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Wellllllllll, here's the thing about raising issues that are not central, the side issues become the topic. As with any discussion of opportunities and facilitating factors for crime and victim precipitation, the average person will be distracted from the main issue. Yes, how we look and our demeanor matter. Newsflash. How we look and our demeanor especially matter for power minority groups--i.e., women, racial and ethnic minorities, and GLBT--who have higher rates of victimization for certain types of offenses. Newsflash.
Zimmerman's attorney is betting on this newsflash becoming the main topic because people cannot multitask and are easily sidetracked. Instead of problematizing the potential offender, the potential victim is problematized. The topic has now become what Martin was wearing, whether he was suspended from school a few times, and whether there was a trace of marijuana on one of his school bags weeks ago. What in the samhell does that have to do with anything? Well, they are saying that Martin was a bad kid (read: typical Black male youth who should not have been in that gated community in ther first place--or at least should have been wearing a 3-piece suit to buffer the effects of his badassness). Moreover, they will present it as Martin is the one who was violent toward Zimmerman. Zimmerman was therefore "standing his ground." However, it is also the case that Martin could have been "standing his ground." But, that will not fly in the eyes of the law (I don't care about public opinion) if Martin is portrayed as a weed-selling kid who kept getting in trouble at school for walking on hallways he was not supposed to walk on and so forth.
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