dear liberal public: there is nothing shocking about the george zimmerman verdict

Dear liberal public,

The internet tells me you are shocked - shocked and outraged - about the verdict in the George Zimmerman case.

Seriously? You are shocked?

You have lived in the United States or Canada all your life, and you are shocked that a white man who killed a black child in the state of Florida has walked free?

I can only scratch my head in wonder. There is nothing shocking about this not-guilty verdict. Indeed, it was the most expected and the most typical outcome possible. I would have been shocked if the verdict had been any different. That's the problem.

What's that you say, you thought things had changed, because a black man lives in the White House? Because the corporate media told you that a black man being elected to the highest office in the land proves that the United States has moved beyond racism?

That is very sad.

Perhaps this verdict will move you to become more informed about the world around you, to rely less on public relations and on blind faith, to shed the belief that the United States is a democracy where all are treated equally under the law. Perhaps this verdict will move you to learn more about how millions of your fellow Americans live, every day.

If that happened, then I'd be shocked, too.

The NAACP is circulating a petition asking the Department of Justice [sic] to open a civil action against George Zimmerman. I share it here out of duty. It takes only a moment to click. So please click. But really, we don't need a new petition. We need a new system.

And now that you've clicked, you can go back to sleep.

Yours truly,

A former liberal, now a leftist