Facebook user’s ‘Letter to Zimmerman’ goes viral
theGRIO REPORT- A Facebook post directed at George Zimmerman, and pointing to some of the ironies of his current situation, has gone viral...
A Facebook post directed at George Zimmerman, and pointing to some of the ironies of his current situation, has gone viral, with some, including the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart, calling it one of the most powerful commentaries on the trial thus far.
The letter, written by Alex Fraser, had been shared more than 93,400 times as of 6:32 p.m. Saturday. It has also attracted 98 comments.
Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder and manslaughter charges in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. He said he shot the unarmed Miami teen in self-defense.
In the letter, Fraser warns Zimmerman that he is “now going to feel what its like to be a black man in America”:
You will feel people stare at you. Judging you for what you think are unfair reasons. You will lose out on getting jobs for something you feel is outside of your control. You will believe yourself to be an upstanding citizen and wonder why people choose to not see that.
People will cross the street when they see you coming. They will call you hurtful names. It will drive you so insane some days that you’ll want to scream at the top of your lungs. But you will have to wake up the next day, put on firm look and push through life.
It concludes: “I bet you never thought that by shooting a black male you’d end up inheriting all of his struggles.”
Read the letter and comments here.
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