Given continuing reaction to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, we believe there is a truth that Atlanta can again teach this nation. It is that honest listening and true dialogue can yield transformational results.
We’re optimistic enough to believe that’s the case even when the subject matter mixes race and guns — among the most divisive and volatile issues before our nation.
The world knows the story of how Atlanta escaped the upheaval that occurred other places during the Civil Rights Movement. Our outcome was different because brave leaders on both sides of a contentious debate chose tough dialogue over destructive confrontation. That helped them find, and then build out from, shreds of common ground. Which enabled profound changes in both perceptions and practices that helped set Atlanta on the path toward becoming the powerhouse that it remains to this day.
That was then. Today, much of the nation and world are stewing over the outcome in the Zimmerman case. Given these in-your-face times, predictable bunkers have been dug. One side attacks “stand your ground” self-defense laws. Another argues that black-on-black crime statistics warrant such laws and more – as if statistics can ever justify a single, avoidable loss of human life.
Lost in the shouting are what we believe to be essential points worth an honest hearing and consideration.
First, who among us can not empathize with a desire to keep our children safe as they navigate a rough world? That parents can’t always do so comprises a large part of the anguish felt by many in the days since an adult George Zimmerman entered into a confrontation with teenaged Travyon Martin on a rainy night last year.
It’s often said that a resurgence of strong families and strong values would reduce this nation’s crime statistics. Makes sense. It should not be hard then to understand why many people, starting with Trayvon’s parents, would be disgusted and dismayed that a 17-year-old who had been minding his own business on a street wound up dead moments later from a bullet through the heart.
Moving beyond this fractious issue will be easier if all sides can at least acknowledge the different perspectives of others. Actively listening to opposing views — rather than derisively dismissing them outright — can be a first step toward understanding and constructive results.
Yes, the law found Zimmerman not guilty, and that verdict must be respected.
Yet a gut uneasiness over this matter lingers with many people of goodwill. With good reason. As the Chicago Tribune’s Midwestern conservative editorial board notes on this page, this killing did not have to happen. Had Zimmerman heeded a police dispatcher’s words, a human life could have been saved.
Even advocates of the public’s right to carry firearms acknowledge and preach that doing so carries a great responsibility. Massad Ayoob, a former police officer and author of the 1980 book “In the Gravest Extreme: The Role of the Firearm in Personal Protection” writes in a section subtitled “Discretion” that, “The man who wears a gun carries with it the power of life and death and therefore the responsibility to deport himself with greater calm and wisdom than his unarmed counterpart, whose panic or misjudgment in crisis situations will have less serious consequences.”
Truer words were never spoken. Going forward, this nation will benefit from that kind of plain talk, sincere listening, and a search for common ground. Atlanta set a great example in this regard long ago, and it still holds value today.
