Don't throw the race card?
In attempting to defend Zimmerman the right is throwing the race 'card' all over the damn place. More prejiduce and racism than Zimmerman showed that night is being shown by those defending him using these stereotypes.
Just read this thread. People are attempting to make the kid look like a scary violent gangsta wearing a hoodie, on drugs, selling drugs and stalking the neighborhood looking for trouble. There is no evidence that is the case and saying so, by calling on stereotypes is playing the race card just as much as Sharpton et al are being accused of. Even if the guy was a killer on the loose, which he was not, Zimmerman had no way of knowing any of that. He was just going on there's another black guy walking the street. He has called 911 over 40 times about the same sh*t.
Now, even if the kid was attacking him, he was standing his ground. It's 7 pm, dark or getting dark, a person is merely walking down the street in an area where he is staying and has the right to be. A man in a car follows him around the neighborhood. His friend on the phone tells him to run when he tells her about it. He walks faster. Zimmerman gets out of his car and follows him on foot while talking to 911. They say we don't need you to do that. He does anyway while wearing his gun on his side in a holster. Even as a middle aged white man, I'd be worried for my safety, I don't care what the dude looks like, how brown or white he is. If I could get away, I will. If I can't, I will fight. Simple as that. I expect the rest of the folks here would do the same. Expecting a kid to walk up to a guy with a gun who is following him around to stop and ask him who or what he is is completely nuts. Zimmerman's state of mind at the time is being analyzed and defended, but what about Martin's state of mind? He was more than likely in fear for his safety and possibly his life too. Zimmerman's defenders don't even consider that. Why not?
Zimmerman starting the altercation by his actions. If you were in your home and you saw someone stalking around and looking at you through windows I know people here would defend the homeowner's right to defend himself. Hell, conservatives applauded Joe Horn and he wasn't even in danger. He left safety and went outside to confront people breaking into a neighbor's house and shot them dead. There wasn't even a self defense issue. I would expect the same principle would apply to Martin. But instead we get a black guys are scary and dangerous defense. You simply can't start an altercation, get beat up and shoot in self defense.
It's these racial stereotypes that are fanning the flames of those pissed that Zimmerman wasn't arrested at all, not the people pointing out the obvious injustice.
"Many conservatives these days urge us to make an "optimistic" assessment of the racial situation. At the same time, they refuse to see the pernicious racism that persists. That blindness does not justify optimism. Legitimate optimism comes from facing the problems squarely and working to overcome the insidious subtleties of bigotry that still abide in the land." David Shipler
FuzzNJ wrote:
