Definition of privilege

[Lainey]

Trayvon Martin would undoubtedly agree with you on this were he still alive today.

Yes, at this point we suspend judgment until everyone reviews the resume of the victim. If that receives approval, only then can we proceed to decide if his life was worthy to have continued or not.

[iris lilies]

IL: I just read that St. Louis had double the homicide rate that Chicago and Baltimore have.

Yes, we usually are in the top 3 and lately have been No. 1. Yay, us. The city of St. Louis draws tight boundaries around an urban core, so there is little suburban populace to tone down and mix with irban ceimw stats.

On the other hand, urban blight is very strong in northern suburbs outside of the city of St, Louis, so ths explanatin does not entirely explain it away.

[jp1]

That sad episode provided many tragically comic and comically tragic examples of that kind of thinking. The New York Times struggle with the shooter's pedigree that eventually preserved the narrative with "White Hispanic". NBC editing the 911 call audio to achieve the desired impact. ABC 're-digitizing" photos to the same purpose. Presidential musings on what his male issue might have looked like. The raising of sweatshirts and Skittles to protest totems. The usual uplifting commentary from the Rev. Al Sharpton. Spike Lee tweeting (incorrectly) George Zimmerman's home address. Zimmerman auctioning his gun to the skinhead community. It was a true Bonfire of the Vanities moment.

Ultimately, the presumption of innocence triumphed over the forces arrayed against it; but it was a near-run thing.

If I understand you correctly you're trying to say that because Zimmerman was hispanic that he couldn't have had racial bias against Martin because Zimmerman was also a minority? Before you make that assumption perhaps you should read Dreamland (the book someone mentioned a while back about the opiod crisis.) The current heroin problem in America is largely a white phenomenon because the Mexican heroin delivery guys were terrified of black people and absolutely would not sell to them or even go to neighborhoods with any black people in them.

[jp1]

I used to go to NYC on weekends in the early 80s. It did not seem especially safe then, and I always travelled with a group. The NYC of today is like Disneyland by comparison. Clean, safe, friendly, service-oriented. Not as many people in giant furry suits though.

I lived through that transition to Disneyland, 1 1/2 blocks west of times square. While I never truly felt unsafe in 1992 when I first moved there (at that time at night my block had drug dealers at one end and prostitutes at the other. Neither ever harmed or threatened me, but some of the drug dealers' customers were pretty scary looking) by the time I moved out of that apartment 14 years later it definitely seemed "more safe" than it had when I moved in. I knew that the disneyfication was complete a few years before I left. The dealers and hookers had been gone for a few years by then and the long abandoned building on the corner of my block suddenly got renovated and a Starbucks moved in on the ground floor.

[Teacher Terry]

Many people have died senselessly. Martin is one of them. Whether or not he was guilty in a court of law Zimmermann did not need to take his life.

[LDAHL]

If I understand you correctly you're trying to say that because Zimmerman was hispanic that he couldn't have had racial bias against Martin because Zimmerman was also a minority?

Not at all. I see it as an example of the lengths the Times was willing to go to to preserve the white-guy-kills-black-guy-and-gets-away-with-it-because-of-systemic-racism formulation. Simply reporting that a guy named Zimmerman was on trial for killing a guy named Martin without the color coding wouldn't have sold many papers to their target demographic.

[LDAHL]

Many people have died senselessly. Martin is one of them. Whether or not he was guilty in a court of law Zimmermann did not need to take his life.

Perhaps. But what is your alternative to a court of law to make that determination?

[jp1]

Personally I don't think it matters whether it is white on black or Hispanic on black racism. My point is that I wonder if Zimmerman had come across Zuckerberg, also known to regularly wear hoodies, would he have perceived zuckerberg to be as much of a threat?

[LDAHL]

Personally I don't think it matters whether it is white on black or Hispanic on black racism. My point is that I wonder if Zimmerman had come across Zuckerberg, also known to regularly wear hoodies, would he have perceived zuckerberg to be as much of a threat?

You may not think so, but there is a significant outrage industry that feels otherwise. Do you honestly believe we would have seen the same media circus eager to impute racist motives to an individual and society at large for a similar incident between two people of color?

[Williamsmith]

Personally I don't think it matters whether it is white on black or Hispanic on black racism. My point is that I wonder if Zimmerman had come across Zuckerberg, also known to regularly wear hoodies, would he have perceived zuckerberg to be as much of a threat?

You have to climb out of your own biased opinions to make sense out of it. Zuckerberg wouldn’t have communicated or acted as Martin did. We have the cell phone call with the girlfriend to illuminate us on Martin state of mind and it didn’t reflect kindly on Martin. There are several very in-depth reviews of the case....I will try to find one for you if you are interested in approaching it with an open mind.