An incredibly pointed and powerful open letter was posted on Facebook over the weekend by a young, black man named Alex Fraser.
Like Jonathan Capehart at The Washington Post, I agree that it is one of the more moving such pieces of writing I've seen, partially due to the "ironic twist of fate for Zimmerman that Fraser highlights."
Here is his letter:
Dear George Zimmerman,
For the rest of your life you are now going to feel what its like to be a black man in America.
You will feel people stare at you. Judging you for what you think are unfair reasons. You will lose out on getting jobs for something you feel is outside of your control. You will believe yourself to be an upstanding citizen and wonder why people choose to not see that.
People will cross the street when they see you coming. They will call you hurtful names. It will drive you so insane some days that you'll want to scream at the top of your lungs. But you will have to wake up the next day, put on firm look and push through life.
I bet you never thought that by shooting a black male you'd end up inheriting all of his struggles.
Enjoy your "freedom."
Sincerely,
A black male who could've been Trayvon Martin
I have nothing else to offer, other than – as a white Jew living in the Midwest – to say a heartfelt
Thank you.