Talk about your classic faux pas. Nothing like tweeting someone’s address, and insinuating that they killed an unarmed teenager. That’s exactly what Spike Lee did. Receiving a tweet of the address of one George Zimmerman in Sanford, FL, the outspoken, very passionate director and Knicks fan, retweeted the home address of Elaine and David McClain.
Yes. Elaine and David had a son who lived in their Sanford home in the 1990s. Yes, his name was William George Zimmerman. No. He was not the same George Zimmerman who admitted to shooting Trayvon Martin in late February. Unfortunately, as their mistaken address and identity hit twitter, more than a few people began to retweet it. Spike Lee being one of them.
Oops.
The couple became the object of harassment–so much so that they were forced to leave their residence. Because there is just nothing like the mob mentality.
Spike Lee has compensated the McClain’s, and has asked his Twitter followers to leave them alone. To allow them their peace. He stated that it was a mistake. And all of this is appreciated. He even contacted the McClaine’s, and they appreciated his heartfelt apology. Eating crow is never enjoyable, so props to Lee on that front. However…
What if this were the address of the George Zimmerman? What if his parents lived there? Would it then be OK to harass the residents mercilessly?
Herein lies the root of the problem. We, as a society, keep trying to treat the symptoms. We want quick fixes and justice through “equality,” when in fact, we don’t really want equality, we want fairness. There’s a huge difference there if you’ll just chew on it for a minute. Equality may be fair at times, but not all fairness will result in equality. You pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down? And to harass anyone, regardless of what they’ve done, because you’re well aware of an injustice that has occurred, is wrong. No way around it. No other way about it. It’s wrong. Within our society, and the way we are governed…the laws in which we were born under and have chosen to follow…it’s wrong. It’s mob mentality. It’s Salem Witch Trials.
But… But… But… Yep. I hear ya. The guy killed an unarmed teenager. Still. How is doing wrong, ever going to right George Zimmerman’s wrong? It’s not. It just makes for more wrong.
The world we live in is full of injustice. Things worse than this happen everyday. I get it. Things like this shouldn’t happen in America. But you know…they shouldn’t happen anywhere. We make excuses for cultures and ignorance, but how naive, self-serving and self-gratifying is that?
I don’t reckon that we’ll ever know everything that actually happened that night. The end result was a foolish, avoidable tragedy that could have been resolved with a simple conversation. Seriously. One question, and one answer could have solved the entire misunderstanding.
fuck spike lee for his assumptions. shouldn’t he be arrested for attempted assault? who in the hell is he to make a decision of guilt?