The CeCe McDonald and Trayvon Martin Cases; How Are They The Same Or Different?

Guest Post by Cheryl Courtney-Evans of the abitchforjustice blog

First, I feel "honor bound" to say that I am NOT a separatist; I believe in respecting and caring about ANYONE (be it man, woman, child, black, white, gay, straight...etc.), as long as I get the same treatment from them. By that same token, I am not one to close my eyes to truths and calling 'em like I see 'em. And after the last few days of watching the Trayvon Martin case unfold (and being angry as hell about it), it occurred to me that there was another case that seemed as important but hasn't gotten (in my opinion) enough attention, so I decided to post this.

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I don't know what is going on in this country, but it seems to me that since the advent of President Obama's election, the ugly animal of racism, who had been thought by many to have been thoroughly "slayed", has only been sleeping; an atmosphere that has continued to be just below the surface has burst through with an intensity that's so obvious it's astounding to behold...

Now I know there will be those so naive as to say, "You all are always 'pulling the race card'..." when it's pointed out, but there are also those who say the same thing, because all along they know it exists, and only want us to believe they believe it, or are that we are mistaken...

Now, although we are righteously incensed at the recent murder of young African American Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL.  by a Caucasian George Zimmerman (Feb. 26, 2012), I don't believe we can view this as a "down South thing"; there has been another case whose injustice has been carried on since June 6, 2011...that is the arrest and continued prosecution of African American CeCe McDonald, accused of killing Caucasian Dean Schmitz in Minneapolis, MN. 

My piece today is to show the differences in these two cases, while also showing how the ugly beast of racism seems to be hard at work in both.





Dean Schmitz


CeCe McDonald



Trayvon Martin


George Zimmerman

The most glaring evidence in the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case is the fact that besides being unarmed, he was a young Black man walking down the street minding his own business; he was breaking no law...just running a "refreshment call" to the local 7-11 convenience store for Skittles and a can of ice tea. He was alone, so there was no eyewitness; so police only took into consideration the claim from Zimmerman that he'd shot Trayvon "in self-defense". The police then allowed this claim to keep Zimmerman out of jail, uncharged.

In the CeCe McDonald/Dean Schmitz case, CeCe was, by eyewitness accounts, also minding her business; walking to a neighborhood store with a few friends. Their route took them by a neighborhood tavern, where they were accosted by a group of loitering Caucasians who verbally assaulted them (using racial and gay/gender identity slurs); when CeCe refused to accept their insults and responded, she was attacked and injured by a female in the group busting a glass in her face, a brawl ensued and Dean Schmitz was stabbed. CeCe was the only one arrested that night and charged with murder, and her claim of self-defense was ignored. Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman, has a history of racially "slanted" law distribution...he has refused to drop the charges, and she remains in jail awaiting trial.

So now, what are the ways in which these two cases are the same?
1. Both folks who seem to be getting the "short end of the stick" with regard to 'justice' are Black. (On his own word, armed [and by the way, he was much bigger physically than Trayvon Martin], non-injured Zimmerman was allowed to walk and has not been arrested & charged YET [and in hiding]; CeCe with eyewitnesses to her attack, sustaining 11 stitches to her face after being the first to be attacked, had her claim of self-defense ignored and is still in jail.)

2. Both Blacks were minding their own business; doing nothing illegal or infringing on others...just OWB (Out While Black).

3. Both are atrocious miscarriages of justice that cry out for attention and correction.

4. Both cases appear to be hate crimes.

How are they different?
1. Trayvon was an African American young man, a presumably heterosexual (was talking to his girlfriend on his cell phone the night of his death) member of the "mainstream", while CeCe is an African American transgender woman, a member of a community that is the most marginalized in the United States (perhaps that's why, although her case is very nearly as heinous, it's gotten almost NO media attention or "community support").

2. CeCe was arrested for Dean Schmitz's death the same night, but Zimmerman is still free after 3 weeks.

3. Trayvon's case occurred in "the South", and CeCe's case happened in "the North" (so I suppose we can see that the "beast" is nationwide).

So in conclusion, here's what I propose. That ALL Americans of good conscience make their outrage known about these and other cases like them that may have slipped under the radar of public attention. We have to rout out the bigots who have intensified their efforts to erase the progress made this far to create a more equitable America. And we have to advocate for one another regardless of race, sexual orientation or gender identity...we're all part of the HUMAN RACE.

Damn Skippy The Trayvon Martin Case Is About Race

The conservawhining has started over the Trayvon Martin case along with their attempts to conservasmear his reputation and turn the bigoted shooter George Zimmerman into a martyr for whiteness, white supremacy and white people's fetishistic attachment to guns  .

Hey, we African-Americans didn't create white privilege or whiteness, we have to deal with the deleterious effects of it in our lives. You also have some clueless white peeps who are buying the conservaspin that this case 'isn't about race'.

Bull feces, it most certainly IS about race.  

Your first clue should have been the 911 tape in which Zimmerman possibly utters a racial slur as he's following Trayvon.   Your next is Zimmerman still walking around in his undisclosed location a month after he shoots and kills an unarmed Black teenager without being arrested while Trayvon is dead and in his grave.

Another vanilla scented clue this is about race is the denials coming from people wallowing in vanillacentric privilege decrying the fact that this case has been and become polarizing. 

And your final clue is Zimmerman's defense attorney running to get a cookie chomping Negroid useful fool to try to claim he was a close friend of Zimmerman who predictably said 'he's not racist' but did the dirty work of posthumously smearing Trayvon.

Too bad he failed miserably at his assigned tasks.

The more this case drags out, the more the truth comes out about the hate crime that Zimmerman did and the collapsing cover up of it.
 
So naw, I don't want to hear that crap that this case isn't about race.   It's been about race ever since George Zimmerman made the February 26 decision to frack with an African-American teenager who was minding his own damned business after getting some Skittles and a can of iced tea because in his bigoted mind, he didn't belong in that neighborhood..

Still Pissed About Trayvon Martin

It's taken me a few days to calm down enough to write this post about the hate crime murder of 17 year old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman   

That's right, I said 'hate crime murder'.  Not even going with the pretense of  'alleged killer' since the Sanford, FL po-po's so fracked up this investigation I only trust the Department of Justice to handle it properly

And you wanna know why it's possible for rap groups to come up with songs like NWA's back in the day hit that probably is getting downloaded at a prodigious clip these days.


Trayvon's killing is not only bringing a fresh round of anxiety for mothers of Black sons Trayvon's age or younger, it brought back all those memories of the list of ''don't do this'' my parents and grandparents told me and my siblings as we were growing up.  And even I forgot a time or two and lipped off to a cop or two after being justifiably angry about jacked up DWB traffic stops.  

I am sick of the War on Black People.  I'm beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of young Black kids simply minding their own damned business being presumed by racist white people to be engaged in criminal activity, high, or up to no good. 

Why isn't Zimmerman's ass in jail?   I'm willing to bet if the racial script was flipped Trayvon's behind would have been arrested and in the Seminole County Hilton Jail five seconds after the po-po's arrived at that gated community.

Once again, it reinforces the fact in the USA that no matter what we do, whether we are the president of the United States or some 17 year old kid just getting a late night snack, the lives of Black people don't mean jack to some people infected with vanillacentric privilege, ignorance and bigotry. 

And in some cases it's justification enough for these bigots to kill us.