That is what is so haunting about this case for me. I have a son who turned 14 in January. He is often mistaken for a grown man, but he doesn’t have the experience or judgment of a grown man. Trayvon is dead at 17. Why? Was his youth and accompanying teen judgment a part of the reason for that? I don’t know if I can articulate my thoughts and feelings, but I’ll try.
I don’t know what happened the night Trayvon died. Perhaps because of his youth, Trayvon tried to react with swagger and bravado to a man following him, not an unusual reaction for a teen, thought he could cow or best the man behind him. It is truly, truly tragic if that possible idea, that possible reaction, cost him his life. Perhaps instead he acted as a violent young man, came out swinging, tried to end Zimmerman as Zimmerman says, but I wasn’t there, so I will wait to see what the investigation reveals. But, I keep thinking about what may have happened that night and I am haunted at the idea that maybe Trayvon was just trying to be tough. He had every right to be where he was, though I don’t know if he was actually acting suspiciously or not as claimed, and maybe he wanted to respond to being challenged by being tough and not backing down, being right, and now he is dead because of it. That thought is what is so horrific to me.