Quote:
Originally Posted by DaemonSeid
You say there are real hate crimes out there? Gunning someone down in cold blood for no other reason than they look suspicious IMO is a hateful action but I am not the court. If Zimmerman wanted to play hero, all he simply had to do was stay inside and let the cops do their job and we really wouldn't have to have this convo right now.
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"Hateful action" is not a hate crime. A hate crime is a crime that is motivated by hatred toward, and therefore targeting of, a particular group of people/member of a particular group of people.
This is not solely based on the offender and victim being of different demographic characteristics. It is not enough that Zimmerman is Latino (some categorize him as white Hispanic) and Martin is Black. There has to be evidence that Zimmerman was targeting suspects on the basis of race OR was profiling suspects as being "unfamiliar" or "not belonging" because they were nonwhite.
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There are many predominantly white (I assume this particular community is predominantly, someone correct me if I'm wrong) communities in this country where a nonwhite person is automatically questioned. This is more likely to happen in predominantly white neighborhoods because white neighborhoods are more likely to feel empowered and socially advantaged enough to be so vigilant (not vigilante). I have been "politely challenged" by white neighbors if my hair or style of dress is different than when the last time they saw me. I have also been challenged when visiting my parents' neighborhoods in which my parents have lived for 40+ years. "Are you here to see so-and-so." Would I get these challenges and questions if I was white--probably not unless I was a particularly suspicious looking white person. I am not a suspicious looking Black person unless whites have already mapped out the token nonwhites in their gated community and paid particular attention to prevent their community from getting too many "of those people."
I'm all for attentive neighbors and neighborwood watch. I'm not all for only paying attention when you see an "other" and taking it upon yourself to be the police.