General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Just as I feared. Justice delayed is Justice denied. Trayvon situation is getting out of hand. [View all]kristopher
(29,798 posts)I remember the first few months after Obama was elected and inaugurated it seemed that casual inter-racial interactions in public places like supermarkets or restaurants took on a friendlier feel. What I noticed specifically was an increase in eye contact and greetings as people passed each other.
Then the teabaggers rose out of the ashes of the KKK and we went right back to looking past each other.
In my opinion, there has been a great deal of harm done by the rightwing use of racism as a political tool against Obama. I know that I resent it mightily and I'm white, so it is my assumption that in general the feelings of minorities of all persuasions are at least as predisposed towards anger as my own. With that in mind, it is understandable that many could believe Treyvon's killing could very well be the spark for a far wider reaction. Anyone that lived through the riots of the 60s knows that sometimes people can take only so much of this type of abuse before they collectively react.
I think this is a good article and that the claims of it being a right wing screed are totally off target. I can see how it might be perceived that way if you are reading it looking through a lens hyper-focused on a few key concepts. For example, the slight against the Reverend Al, is something that could legitimately be read as coming from the standard right wing playbook. I think the author is mistaken on that point because I recall him at the press conference on the day they announced the charges; he was definitely calling for public calm and imploring people to recognize that the judicial process was, albeit delayed, working. However that alone doesn't make it a right wing POV and it really requires a narrow focus to not detect the dripping sarcasm that accompanied the sentence "Rip-roaring fun!".
I don't think Treyvon's murder is going to be the spark that sets off wide spread racial violence, but it is one more stick on an overloaded camel's back. What is most worrisome is that such violence, were it to become widespread, would play directly into the political ambitions of the right. In public policy and economics that is called a "perverse incentive" and I believe it is proper to be on guard against those who would try to create the impression of it hoping to ratchet tensions ever higher.
I do not think this article is doing that.