Michelle Mayer writes about George Zimmerman’s phone calls to police.

Of the six incidents involving black males, one, recall, is the one in which GZ reports that he is concerned about the well being of a black male child who is wandering a busy street without adult supervision. So we’re talking about five incidents involving black males GZ found suspicious, and one involving a black male he wanted to help.

On the other hand, of the six incidents involving white males and Hispanic males, we may want to distinguish those incidents where GZ knew or at least had prior contact with the “suspect” (#11, the incident involving his ex-roommate, and #40, the one involving the food server he fired but had never met) from those where he reported total strangers (the remaining four). This leaves us with five reports involving black males GZ found suspicious and four reports involving white and/or Hispanic males.

I think it is possible to believe several somewhat paradoxical propositions.

1. George Zimmerman was not a harasser of blacks.

2. Martin would probably be alive today if he were not a black teenager. That is, I would guess that Zimmerman was less likely to be suspicious of a middle-aged black man or a white teenager. Also, someone other than a black teenager might have felt less threatened/insulted by Zimmerman.

3. The verdict in the case was correct, even if one believes (2).

4. President Obama gave a moving and heartfelt speech about the feeling of shopping while black or riding an elevator while black. He made a good case against a Washington-based response and for constructive thinking about race relations in this country.

5. The net result of the Zimmerman brouhaha will not be constructive for race relations in this country. People cannot handle paradox. They want simple, one-sided narratives, and these require falsehood and distortion.