Trayvon Martin

[Surfah]

Some of you could use this:

That's the worst idea I have ever heard in my life Tom.

[byu71]

I am watching a story on tax refund fraud on CNN. The same media that screams about profiling might be part of the problem.

They show culprits in action, being caught and interviewed. I would say 90% of those shown are minorities. They don't have to show these people. The very reports they do lead to profiling.

[RobinFinderson]

I am watching a story on tax refund fraud on CNN. The same media that screams about profiling might be part of the problem.

They show culprits in action, being caught and interviewed. I would say 90% of those shown are minorities. They don't have to show these people. The very reports they do lead to profiling.

Smart observation, byu71. The media is full of this crap. I think a lot of it is driven by crappy production budgets that force some news agencies to only gather the lowest hanging fruit. Lets face it -- poor people do a disproportionate amount of stupid stuff that is cheap and easy to expose. Low hanging fruit. Wealthier people do their own share of stupid stuff, but isn't as cheap and easy to expose it. When we talk about institutional racism, it is often completely unintentional factors that perpetuate and entrench the power of some, while marginalizing and perpetuating prejudice against others, and this too often breaks along racial lines.

[Tex]

It is not. You've been reading my posts, have you not?

Yes, hence the reason I asked. If you really believe the President's comments made a potential Zimmerman exoneration* more difficult, then it's nonsensical to think it was still a good thing.

And I totally dispute this notion that his comments had any calming or reassuring effect anyway. You saying it doesn't make it true.

*By the way, this guy may be as guilty as sin. I have no idea, and neither does the President.

[Jacob]

It's on record that Zimmerman was counseled not to engage. We also have the account of the girlfriend which states that Trayvon was in the process of trying to elude Zimmerman. She also stated that she heard Zimmerman say "what are you doing here?".

Still seems like a leap to me. You say he was "counseled not to engage" as if this came from someone other than a telephone operator, and in fact all he said was "we don't need you to do that." And the leap to Zimmerman being confrontational so as to justify getting beat up just because he asked "What are you doing here?" That's not a very confrontational question.

Your facts are wrong here. At 1:23 Zimmerman says, "He's coming to check me out." At 2:07 Zimmerman says, "Shit, he's running." In the time between that, Zimmerman calmly says "These assholes, they always get away." He also calmly gives instructions to the dispatch about how the coming police can best find the suspicious child. Once he describes the child as 'running,' you can hear Zimmerman get out of the car (audible car door closing) and you can now hear the wind/breathing in the phone as Zimmerman pursues the child. This is the audible evidence that leads the dispatch to ask at 2:24, "Are you following him?" The audio continues to 4:10, with Zimmerman speaking calmly as he pursues the fleeing child. It ends when Zimmerman asks the police to call him when they are in the area.

I love how you keep saying "child" so as to bias the argument in your favor and the photos are always form his Jr High football team.

The question isn't whether Zimmerman's actions were racist. They almost certainly were. But were they criminal? That's a different question.

I mostly agree with this. Except for the connotations of saying they were racist. There was likely a racial component to his profiling, but this doesn't make him racist in the commonly understood sense of the term.

Here is a decent YouTube version of Zimmerman's 911 call.

[YOUTUBE]jL72w4xiTVU[/YOUTUBE]

All I got form that was that George Zimmerman seemed to be acting in a very calm and rational manner. I don't see how this is evidence against him.

I thought he said "cocks", but wife agreed it was "coons".

Whatever is said is unintelligible, IMO.

Could someone interpret Jesse Jackson's statement for me? In commenting on the tragedy, he stated, per CNN:

"We as a nation have become much too violent," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Sunday. "...If it's black on white, it's jail time. If it's white on black, it's revolt time. If it's black on black, or white on white, or brown on brown, it's Miller time."

I can interpret that:
JacKson: "Look up here! Look up here!"

[RobinFinderson]

Blah Blah blah blah...

I can interpret that:
Jacob: "Look at me! Look at me!"

[Surfah]

Actually I'll go ahead and point out it is not that strange. A significant number of burglars are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Typically between 40-50% from reports I have seen.

Also, a significant amount of burglaries about 30-40% are to obtain money for drugs.

Today Trayvon's family confirmed that Trayvon had been suspended from school for possession of an empty bag with trace amounts of marijuana. He was serving his suspension when he was shot.

[RobinFinderson]

Also, a significant amount of burglaries about 30-40% are to obtain money for drugs.

Today Trayvon's family confirmed that Trayvon had been suspended from school for possession of an empty bag with trace amounts of marijuana. He was serving his suspension when he was shot.

Nice. Now the dead child's mistakes, which Zimmerman did not know about, become fodder for public discussion.

[byu71]

Nice. Now the dead child's mistakes, which Zimmerman did not know about, become fodder for public discussion.

The whole thing is absolutely tragic. Do you think out of respect for the young man and the tragedy, only the damning things about Zimmerman should be in the public domain?

[Surfah]

The whole thing is absolutely tragic. Do you think out of respect for the young man and the tragedy, only the damning things about Zimmerman should be in the public domain?

Of course he's a racist murderer.

[RobinFinderson]

Of course he's a racist murderer.

I don't think he is a racist murderer.

[RobinFinderson]

The whole thing is absolutely tragic. Do you think out of respect for the young man and the tragedy, only the damning things about Zimmerman should be in the public domain?

I think we owe children special protection.

[Colly Wolly]

Nice. Now the dead child's mistakes, which Zimmerman did not know about, become fodder for public discussion.

His behavior is fair game in helping us get a better picture of his character. I got suspended from school a few times, so I'm not saying the whole scenario is flipped upside down. I'm more interested in hearing about whether or not he has a pattern of violent or confrontational behavior. Had he been in trouble for getting in fights, bullying, etc?

[Jacob]

I don't think he is a racist murderer.

You fooled me. Care to clarify? You don't think he murdered the "child"? Or you don't think he was racially motivated? Every single post of yours in this thread indicates the contrary.

[byu71]

His behavior is fair game in helping us get a better picture of his character. I got suspended from school a few times, so I'm not saying the whole scenario is flipped upside down. I'm more interested in hearing about whether or not he has a pattern of violent or confrontational behavior. Had he been in trouble for getting in fights, bullying, etc?

Agree, maybe why revealing this is no big deal to me is because if this is all there is, it is no big deal to me as far as judging the young man character.