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In reply to the discussion: Attorney: Zimmerman's bond request delayed [View all]freshwest
(53,661 posts)We only have his claims and the opinions of others to say what happened. We have logic, the main thing being he should not and did not indicate he 'felt threatened' while inside his vehicle. His actions were not that of a person afraid, until likely the last moment. He precipitated this.
We have a problem with unspoken racism in this country; but more than that, we have a problem with money. Minorities have been kept poor by the acts perpetrated upon them, and regardless of the race of the people in control, their crime now is being perceived to be poor and shiftless, as if their skin color is a marker for poverty.
How many blacks have been harassed while driving, who owned their cars but were treated as if they were car thieves; how many have been stopped in neighborhoods because others assume they are unable to buy property?
Would Z have felt entitled to go after a white man (who by default with some people) was a rightful visitor in that area? Or someone he thought was dressed in a way that in his mind showed affluence?
Z's statements and those who support him, make the assumption that a possible crime was in the offing. Why is it that many feel black males are more likely to be criminals, judging them on a stereotype?
I suggest it is a notion built of the fact that due to economic circumstance, and the difference in charging, there are more blacks in jail. The idea that blacks are more genetically or in some other way more likely to do crimes, is inaccurate and cannot be proven.
It is the economic situation, the lack of being able to get an adequate defense that leads to incarceration. Other races commit crimes, some appear to not be punished, especially if they have the money for a good defense.
I'm not sure that anyone is to blame for this for the most part, other than Z.