, “U.S. gov-
ernment contracts to black-and
Hispanic-owned small businesses
fell last year for the first time in a
decade, declining at a sharper rate
than awards to all companies.
Can you tell me what Obama
and the Democrats have offered as
a solution to this problem? You
guessed it, absolutely nothing.
I am not surprised by Obama or
Democrats. After all, this is the
same party that dissed and embar-
rassed Congressman Jim Clyburn
(D-S.C.) when they fell into
minority status in the House in
2010 and had to shuffle the top
leadership posts. Of course, the
first Black president sat quietly by
and said absolutely nothing.
Read the rest online at
www.theskanner.com