By Eric Glazer, Esq.

Published July 29, 2013

I’m writing this column from about 36,000 feet in the air after finishing a vacation of a lifetime.  Me, my wife, my daughter, my son, my mom and my mother-in-law are on our way home from Israel.

Each city we visited was remarkable in it’s own way, but there’s no debating that Jerusalem and its history simply takes your breath away.  The Jerusalem we read about in the bible is called “The Old City” and is only a small part of the actual city of Jerusalem today.  The Old City is divided into four quarters, The Jewish Quarter, The Christian Quarter, The Armenian Quarter and The Muslim Quarter.  Each quarter possesses perhaps the most important places of worship for that particular religion.  For example, the Western Wall is in the Jewish Quarter (the last remaining part of The Second Temple), The Church of The Holy Sepulcher is in the Christina Quarter (the site where Jesus was crucified) and The Dome of The Rock, (where Muhammed ascended to Heaven) is in the Muslim Quarter.  The Jews live in the Jewish Quarter, The Christians live in the Christian Quarter, The Armenians live in the Armenian Quatrter and The Muslims live in the Muslim Quarter.  With the exception of the Muslims, everyone’s house of worship is open to anyone who wants to visit.  You must be a Muslim however to visit their house of worship, The Dome of The Rock.  Despite what some may think, these races and religions share the Old City each and every day and there is peace within the walls.

Perhaps when you’re reading this, you’re thinking that this type of segregation sounds extreme.   I grew up in a 240 unit co-op in Brooklyn.  I would guess that 230 families were Jewish.  A few blocks to the South the Italian community started, a few blocks to the east the Irish community started and a few blocks to the west the Black community started.  It wasn’t totally segregated, but it primarily was.   Even today in Florida , at a minimum there are Jewish communities, black communities, predominantly Christian communities and Russian communities to name a few,  Many of our condominiums and HOA’s are segregated throughout the state, while others have a wonderful mix of many colors, religions and cultures.

Despite the fact that many Floridians still live in communities with people who are in one way or another similar to them, I can say that today’s children in Florida  are growing up in an environment where they are interacting with each other like never before.  Not only are children from different races and religions going to school together, but they are playing with each other, eating dinner at each other’s homes and sleeping over each other’s houses.  A simple stroll through the mall  verifies this. Look at most any large group of kids.  It’s more often than not a mixed group of children from more than one race or ethnicity.  The truth is, this was not so much the case when I was growing up and it’s remarkable progress in our communities.

So while I was soaking in the diversity and culture of Jerusalem and all of Israel for that matter, the verdict in the Zimmerman trial made the news there too.  I said all along that a tragedy occurred that evening because parents lost a child who was doing nothing more than walking in his father’s community.  I also was on record pretty quickly that it was going to be a near impossible case for the prosecution to prove.  Of course, the jury thought the prosecution was unable to meet their burden of proof and a not guilty verdict was returned.

I then watched the fall-out from the trial, saw the protests, saw some violence erupt, and heard calls for federal civil rights prosecutions.  Now Hollywood celebrities are banning together boycotting the State of Florida because of the verdict.  A good rule of thumb for me is that if I want to know what’s bad for America all I ever have to do is look at what Hollywood celebrities are lining up for.  They are teaching that it’s OK to punish an entire state because they don’t like a verdict in one particular case.  They are trying to tell the world that Floridians are so evil that they are not worthy of observing their talent.  If that’s the case, Floridians should also stop watching their TV shows, attending their movies and downloading their music.  If we’re not good enough for you to come here --- then get your movies and music off of our shelves and out of our market place.  Don’t continue to stick your hand out and take our money.  Don’t say that you won’t physically come to Florida on the one hand, and on the other hand come to Florida by proxy through the sale of your merchandise.  Of course that won’t happen.  Or how about you keep selling your songs and movies in Florida and donate any proceeds of all monies made from sales in Florida to a charity that helps race relations? 

Don’t hold your breath.

It would be a tragedy on top of a tragedy if race relations in our communities suffer one iota because of a verdict in one case.  It would be destructive to our children if as a result of one verdict in one case, they get the message to stop hanging out at the mall together or visiting each other’s homes.   It would be backwards thinking if Treyvan Martin supporters like some Hollywood celebrities condemn all white Floridians because a jury in one case thought that there was some reasonable doubt about a second degree murder conviction.

I’ve just visited a place where over the last 3,000 years, more blood has been shed because of race, religion and ethnicity than we can ever imagine.  Yet, over the last two decades or so, relations continue to improve, and as a result the nation as a whole is thriving.  Let’s relish in our diversity here in Florida and not let one case destroy decades of progress.  Our children are deserving of no less and I can think of no greater way to honor Treyvan.