Notable Links Regarding Zimmerman's Trial

I have been following various news articles and blogs regarding the verdict in George Zimmerman's trial and its aftermath, but I've refrained from posting about it or engaging in any type of related discussion (particularly in the brutal coliseum of emotion and kitsch that is social media, where it's hard to have productive conversations, much less any type of healing). Because I'm speechless. Regardless of where one stands regarding the verdict of the trial, this whole event is tragic and unjust. I strive to reflect the values of the Triune God I worship as found in the Bible. God takes pleasure in the death of no one (Ez. 18:32).

So while I'm speechless, I really shouldn't be silent.

I thought I'd post some links (in addition to the one above) for my readers (Christians and otherwise) that I've found helpful in processing the event and how to properly respond. These two articles are balanced and informed, and they (rightfully) never simplify or show partiality.  

Trayvon Martin and the Irony of American Justice by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates does good work here in reviewing the complexities of the trial and modern issues of race and injustice. I came to appreciate Coates's work when I recently stumbled over his compassionate interview with Harold Pollack, college professor and Crime Lab co-director, working for the public health betterment of my home metropolis, Chicago, who had over 500 murders last year. In Coates's article on Zimmerman's trial, inadvertently reminding us that the cultural affects the political (and not vice versa), he boldly writes: 

I have seen nothing within the actual case presented by the prosecution that would allow for a stable and unvacillating belief that George Zimmerman was guilty. That conclusion should not offer you security or comfort. It should not leave you secure in the wisdom of our laws. On the contrary, it should greatly trouble you. But if you are simply focusing on what happened in the court-room, then you have been head-faked by history and bought into a idea of fairness which can not possibly exist.

To expect our juries, our schools, our police to single-handedly correct for [racial issues and injustice], is to look at the final play in the final minute of the final quarter and wonder why we couldn't come back from twenty-four down.

Ed Stetzer edited a blog with contributions from a social psychologist and two Sanford-area clerics, entitled Privilege, Blame and Injustice. He opens by saying:

Since that fateful night in February 2012, we have watched and waited for a determination of what exactly happened between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. While we may never know the details, a jury has found Zimmerman not guilty of murder or manslaughter. However no matter what the jury decided, the fact remains that a 17-year young man old is dead, his family is hurt, and a man's life has been turned upside down.

The focal points of the trial were certainly Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. But, in such trials, we learn about ourselves, our culture, and brokeness of our society. We learned that this society remains divided.

I'll post more helpful links as they come up.