BENEATH THE SPIN • ERIC L. WATTREE

HOW SOON WE FORGET

Americannews.com,  Power105.1fm.com, and several other entertainment sites on the web are reporting that Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, which produced I Am Legend, Hancock, and The Karate Kid, is producing the George Zimmerman Story, starring Smith’s son, Jaden Smith, as Trayvon Martin. According to reports, the film is targeted to be released in the Spring of 2015 and George Zimmerman himself will be working on the film as a consultant for, get this - $3.2 million. When I first saw the report I couldn’t believe my eyes.
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We contacted Overbrook Entertainment to get confirmation on this story, but they referred us to their Publicist, Forty-Two West. The publicist indicated that they weren't able to either confirm or deny the story.
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We find that quite astonishing, since this story has been out over 10 days, and it's spreading like wildfire all over the net. Since it's such a potentially toxic story, one would think that Will's publicist would be all over it by now unless they're totally incompetent. That's led this writer to believe that this may be a trial balloon to measure public response, or maybe they're beginning to feel the heat and they're backing off the project.
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If this story does turn out to be true, however, we have but one question to ask - is there no shame among people when it comes to making a dollar?  Just the hint of any truth to this story should bring the Black community to full attention. If this doesn't wake us up, we’re in a coma, and beyond help.
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If George Zimmerman had stalked, and then brutally murdered an innocent child from any other community, he would have had to leave the country and hide in a cave - and they STILL would have sought him out. But if this story is true, what do we do? We make him a celebrity and a multi-millionaire for brutally murdering one of our children. That's absolutely unbelievable - even for us.
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According to reports, in response to this question, Smith is quoted as saying, "It’s obvious that he’s [Zimmerman] not America’s sweetheart right now but his story is intriguing and it needs to be heard. Hitler wasn’t popular. Does that mean his story is any less interesting? Of course not. Slave masters aren’t popular but 12 Years a Slave was phenomenal. Wait until you see the finished product and judge for yourself."
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That’s got to be one of the biggest cop-outs I’ve ever heard in my life - it’s insulting! First, Hitler $3.2 million reward for killing Jews. So if Will Smith does decide to pursue this project the Black community needs to rise up and tell Mr. Smith the following, and in no uncertain terms:
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"Smith, Trayvon was minding his own business, and Zimmerman stalked him - after being told by the police to remain in his car - and brutally murdered him. That's what's called a prima facie case.
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"Even if Trayvon DID fight him back, didn't Trayvon also have a right to "stand his ground" after being stalked by a stranger? Being placed in fear of bodily harm is in an assault. So Zimmerman literally assaulted Trayvon: 
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Assault:
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"An assault is carried out by a threat of bodily harm coupled with an apparent, present ability to cause the harm. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may result in either criminal or civil liability. Generally, the common law definition is the same in criminal and Tort Law. There is, however, an additional Criminal Law category of assault consisting of an attempted but unsuccessful Battery."
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"Thus, we know that 1). Zimmerman was told by the police dispatcher to remain in his vehicle; 2). Zimmerman ignored the dispatcher’s instructions, and thereby, set the chain of events into motion that led to the death of Trayvon Martin; 3). Zimmerman assaulted Trayvon; 4). Trayvon had the right to self-defense; 5). Zimmerman killed him for availing himself of that right.
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"So what Zimmerman got away with is the direct equivalent of an ARMED mugger stalking an UNARMED victim who weighed at least 50 lbs, less than himself, and then because the victim fought him back when he was assaulted (being placed in fear of bodily harm is an assault), the mugger claims in court that he had to kill the victim in self-defense.
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"That's a RIDICULOUS defense!!! - and that's what the prosecutors should have brought out, and would have, if Trayvon would have been a White child and the trial wasn't a sham.
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"If Trayvon's name would have been Trayvon Bush, or Cheney, Zimmerman would be on Death Row awaiting execution as we speak. What this trial said was it's a capital offense for a Black person to defend himselve - you know, like under Jim Crow law.
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"Based on the verdict of this case, a paid hit man could brutally murder his victim, call the police, and then claim self-defense. Then, if there was no one to contradict his word, walk away scot-free.
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"So again, Trayvon Martin is dead because he was born Black in America - period. So spare us the bullshit, Smith. The only one who thinks Zimmerman is "intriguing" is you. He's just a bigoted, garden variety murderer, and we don't need to hear anything else about him.  
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"Thus, we don’t give a damn about Hitler, and we don’t give a damn about slave masters; but what we very much give a damn about is that you’re making a disgusting brute who stalked and murdered one of our children a multi-millionaire, and that's unacceptable.
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"We're certain that if Zimmerman had killed your son, Jaden, you wouldn’t have thought the story was so "intriguing," and "needed to be heard" so badly that you’d have made him a multi-millionaire to tell it. So again, spare us the bullshit.
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"We know everything about George Zimmerman that we either need, or want to know. The only thing that will interest us about George Zimmerman is if something horrible befalls him, or the day he stops breathing. Now, that’s not to say that we’re wishing these things upon him - at least, not all of us - but we’re just being real here.
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"So stop trying to insult our intelligence, Smith. While we’re not rich - like WE made you - neither are we stupid. So you can make George Zimmerman a multi-millionaire if you like, but understand this - on the day that you sign that check, essentially PAYING him for murdering Trayvon, from that day forward, Mr. Fresh Prince, you’re no longer one of us. We’re going to ostracize you, spit every time we hear your name, and boycott any and everything your name is associated with. We’re going to make an example of you, Mr. Smith, for all of your rich, and formally Black peers to see, because we’re tired of this sort of thing."

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Another reason the Black community needs to wake up and sniff this funk is because it’s past time for us to get the attention of ALL of these millionaire celebrities who made their fortunes from our dollars. The Black community is in dire need of assistance in the form of jobs, investment in the community, mentors, scholarships, etc.  Yet, most of these people are nowhere to be found. The only time we even see them is on television flaunting their wealth in our face.  It’s time to bring that to an end. We’ve got to see to it that these people understand that if they want our support, it’s going to have to be a symbiotic relationship. They’re going to have to deliver some support back into the community. That’s how other communities prosper, but for far too many Black people, having "arrived" means getting as far away from other Black people as they can possibly get.
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So again, Will Smith, spare us the bullshit about "a story that needs to be heard." Yeah, we made you rich, but in spite of that, we’re not completely stupid. You don’t give a damn about Zimmerman’s story. Since when have you been a connoisseur of history? Your intent is to make THE archenemy of the Black community a multi-millionaire so you can drag yet more dollars out of an already economically depressed community. That’s unconscionable, brother, and we’ll never forgive you for it.   

One of the big problems that we're having in the Black community is we're grouping people in the wrong way. We're putting our trust in people based on skin color, clout, and popularity rather than the qualities that we should be - character and class. Bigotry and injustice is not so much about race or color as it is opportunity. I learned that as a union rep in the post office. I found that you can take the most "down for the cause " brother or sister in a facility, and then give them a raise and a little power, and some of them will become the biggest tyrants you've ever known.
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I once won an EEO for a young lady who used to be crying on my shoulder every single day. As part of my resolution I got her manager fired, and got the sister elevated into management. Then, a month or two later I went to her office to discuss a problem that another employee was having. The problem was quite similar to the one I had addressed on her behalf. But when I walked through the door of her brand new office, she casually looked up and asked, "What can I do for you MR. WATTREE?" It was as though we were strangers - AND later, she used the new authority, THAT I HAD GOTTEN FOR HER, to have me followed around and spied on in an attempt to find a pretext to build a case against ME! She eventually came to herself, and we're dear friends to this day, but that experience taught me that the tendency to be self-serving and corrupt is in all of us. The only difference between a good person and a bad person is the ability to recognize it in ourselves, and the desire to keep it in check.
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I learned a lot about human nature as a union rep within the postal service, and one of the most important things I learned was, you've got to pick your people based on character, not skin color. I learned that lesson well in the post office - and the Postal Service is simply a microcosm of the world at large.

Eric L. Wattree
http://wattree.blogspot.com/
[email protected]
Citizens Against Reckless Middle-Class Abuse (CARMA)
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.