The Politics of Naked Apes: Did George Zimmerman Kill Because He is a Failed Alpha Male?

[I have received some very kind emails in response to my series of pieces on the George Zimmerman trials and his killing of Trayvon Martin. I have been following this case since the beginning and will continue to offer my thoughts and observations on it through to the duration. 

Those essays here and on the Daily Kos have brought quite a few new readers to We Are Respectable Negroes. As I do during such moments, I inaugurate an informal fundraising drive. Some kind folks have thrown some money into the virtual begging bowl. I very appreciate that. I doubly appreciate it given that this is a holiday weekend and money is being spent on festivities, food, and frivolity.

I do not advertise or monetize my work here on WARN. I also choose not to run advertisements or sponsorship because I want to remain independent. Random monies thrown into the tip jar Paypal bucket are however always appreciated. My work here and elsewhere are labors of love. However, I never refuse encouragement.]

****

I do believe the sociobiology offers some helpful insights into human behavior. These insights are not whole explanations for complex human social behavior. But, the argument that human beings are driven by instinct, and that society offers a thin veneer to control and mask these behaviors, is quite compelling.

At this late hour, The 24/7 news cycle has become circular in its discussions of the Trayvon Martin case. Zimmerman defenders see him being exonerated; Trayvon's advocates see the prosecution as having done enough to win over the jury. 

There was one truth-teller on the Piers Morgan show who dared to state the obvious: just because Zimmerman is a negrophobe does not give him the right to go around killing innocent black people as a function of his personally maladaptive emotional behavior. We need more voices in the media who speak with such clarity and forthrightness.

National Geographic has a great series called Ape Man which is worth watching if you are at all curious about the deep biological origins of human behavior as reflections of our primate origins. The first episode explores the "alpha male" phenomenon. As detailed by the show, the desire for men to control territory, opportunities for reproduction, i.e. passing one's DNA to sex partners, and to achieve and maintain social dominance over others are key elements in alpha male behavior.

By all accounts, Zimmerman is a serial screw up and failure. He was not able to become a police officer, and instead chose to be a one person block watch unit. In all, George Zimmerman is a paranoid racist obsessive who fixates on "those people" that to his standards do not "belong" in "his" neighborhood. Zimmerman's efforts at playing toy cop are an over-compensation for some type of social insecurity mated with the psychic wages of whiteness. 

I wonder, was Zimmerman an alpha male who could not achieve the power and authority he yearned for in day-to-day life? And when Zimmerman, as a naked ape, picked a fight that he was not prepared for--and in which he was unable to control his own personal space--did he in a panic use lethal violence because his vulnerabilities and inadequacies were so exposed?