NAACP: Stand Your Ground Law Not to Blame in Taryvon Martin Shooting

[npk]

30. No offense tularetom

But I suspect that is what Zimmerman thought. That is why I don't agree with this line of thinking. The whole damn issue we are facing in this country is that "people like Zimmerman" already believe that every young black man is armed and carrying a gun. That is why so many young black people are shot and killed by not only average citizens but by law enforcement. It is that prevailing thought process that IMO led to this entire tragedy. If Zimmerman had seen a white young kid walking though his neighborhood he never would have thought that the boy would be armed, but because of the way the media has portrayed crime in the country so many people think that when they see a young black man walking through their neighborhood they automatically assume that the person is armed, and it heightens the tension from the very beginning. As a teacher of mine once told me, a young black man in this country has to be so very careful in how they react to a person they meet on the street even their on neighborhood, because so many people will see them as a threat, even though 99% of young black men are no threat at all.