Eric M. believes that although George Zimmerman pulled the trigger, it was our society that set Trayvon Martin up.
Our society continues to set up inner city black boys and young men for failure, by systematically ignoring them, leaving too many of them with few options beyond a life of cycling between unemployment, minimum wage jobs, and crime. As a result, more than any other demographic, they end up not graduating from high school, not going to college or getting any job skills training, getting arrested, and all too often, getting shot and killed.
All of which perpetuates the stereotypes and prejudice that drove the George Zimmermann’s apparent malice and the police’s callous indifference. Good kids trying to do the right thing like Treyvon Martin end up paying the price for what our society has created. George Zimmerman pulled the trigger but our society set Treyvon up.
That’s how I see it. Jane Velez-Mitchell of CNN Headline News (HLN) agrees. What do you think?
Zimmermans story was that he was following Martin only to keep him in sight, not to get closer to him. So, he was barely disregarding the advice from the 911 dispatcher. When he lost sight completely, he turned around and headed back to his SUV. It was at this point, according to him, that Martin approached him closely. They had not spoken prior to this. From photographs, this was a wide open area where no one could have felt cornered. I am not getting how T. Martin could be seen as “standing his ground” in this case. Zimmerman, otoh, was… Read more »
Trayvon Martin was just a black boy. So, Zimmerman has a good chance of getting off. Had he killed a white girl, he would be begging to not get the death penalty.
“Our society continues to set up inner city black boys and young men for failure …” True. Probably the single most important injustice in modern America. I don’t think there can be a higher priority. “All of which perpetuates the stereotypes and prejudice that drove the George Zimmermann’s apparent malice and the police’s callous indifference …” We don’t know this. Right now, it looks to me like this murder simply did not happen in the way that you describe.. Let me put it another way. Immagine that you looked into Zimmerman’s mind at the moment he pulled the trigger. Immagine… Read more »
I did not describe what took place as a murder. Nor did I describe how it took place. However, one does not actively chase down someone they are in fear of when the police are en route. Thus, there is no evidence that, prior to any altercation, Zimmerman had any fear of Martin. Also, the police always have the right to conduct an investigation when someone gets killed. The callous indifference was and is in evidence in that they not only didn’t bother to investigate at the time, but adamantly refused to conduct one, even under pressure. What could possibly… Read more »
“I did not describe what took place as a murder.” I described it as murder. If Zimmerman was a bad and intolerant man, then the answer is simple. We all get to wash our hands and walk away. If Zimmerman was afraid, the answer is more complicated. Why do so many of us fear the black man? Do you have an answer? What is the micro-solution? Is there a macro-solution? I am Hispanic. Here is what I think people know, but are afraid to say: Some law enforcement like to beat up on black people, to make white people feel… Read more »
“Black boys? Glass wall. They don’t even hear me. Why am I telling you this? I need help. Presumptuous, insulting, stereotypical, even racist — I know. But what the heck. I have to try.” Thank you for trying, and please don’t give up. Kids sometimes hear you years later but you’re not around for them to tell you they heard you. But, also high school is too late for many kids. Also, the problem is not yours. It is a centuries old systematic oppression and discrimination against of black males especially in the United States of America. You are seeing… Read more »
Thanks. I appreciate your answer.
Society set up George Zimmerman too. The USA is so violent that we need to do some very deep soul work to figure out why. Suicide, murder, rape, war, gender abuse, school killings all as American as apple pie. Tell me one thing Obama has done to help us deal with the violence here. Poverty is another form of violence MLK recognized that., when will we?
This is not going to turn out well. A lot of people are very angry and are charging off (perhaps being lead) in the direction of expecting that Zimmerman is going to get busted. They are being encouraged to believe a lot of things that will turn out to have never been true Then what? What if there is some kind of street fighting and injuries? People need to start adjusting their minds to the fact that Zimmerman is not going to be convicted of anything because, even if the local cops are as stupid, clumsy, maybe racist as some… Read more »
whoa there, rum… it seems like you too have been lead to believe something that may or may not be true. What gives Zimmerman the RIGHT to follow and CHALLENGE ANYONE? Regardless of how suspicious the character looked, he attended local BlockWatch meetings where they specifically tell watch members to NEVER CHALLENGE/CHASE/INTERACT with suspects. Call the police, and allow them to do their job. If he was the supposed “captain” he should have known this, not to mention his concealed weapon goes against the BlockWatch responsibilities as well… It seems that you have made an assumption based off ONE side… Read more »
Rum, your comment is beside the point. And your account is not consistent with all that is currently known. But, even if it were, it remains to be seen whether killling someone because you were losing a fight that you started can be considered self-defense, and if the police have an obligation to at least investigate. If it is as you argue, if I hate (fill in the blank) I can chase one of them down, start a fight, and then shoot and kill him or her, claiming self-defense. And just go on home with no police investigation. Except that… Read more »
“1. Zimmerman had a right to follow and challenge Martin 2. Martin closed the distance, had him down, and continued to beat on him.” The 911 operator told Zimmerman not to follow Martin. Zimmerman provoked Martin by following him and challenging him; Martin had a right to “Stand your ground” too and I think he exercised it. Zimmerman then shot Martin. What makes anyone think that Zimmerman had more of a right to “Stand your Ground” than Martin’s? Had Martin lived, and beaten Zimmerman unconscious — Would anyone question that Martin was defending himself from Zimmerman? I think not. Zimmerman… Read more »
Not only do we have to deal with outright racism and racial profiling, we have to deal with “people” who can’t wait to trivialize what happened by bringing up black on black crime because….one can’t be against both or even see black on black crime as a consequence/extension of racism. In any case, if you don’t see how race played a part in this case, put forth any story that can adequately explain what was heard on those tapes. I would love to hear it. Start with how Zimmerman determined Trayvon was suspicious.
Why do you put “people” in quotes? If you put “men” or “women” in quotes, it can mean something (that these individuals lack a fundamental quality of maleness/femaleness). It may not be a meaning that people like, but there is a meaning. If you put “people” in quotes, you suggest that they lack a fundamental property of … what? Makes no sense to me.
…decency, compassion. They rush to excuse and justify the actions of a killer at the expense of an innocent victim. That is inhumane at best. Therefore I put people in quotes. The following doesn’t pertain to you personally, but I did read your comments below (and others). You can argue that the actual killing wasn’t motivated by race. Maybe he was actually scared during a physical altercation (after they exchanged words). But I’m still waiting to hear someone tell me what his motivation was to pursue him in the first place. I’m still waiting for someone to defend his comments… Read more »
Okay, I’ll be the first to agree here. There is a lot of racism/favoritism going on in a lot of places. Even at the last company i had worked at, it astounded me that there was only ONE black employee working there, and the rest were whites, out staff of like 180. This company was headed by a devout Christian — your skin had to match his, to get the privilege of working for him and his company. He loves homogeneity…everyone else is going to hell 😉 Out of all the years of working in various industries and companies, there… Read more »
This kind of thinking makes the problem worse. Last year, I had a female student who suffered significant discrimination because of her orientation (L “male role”, much more seriously discriminated against compared to L “female role”, for some reason). She was from upstate NY, and spoke imperfect English (“aks” instead of “ask”, “acrossed” instead of “across”, “excape” instead of “escape”, and so on). Normally, I let this kind of thing go. However, this particular student was extremely gifted, a scientist with the potential to change the world. I told her “don’t give people an excuse to think less of you.”… Read more »
I wish we could please wait until all of the facts are known before engaging in speculation that points fingers at either Zimmerman or Martin or the police or at society. It is not clear that race had anything to do with Martin’s death any more than race was behind last week’s murder of a white Mississippi college student by black men. The ugly truth is that for every Trayvon Martin killed there are far, far more black youth killed by fellow blacks. But those young black victims receive no publicity. No vigils or marches. No Presidential press conferences or… Read more »
“Perhaps THAT is the big “story” to arise from this entire matter.” There evidence shows, as you point out, that our society is completely content with black boys and young men being killed routinely without investigation. Although this is a race problem, it is far more a gender problem. Black women are not suffering nearly the problems and disenfranchisement that black males experience. I submit that, were this to be occurring to any other demographic, the government and privately funded organizations would have long ago taken measures to address both the cause and symptoms of the problem(s). But, evidently, black… Read more »