When I read this article, I didn't know what to think. According to the judge on the case, she wasn't granted a new trial because of the clearly feasible 'Stand Your Ground' defense. Instead, they are re-starting this whole rigmarole because the jury put the burden on her to prove self-defense.
Now, that seems like a bit of a contradiction to me. She doesn't have to prove self-defense, but she's still being prosecuted for standing her ground? All I can say is, I hope that this new chance will prompt another examination of the evidence with a better result.
But it wasn't the trial back-and-forth that really struck me though. Alexander's prosecuting attorney, Angela Corey, -also the prosecutor for the infamous Zimmerman case- made a very interesting comment. Her reply to the outcry against the racist undertones of the case was that "...social media is going to be the destruction of this country."
There are a lot of things I could say about that quote, but first of all, I think it's a great example of color-blind racism.
Corey's frustration over the 'outcry' across social media suggests a distinct tendency towards minimization. Why would she protest it? Because she thinks too much is being made over an apparently cut-and-dried matter. This also suggests denial that a 'racial double standard' of the Zimmerman and Alexander cases exists.
Now, she could simply be expressing frustration over the media hype that both cases have garnered. However, as prosecuting attorney in two racially significant cases, I think she should be asking herself why the response to both verdicts has been so explosive, instead of writing off public opinion as a destructive force.
I think that Angela Corey like many people in this country just does not want to face the unbridled truth that race is still an issue in this country. The media hype surrounding these cases has to do mostly with the stand your ground law but the fact that the media has zeroed in on two cases involving racial minorities is in itself suspicious. I am sure these are not the only cases relating to the law and I would be curious to see what other cases pertaining to the law go unreported. To further expand that it would be interesting to see in what other states has this law been an issue. Who is abusing this law? Who is being harmed by this law? And who is this law providing protection for? I think those are some questions that need to be answered in order to gain a better understanding of why these cases seem to be ruling against minorities in the media.
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