I didn’t spend a lot of NextDraft pixels linking to the endless and breathless coverage of the George Zimmerman trial. But now that it’s over, it worth taking a look at what the trial represents, and why the result was anything but a surprise. The New Yorker’s Jelani Cobb does a great job summarizing how the familiarity dulled the sharp edges of the tragedy: “The most damning element here is not that George Zimmerman was found not guilty: it’s the bitter knowledge that Trayvon Martin was found guilty … Trayvon Martin’s death is an American tragedy, but it will mainly be understood as an African-American one. That it occurred in a country that elected and reelected a black President doesn’t diminish the despair this verdict inspires, it intensifies it. The fact that such a thing can happen at a moment of unparalleled political empowerment tells us that events like these are a hard, unchanging element of our landscape.”

+ “Ask any black man, up to and including President Obama, and he will tell you at least a few stories that sound eerily like what happened that rainy winter night in Sanford, Fla.” The NYT editorial board on Trayvon Martin’s legacy.

+ The verdict led to several protests around the country. Here’s a collection of photos from the NYC Trayvon march.

+ The Atlantic Wire on the next three trials of George Zimmerman (and why he might win all three).

+ “Twenty years for a warning shot against a known abuser versus no time at all for killing an unarmed teenager leaves you scratching your head and wondering if justice is not just blind but also insane.” Slate’s Craig Pittman on justice, Florida style.

+ David Simon, creator of The Wire, on Trayvon: “You can stand your ground if you’re white, and you can use a gun to do it. But if you stand your ground with your fists and you’re black, you’re dead.”