The legal nightmare for George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of charges in the shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin, may be over, but the racial divisions heightened by the case show no signs of fading.
In a recent speech, MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry delivered an expletive-laden rant in which she expressed hope that Martin "whooped the s--- out of George Zimmerman."
Nevertheless, the Zimmerman saga ended with a whimper Tuesday when the Justice Department concluded it had "insufficient evidence" to charge him with federal civil rights violations.
He already had been acquitted of criminal charges by a Florida jury.
But Tom Fitton, president of the Washington watchdog group Judicial Watch, told WND the real outrage was that Zimmerman was investigated by the federal government at all.
"The Obama administration is interested in heightening racial tension and division," said Fitton. "Mr. Zimmerman was found not guilty. This is an embarrassment. The amount of resources spent investigating this one man, and the racial slander that was whipped up against him, was completely unjustifiable.
"George Zimmerman ought to get an apology from the president and the attorney general."
However, if the reaction of progressive-leaning voices is any indication, it's more likely Zimmerman will be attacked again.
Video released by the college newspaper Cornell Review shows MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry delivering the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Lecture at Cornell on Feb. 23.
In her speech, Harris-Perry swore repeatedly, boasted about her honorarium, hurled insults against the tea party and proclaimed her wish that Martin "whooped the s--- out of George Zimmerman."
See the video (Warning: offensive language):
Colin Flaherty, author of "White Girl Bleed A Lot: The Return of Racial Violence to America and How the Media Ignore It," says he is not surprised that overt support of violence and anti-white racism has bled into the mainstream.
In an interview with WND, Flaherty said the Zimmerman verdict "is now used as an example of the relentless white racism and violence that black people experience all the time, everywhere and that supposedly explains everything."
"The hoax of black victimization is now routinely repeated in national media by people like Harris-Perry. We even saw this kind of rhetoric at the Oscars," he said.
Flaherty believes the narrative is driven from the "top down."
"From the Obama White House to Eric Holder's Justice Department, this crowd is the most race-conscious people we have ever had in their positions," he said. "They see everything through the lens of race and racism. They believe in Critical Race Theory: White racism is everywhere. White racism is permanent. And white racism explains everything. That is how they conduct the business of justice in this country. And it has been a disaster."
Perry's speech at Cornell was littered with references to Critical Race Theory and its accompanying academic jargon, notably "black bodies" and "white privilege."
Perry also encouraged solidarity with homosexual activists and expounded on how "hetero bodies can become queer bodies to the extent that they are willing to lay down with their queer brothers and sisters by shedding our privileges."
Jack Cashill, author of "'If I Had a Son': Race, Guns, and the Railroading of George Zimmerman," bemoaned how thatkind of rhetoric has infected the American justice system.
In an interview with WND, Cashill accused the Obama administration of basing its investigation of Zimmerman on racially charged politics rather than the facts.
"Attorney General Eric Holder knew he had no criminal case against Zimmerman years ago. In July 2012, the state of Florida told Zimmerman's attorneys that the FBI had cleared him. According to the Miami Herald, FBI agents had interviewed some 35 of Zimmerman's friends, neighbors and co-workers and, to a person, they 'had never seen Zimmerman display any prejudice or racial bias.' What has the DOJ been doing in the two and a half years since?
"Apparently, a White House that claimed to be appalled by torture had no qualms about torturing George Zimmerman needlessly for nearly three years."
Fitton also believes that the Obama administration's far-left political perspective on racial matters is undermining a justice system that should be colorblind.
"The Obama administration administers justice in a racially biased matter," he said. " Everything they do seems to comport with the Left's view that structurally is racist and law enforcement discriminates against minorities. They have these extreme, 'out there' views suggesting racism by everyday Americans and police. It's a slander.
"Anyone could have told them this investigation was a waste of time. But the facts and the law do not seem to cloud the judgment of the president or Holder."
In contrast to the Department of Justice’s excruciating treatment of Zimmerman, Cashill notes that Holder was quite comfortable showing solidarity with Harris-Perry's fellow MSNBC host Al Sharpton.
"While the FBI investigation was taking place, Holder addressed Al Sharpton's National Action Network in Washington, D.C. There, improbably, he thanked Al Sharpton for his 'partnership.' This was the same Al Sharpton who had threatened to occupy Sanford if Zimmerman were not arrested immediately.
"If anything," Cashill said, "it is Zimmerman who should be suing the Department of Justice."
Nevertheless, Flaherty believes that in the end, the Zimmerman case may have a silver lining for Americans.
"The people who perpetuated the idea that Zimmerman was a killer and Trayvon was an innocent victim of white racist violence hoped this would help them achieve their goal of convincing people this happened all the time, but the opposite is happening. More and more people are seeing this for the hoax that it is.
"For the first time, large numbers of people saw the vast difference between what was reported about racial violence, and what actually happened. It helped expose the greatest lie of our generation, the supposedly relentless racism against black people. From that at least, we can take some comfort," he said.
Â