WASHINGTON, July 1, 2013 ― As defense attorney Don West grilled Rachel Jeantel during week one of the Zimmerman trial, liberal commentators fell all over themselves making excuses for Jeantel’s shocking behavior in court. Her overall contempt for the processes and nuances of the court judicial system where explained away as illiteracy, that she did not have the education necessary to know how to behave in this “white man’s world” of judiciary.
Throughout the week, West was blasted by liberals for being “condescending” in his questioning of Jeantel.
During her first day of testimony, West attempted to get Jeantel to be more responsive and less hostile by telling her he didn’t think she did anything wrong but was simply trying to get answers to questions.
This lead to an outcry from liberal media accusing West of being aggressive. Aggressive? When a defense attorney cross-examines a prosecution witness it is called doing his job. His client’s very freedom is at stake
If Jeantel were not black, liberal pundits, especially the white ones, would not have made excuses for her rude behavior. They would have called it just what it was.
It was unacceptable.
It was unacceptable that during her first day of testimony the 19-year-old high school senior and friend of Trayvon Martin, whom Zimmerman is charged with killing, rolled her eyes, huffing and puffing when she was asked questions.
Her demeanor was indignant, and she made it fairly clear she had better things to do.
After spending nearly two hours on the stand, West told Judge Debra Nelson, he would need Jeantel to return the following day for a “few more hours.” When she heard that, Jeantel responded with a loud “What?“, looking very much like a caricature from a Saturday Night Live sketch.
At one point Jeantel contorted her face at West as she tried to explain why her statements under oath were inconsistent when she spoke with the attorney representing the family of Trayvon Martin.
Drumming her fingernails on the witness stand, Jeantel testily asked West, “You listening? Are you listening?”
She can also be heard saying under her breath “I’m not coming back here.” All as if she’s running the show.
Jeantel was the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin before Zimmerman shot him and is considered the prosecution’s star witness. Frankly, she does not have better things to do but sit on the stand as long as the prosecution or the defense wants to question her.
But because as one female commentator (black) said on a cable program, “Rachel was less educated than (white) lawyer West,” who was “condescending” and must be the bad guy, Jeantel is “allowed” [her visible contempt].
Liberals refuse to admit they feel this way because Jeantel is black and West is white, even as they speak the words. Quite simply according to the prevailing main-stream liberal mindset, blacks, and particularly less educated blacks, are supposed to be treated differently than everyone else.
But let’s ask, why is it we don’t hear the same racist statements applied to less educated white people?
Rachel isn’t dumb because she didn’t go to college. She may not be able to read cursive but she’s certainly not illiterate either. At times she gave credible testimony when she spoke up and the court reporter, along with jurors, could hear and understand her just fine.
West’s intensive questioning of Jeantel revealed she lied about a lot of things in previous statements under oath. She lied about her age because she wanted Trayvon’s parents to think she was 16 not 18 years old last year. She lied to Trayvon’s mother about what he said in his final hours, not mentioning he called Zimmerman a “creepy ass cracker“ or that Trayvon said “that nigga is behind me” because she didn’t want to hurt his mother’s feelings.
At one point West asked her if Trayvon Martin could have lied to her about Zimmerman attacking him. She responded, “That sounds real retarded, sir.“
That wasn’t the first or last time she insulted West, and yet the liberal cabal hammers West for being condescending.
During an appearance on the Dr. Drew Show discussing the trial, one of the liberally identified guests actually said West didn’t know how to talk to Rachel because they “were so culturally different.”
Since when did black and white Americans not speak the same English language? When did it become unnecessary to learn to communicate in standard English? West did do a good job of communicating with Jeantel, not losing his patience, even as she was determined to make the process as difficult as possible.
The liberal press didn’t do Jeantel or blacks any favors by coddling her combative demeanor. This is literally a liberal “dumbing down” of black Americans because they don’t expect more from “us”, a group that is kept segregated as those “other Americans”.
It would have been better if liberal commentators where honest, saying what they really think, which is that, “Rachel can’t help it, she’s black and shouldn’t be expected to perform at the same level as a white person.”
This is the same insulting logic liberals use in opposing voter ID laws, that blacks are incapable of understanding the laws, of completing a form, of having a birth certificate like white people can.
Liberals relentlessly perpetuate the politics of low expectations for blacks, so that blacks too often do the same, and this is exactly why Rachel thought her behavior in court was ok.
This same soft bigotry is also permeating our public school education system and Rachel’s lack of understanding of the process in the court, the role of the attorneys, is probably much more to blame for her demeanor than her inability to read cursive script.
