Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman Tangent #654

Spoken by the guy who would have let chauvin go because he thinks killing black guys is what police are there for.

The thing is, you seem to be saying that you not only would have to change Martin's race. You'd also have to change the race of the perpetrators of the burglaries in the neighborhood as well.

This is effectively conceding that Martin himself was not doing anything in particular that led him to seem suspicious. Because if he was, Zimmerman would observed the looking into windows or whatever and thought that he was about to burglarize homes based on his actions and not the fact that he was of a certain skin color and suspects were of the same skin color.

I live in these neighborhoods and you always have white people looking into your home, stopping and looking at your house, and just being creepy ass people. There is a reason. Every one of them is addicted to HGTV and is always trying to find out the worth of your home because they imagine themselves flipping shit. Do you know how many times I have had to chase some white person away from a house because they have been snapping pictures like they are casing the joint? They just wander into houses for sale looking around.

If a black person did any of this they would have the police called on them. I find it creepy as hell, but it is white privilege. It is clearly a matter of racism that a black person or kid would be suspicious for doing what many white people do every day. OF would not think twice about some white guy parked outside of his house taking pictures, but if a black guy did it then he would have a different assumption. Society does contribute to this by making it harder for black people to purchase property which discourages them from home shopping every neighborhood.

It is a white people thing. it seems like at least fifty percent of white people know what houses are for sale in neighborhoods, what the quality of the inside is, and have lists and prices for them all. They discuss this shit at cards like it was game of thrones. This idea white people respect other people's property and privacy is absurd. I know some of these houses are not for sale and do not have open houses or realtor lock boxes on them, but white people will walk up and look in windows. These are not display models of houses either.

My HOA knows my grandfather's bed is not slept in. No one comes into the condo, but this means someone is looking in the window. I really do not think it is the lawn workers either.

The flip side of that, from the same source:

The suspension for graffiti was in October 2011, when Martin was observed by a school police officer on a security camera "hiding and being suspicious" in a restricted area of the school. According to the officer, he later observed Martin marking up a door with "W.T.F." ("what the fuck?"). When his backpack was searched the next day by a Miami-Dade School Police officer, looking for the graffiti marker, the officer found a dozen pieces of women's jewelry, a watch and a screwdriver that was described by the school police officer as a burglary tool. The jewelry found in his backpack included silver wedding bands and earrings with diamonds.

This gives credence to the fact that Zimmerman found Martin acting in a suspicious manner.

While it's certainly possible Zimmerman wouldn't have followed a white person, it's not beyond the realm of reason to think that Martin was acting suspiciously, as Zimmerman stated, because of past behavior.

And the fact he was shot was because he had Zimmerman pinned to the ground and assaulting him, and Zimmerman was almost certainly the one who had been screaming for help for ~40 seconds.

I imagine I'd likely get shot in that situation too.

It also counts towards a probable cause determination.

Are you fucking kidding me?!? Did you not JUST YESTERDAY argue that Zimmerman’s past shouldn’t be brought into the argument?

Fuck off with this nonsense.

And where would that post be, exactly?

Do I look like Tamar? Find it yourself.

The comment you are sure I made YESTERDAY? I don't recall making that comment, went back to YESTERDAY to check to see if I did. Nope.

Oh, so you are full of shit. We'll just carry on then.

Man, this is the biggest pot-meet-kettle moment I've seen in a long time

You are as stupid as Baba and gturner and even Dayton only pretended to be.

The bigger discussion is the thing for me.

The particulars of this case have been worn to death and nobidy has really moved the needle in their opinions. But it is the demarcation line of a reckoning this country has long needed wrt race and policing.

I'll be honest and say I initially agreed with the verdict, but there's lots to unpack beginning with how Zimmerman wasn't even processed correctly after the shooting (which is what led Al Franken to hound the cops until he was finally arrested) to the media painting Martin as some hardened thug to the respectability politics around Martin's friend who testified.

And these are patterns we've seen played out over and over again in each new trial since. Shit like buying mass murderers Burger King on the way to the jail, for example

The verdict doesn't bother me nearly as much as the attitudes I see around Zimmerman and the types that play down our concerns in this case. I can accept Martin wasn't a perfect angel, but as we've learned far too many times since, being a decent human being isn't enough to keep you from being a victim. My Navy buddy who is two shades darker than Meghan Markle and had a fuckton of internalized antiblackness had a cop pull a gun on her during a traffic stop last year. A co-worker's son was shot and killed here.

I have yet to be pulled over in 7 years of having a car and I'm still afraid for the first time it happens. I have to research where to move because some places are absolutely unsafe for minorities. My Trump-voring brother doesn't go anywhere near Corpus Christi. Fuck, my job is offering relocation to Reno and it'd be a great way to get outta this area and I'm hesitant on that because it's in goddamn Nevada with even few black folks than here.

So.......yeah.

Likely you would. I'm just saying I don't think Zimmerman would have engaged at all if Martin was white. I might be wrong, but I doubt it.

OJ's too juicy to be innocent, but his Bronco certainly was!

I'm gonna tell you a secret: the black community never cared either way. People were just happy to see a rich black man use his wealth and status to get away with the same shit white men like Roman Polanski skated on. My mom was the only black person in America who wanted to sincerely see him pay for his crime.

I don't agree with that mentality but I understand why it exists and why it's pushed onto every crooked ass predator in our community from MJ to R Kelly to that bullshit about Bill Cosby buying out NBC and the rape stuff was just a means to keep him away from that.

That's what happens when you create a police state.

Your mom and my wife.

I mean, it's pretty clear he did it, but looking back on that case, the prosecution bungled that like Dayton's teaching "career" so it's not a wonder he walked. But his attitude afterward sure is sus, as was his attitude towards the Goldman family.

Just like Zimmerman.

Don't forget Chris Darden!

Or maybe he just wanted to get into Marcia Clark's pants.