Rachel Jeantel is a witness in the Zimmerman murder trial. She was the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin before he was killed last February. She took the witness stand for the first time on Wednesday and it didn’t take long before folks, especially black folks, had something to say!
I’m not going to lie, when I first heard Rachel, I was caught off-guard by her speech. I thought “What is she saying? She needs to speak up. She needs to speak slowly so they can hear her.” But the more I watched, the more I understood that she did not want to be at the trial. It was obvious that Rachel is still dealing with the reality that her friend is gone and based on some of her responses on Wednesday, she feels guilty about being the last person Martin talked to the night he died.
Maybe English isn’t her first language (some have said that she spoke Spanish and Creole first before she learned English); maybe she needed to be coached by the Prosecutor and his team; maybe she doesn’t meet your beauty standards, but that does not justify the heavy criticism she has received via social media.
According to The Root, Writer Sherri Williams of Backbone Women Online compiled a Storify of some of the tweets and memes and further noted: “The black respectability police pondered if her father is in her life. They said if George Zimmerman is acquitted it would be her fault because of her sassy attitude. Black folks said girls like Jeantel are the type to keep away from their children.”
Really?? To those that have so much to say, what do you look like? Do you speak or write perfect English? Have you ever had to testify at a murder trial for a family member or friend? Why are we always so critical of each other?
Unfortunately Rachel isn’t the first to receive heavy criticism. Do you remember the fiasco over Gabrielle Douglas’ hair? I never understood why her hair became such a big deal. The girl was competing in the OLYMPICS and (black) folks were sitting around asking why her edges weren’t straight. Really?? What does your hair look like when you sweat? The girl was focusing on bringing home a gold medal.
It is always easy for us to be critical when we have never been in someone’s shoes. But it times like this, I don’t think it would hurt if we showed a little compassion. We have to do better!
