A Cup O’ Kapeng Barako
By Jesse Jose
Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman
Only in Florida!
Y’all know the story, right? It began as the talk of the town in Sanford, Florida. Now, it has become the talk of the town in every state of the United States of America. Talk heads on CNN, FOX News, ABS, CBS and MSNBC are all talking their heads off about it.
Even President Obama had said something about it: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.” Trayvon, as we all know, is Trayvon Martin, the black 17-year-old, who was fatally shot about a month ago in Sanford, Florida, by a neighborhood-watch volunteer.
Obama, in personal terms, said he deplored the killing a ‘tragedy” and as a parent himself of two teenagers, expressed deep sympathy for the boy’s mother and father.
“I can only imagine what these parents are going through. And when I think about this boy, I think about my own kids,” Obama said.
I, too, in personal terms, thought about my own two boys when they were young In Florida.
On the day he was shot, Trayvon was visiting his father in his home, in a mostly white gated community in Sanford, a town near Orlando. He went out to get candy and iced tea at a 7-Eleven store and was walking back to his father’s home when 28-year-old George Zimmerman, the captain of the neighborhood-watch volunteer, saw him and called police to report that Trayvon looked “suspicious” and that he is “up to no good and that he’s “on drugs or something.”
Zimmerman was also heard to have uttered the word, “coons.”
The police dispatcher told Zimmerman to stay in his vehicle and NOT to follow Trayvon and that a police patrol car was on its way. But Zimmerman continued to follow Trayvon, got out of his vehicle and confronted Trayvon.
The details of the story got murky from here.
According to news reports, “within a minute” after that call, Trayvon lay DEAD, shot at point blank in the chest. Zimmerman said Trayvon attacked him and in self-defense, shot him DEAD. Trayvon had a bag of skittles and a can of iced tea in his hands that he bought from the convenience store when he was shot DEAD. Zimmerman had used a 9mm handgun in shooting Trayvon DEAD. Trayvon was shot DEAD in front of his father’s home.
Trayvon was 17 and Zimmerman is 28. In news photos, Zimmerman looks bigger and a hundred pounds heavier than Trayvon. Zimmerman weighed 254 pounds; Trayvon 140 pounds.
When police came Zimmerman said he shot Trayvon in “self-defense.”
The police believed Zimmerman. The Chief of Police of the town believed Zimmerman’s claim of self-defense. He said it’s the law. It’s the STUPID law, called the “Stand Your Ground” law. The police didn’t even investigate him. They just took Zimmerman’s word that he shot Trayvon dead in self-defense.
So, Zimmerman was not arrested. The Chief of Police declared to news reporters that Zimmerman was “justified” in killing Trayvon. He adamantly said that Zimmerman shot the teenager in self-defense. “It’s the law,” he said.
It’s the law, my foot!
This Chief of Police is a MORON, I think! The police force of that hick town are all morons!
Because it looks to me that under that law you can just walk up to anybody, shoot him dead and if you claim “self-defense,” you can walk away free. What kind of a law is that? That’s a law thought of by MORONS, written up MORONS, passed into law by MORONS.
Only in Florida!
I know I sound hysterical. Yes, I am in hysterics! Because I don’t know whether to cry for Trayvon and wail for this INJUSTICE, or laugh in DISGUST! Only in Florida, I tell ya, that something like this could happen.
PALM CITY, FLORIDA WAS A HATEFUL PLACE: Before moving to Seattle, I used to live with my wife and two young boys in Palm City, a town in Martin County, Florida. Palm City is about the size of Sanford, Florida. Like Sanford, Palm City was mostly an all-white town. Because we were the only minority family In the area where we lived, we were called “wing-wongs,” “ching-chongs,” “gooks” and “chinks,” and other sorts of racial slurs.
We were even told to “go back to our own country.” This is my country. I laid my life on the line for this country during the Vietnam War. I am a disabled veteran.
My two boys got into a lot of fights with the kids in the neighborhood. One of my boys was even ganged-up by boys older and bigger than him. I’ve called the cops several times, but they didn’t do anything to stop the harassments of my family.
In that incident where one of my boys was ganged-up, the police in that town said that it was my my son who instigated the fight and “attacked” those group of boys. And, I suppose, those boys, bigger and older than my boy, acted only in self-defense in ganging-up on my boy.
I suppose, just like what Zimmerman said, when he shot Trayvon dead. Just like what those Sanford cops believed that Zimmerman was in the right to kill Trayvon. It’s the law of “Stand Your Ground” in Florida, they said. The law of morons in Florida.
My kids, my wife and I will always remember Palm city, Florida. It was a hateful place for us. A hateful place, like Sanford, Florida. JJ
Here we go again, let the law figured out what really happened. There were only two people there when this tragic incident took place, there were no witnesses claiming they actually saw what happened and yet so many CSI experts are coming out with a guilty verdict. Why is it that when a black person is hurt or killed by a white person it’s a hate crime, but when it’s the other way around, not a word is mentioned why the person was even killed. I don’t know about you Mr. Jose, but I’ve seen minorities that are just as bad as those white people that you mentioned. And I can tell you that Filipinos are no different. I’ve known a lot of them that are as prejudice against other minorities and I’m sure you know what I’m talking about because if you don’t, you’re in denial. You mentioned that your sons had been a victims of gangbangers when you lived in Florida, but you failed to mentioned the race of the people who victimized your sons. We lived in the greatest nation in the world, and we also know that it’s not perfect, you can’t blame the entire race of people because of some bad ones, and just don’t forget that almost everything that is making the lives of everyone in this planet more liveable are due to the innovations of white people. Check it out, you would be surprise about the things that these “white people” did for humanities.
Mr. Sirate,
Thank you for your comments. I think you didn’t understand the essence of my story. First of all, I said that my family and I used to live in an “all-white” neighborhood. And what my sons, my wife and I experienced there in Palm City reflects, I think, what happened in Sanford. Thank God nobody shot my sons in self-defense.
Also, pare, I don’t condemn white people, per se. What I condemn is racism, and what we experienced there in Palm City, Florida is blatant racism in that all-white neighborhood where we used to live.
Again, thank you for your well-said feedback.
Jesse Jose
Seattle, WA
I AM A VIETNAM VET. I CAME TO AMERICA FROM PINAS AS AN ENLISTED MAN IN THE US NAVY IN 1964.
HERE IS MY SPILL: BEFORE I DECIDE TO LIVE IN A CITY IN AMERICA, I WILL LOOK AROUND, DRIVE AROUND, FEEL THE CITY AND STAY THERE FOR A WEEK OR TWO, COME BACK LOOK AROUND, DRIVE AROUND, FEEL IT AGAIN. IF I AM NOT HARASSED AND IS WELCOME WITH SMILES AND APPROVAL, I MIGHT TRY TO RESIDE THERE TEMPORARILY AND IF I FIND THE PLACE WELCOME MY SKIN COLOR THEN I WILL STAY THERE AND BE A PART OF THE COMMUNITY. OTHER THAN THAT I WILL NOT LIVE THERE AND BE HARASSED AND RAISE MY BLOOD PRESSURE.
Trayvon was visiting his father who lives in that neighborhood.
Perry