Trayvon Martin & racial profiling in America

Recently there was a case where a 17 year old black teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot to death by a neighborhood watch person, George Zimmerman. Zimmerman claims that he looked suspicious, even though all Trayvon had was Skittles and ice tea (then there's the claims that he said a racial slur). No charges have been pressed and the police chief stepped down. I definitely think it's a racial thing. I honestly don't think it would've happened if he was a white kid. Or if it had happened, Zimmerman would have been arrested promptly. Also, a lot of this is bringing stuff to light that black people already knew. I was watching the news and they were talking about how black parents tell their male kids basically to not draw attention to themselves. Anyway, I was interested in y'alls thoughts on this. Sorry if this post is disorganized.

edited 23rd Mar '12 4:43:46 PM by wuggles

This is the problem that leads to the invisibility of racism in America. White children learn about racism in a historically sanitized context; To Kill A Mockingbird in English class, Martin Luther King JR and the American Civil Rights Movement in history class, and stories about a bunch of racists far away and from another time that don't act like anyone they know, no sir.

They don't hear stories like this. And when the news of events like these are reported, they're usually not reported like this.

edited 23rd Mar '12 7:06:09 PM by RadicalTaoist

Share it so that people can get into this conversation, 'cause we're not the only ones who think like this.

Was the killing of this black kid by a hispanic male racially motivated? Possibly. That is not what concerns me.

What concerns me is the police's attempt to cover up the incident.

Please.

...What???

Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Unrelated ME1 Fanfic

Zimmerman is White Hispanic to be exact. And yes, they exist. Very much so.

Actually, the racial thing in this case is important, because this isn't the first time Sanford Police has done this sort of thing regarding hate crimes.

i think rather than racial profiling, the bigger issue in this case is weirdness of "stand your ground" law. a self defense claim should be defended in court in the front of jury, not just accepted by police without investigation.

Huh. Okay. I admit, I was going by the name which sounds as un-Hispanic and to be exact German as possible.

Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. Unrelated ME1 Fanfic

There are relatively large German populations in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.

The more you know.

Please.

@Octo: families intermarry across racial lines. It happens.

@OP: What concerns me the most here is the lack of police investigation into whether or not Zimmerman's claim of "self-defense" was justified. Self-defense claims are supposed to be thoroughly looked into, and in this case it doesn't seem so.

I'm also curious why a full-grown man felt threatened enough by a skinny kid with a pack of Skittles to pull a piece and shoot him. Or why said man's community made him a Neighborhood Watch captain.

edited 23rd Mar '12 7:19:48 PM by drunkscriblerian

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

This absolutely disgusts me. I really fucking wish I could crack this dude's nose in. He had to have intentionally murdered the dude because he was black. I don't think he thought the poor kid was a thief or whatever for a second.

@Dead dude: specifically, a lot of former members of the Nazi party ended up in Latin America. Josef Mengle successfully hid there for years.

@Draven: I don't think we have enough evidence to directly condemn Zimmerman yet, but I'll grant that the facts aren't necessarily in his favor. Who I'd condemn more at this stage is the Orlando PD for failing to do their job.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Something I find interesting about this case is how quickly the police department has changed its tune. My impression is that the police rarely admit wrongdoing, which makes me think that this story must be even worse than what has been reported so far.

Hodor

They didn't. He was "self-appointed".

And to say I was nervous... it wouldn't be quite enough.

Him being a watch captain, the fact he has multiple complaints against him going ignored, and the police innaction is what really has my notice.

Last I checked stand your ground doesn't permit you chase someone down even in the most liberal interpretations.

Who watches the watchmen?

Okay. Let's calm down. I have been following this for a bit now and several things are to be noted.

One. Zimmerman was a violent man.

Two. He appointed himself Captain.

Three. He executed Trayvon. Eyewitness and The 911 recordings confirmed this.

@Drunk. You have it backwards. Nazis went there because of the Germans already there. I may or may not be related.

edited 23rd Mar '12 7:26:31 PM by TheDeadMansLife

Please.

RE the complaints, I've only seen mention of it in a news article, but it was something to the effect that he would frequently call the police to complain about the presence of black people, wasn't it?

OT, but the last name reminded me of the Zimmermann Telegram.

edited 23rd Mar '12 7:27:30 PM by Jordan

Hodor

@Dead Dude: good to know, but I still direct most of my outrage at the police. Zimmerman's a douchebag from the sound of it, but the Orlando PD officers all took oaths to prevent this thing from happening or punish the responsible party when it does. Zimmerman probably deserves to go to jail...but whatever idiot cops let him off the hook deserve to lose their badges, if not end up in a cell next to the shooter.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

This reflects a larger issue really.

@Dead Guy: I thought they went there because of the already-present fascist governments. Themoreyouknow.jpg

EDIT: Dude, calm yourself. Raging won't put this guy away, but it will get this thread locked.

edited 23rd Mar '12 7:31:19 PM by drunkscriblerian

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Gods, I just hate Zimmermen. I hope he gets the death penalty. And if Florida doesn't have a death penalty, I hope he gets life in prison, and then killed by prison people.

This is actually a huge story in Chicago right now. If you listen to the 911 calls the shooter sounds drunk and he's slurring his words, but no one did an alcohol or drug test on him. Witness testimony was ignored. The whole thing is a mess.

Reality is that, which when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. -Philip K. Dick

@shima: like I said, cops fucked up.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

That makes it a million times worse. I don't know what I'm gonna do if he gets off.

@Dark: you're gonna be more upset is what. Like I said...calm down, sir/madam. That kind of post gets threads locked. Let's discuss rather than rage.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

He killed a kid! How can you NOT rage? It just...with all the other stuff in the world, with this...I'm shaking with fury. A kid is dead, and this asshole is alive. That's not right. It's fundamentally wrong.