Over the past few months while waiting for this decision, I found myself acutely suffering from a continual nerve wracking case of the \u201cZimmerman Effect.\u201d The Zimmerman Effect, (a self-coined condition loosely defined as a soul wrenching social justice malady) can best be described as my abject mistrust and fear of juries, especially when it comes to entrusting them to do their sworn duty in helping administer and dispense impartial justice regardless of the race, creed color or gender of the victim. So pervasive was this fear that I began to forego my usual voracious readings of social media feeds, conventional news articles that remotely had to do with this trial. In spite of my self-imposed mini news blackout, droplets of information (not all good) managed to seep into my faux calm veneer. I cringed when I heard Renisha described as a \u201ddrunk woman\u201d who had the temerity to look for help in a strange neighborhood as she wandered around disoriented after crashing into a parked car in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. When the the few savage Twitter feed tweets I did manage to read through viciously lambasted her for being severely intoxicated and inexplicably ending up on Wafer\u2019s porch, I wondered about the friends she might have been drinking or partying with. Why didn\u2019t someone who cared about her take her keys and drive her home? Do friends still let friends drive drunk? I also wondered about that well-meaning female Samaritan who may have been the last person to see Renisha alive. Why didn\u2019t she call 911? \nMy level of Zimmerman Effect angst rose significantly when I heard that Wafer was being characterized by his defense attorney as a \u201chomeowner\u201d who was merely defending his property and himself from danger. Wafer, a 6ft tall white man with a loaded Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun claimed he was afraid for his life and felt the need to fatally defend himself from the loud door knockings of a 5 ft. 4inch unarmed female. Despite his assertions that he was just protecting himself, his own words condemned him when he declared in his last stand testimony that he was \u201cfull of piss and vinegar,\u201d and he wasn\u2019t going to \u201ccower\u201d in his home anymore in fear. Ironically, George Zimmerman was also portrayed as a defender of his property who was tired of the \u201cthugs and punks\u201d who robbed the condos he felt self-appointed to defend. He too decided to protect himself from Trayvon Martin, another unarmed African American teenager. Like Wafer, Zimmerman\u2019s penchant to perform like a self-righteous vigilante on steroids removed another precious life from this planet. Both Wafer and Zimmerman could have avoided murdering innocent people by doing what millions of Americans do when they are threatened or face imminent danger\u2014dial 911, remove themselves from harm and let the police handle the situation.<\/p>\n
Mercifully, this jury deliberated for nine hours and came back with what could be considered a just verdict. Wader was convicted of second degree murder, manslaughter and possessing a firearm while committing a felony. He will be sentenced August 21, 2014 and could face life in prison. Renisha\u2019s family will face an even harsher penalty, that of being deprived of the love and company of their daughter. Walking in the noble God given grace and courage that only mothers who have lost their children to such heinous crimes can, Monica McBride, Renisha\u2019s mother brushed aside the media\u2019s ill-informed suppositions and racists\u2019 vicious attempts to scandalize her daughter\u2019s name by continually reminding them that Renisha was the real and only victim. When it was all said and done, her mother quietly observed, justice showed that Renisha, a \u201cregular teenager,\u201d who was well-raised and brought up in a loving family\u201d was important. \u201cHer life mattered, and we showed that.\u201d <\/p>\n
I breathed a long sigh of relief when I mustered up the courage to read the verdict in my Twitter feed. With tears streaming down my face, I repeated the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s oft quoted \u201c\u2026until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream,\u201d over and over like a prayerful mantra. Quiet repetitions of this prophetic refrain soothed my raw spirit like a healing balm. As I began to mend from the hurtful influences of that social justice malady I fervently prayed that that future juries would remember Renisha McBride and never let their verdicts pass on or generate the \u201cZimmerman Effect.\u201d <\/p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Elizabeth F. Desnoyers-Colas Ph.D Follow Elizabeth on Twitter @MoveProfPhD Like many in the nation, I waited anxiously for the decision of a Detroit jury who was\u00a0deliberating the judicial fate of Theodore Wafer, the man who shot and killed 19 year old Renisha McBride while she stood on his porch seeking assistance, possibly refuge.\u00a0 Over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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