The Murder of Trayvon Martin

[TonyB06]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I understand what he's saying. No, he didn't deserve to die (and I suspect that Zimmerman would have found him "suspicious" in a 3-piece suit), but folks do need to be mindful of appearances if they don't want to be perceived a certain way.

So, if some one has an equally irrational aversion to white guys in collared shirts and ties, should the white guys take that into account when dressing?

I get your point. Personally, I detest the dumb-a$$, sagging, pants off your a$$ look. But until a law is passed outlawing it, guess what, I gotta get over it. People need to control their own aversions/fears unless and until someone steps to you or presents you with a clear and present danger.

By no account presented, even Zimmerman's, did Trayvon Martin do this. When all this started, Trayvon Martin had a right to be exactly where he was in the gated compound.

And now this organizational cowardice, this selective media leaking by law enforcement, the same outfit that let the shooter walk away, w/ gun in possession, without a breathalizer, without surrendering forensic evidence that is now irretrievable, is engaging in character assassination on Trayvon Martin with news of his school suspension, as if that had a da*n thing to do with his being shot dead in a Florida street on Feb. 26.

And yeah, while I support this protest and the pressure it's bringing, I'm equally troubled that we --Black people -- don't roll out like like this when intra-racial shootings occur, leaving other Black mothers to grieve their children. Let's protest and fix that.

this whole thing is troubling on levels I don't even wanna think about.

/end rant...for now.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by TonyB06

And yeah, while I support this protest and the pressure it's bringing, I'm equally troubled that we --Black people -- don't roll out like like this when intra-racial shootings occur, leaving other Black mothers to grieve their children. Let's protest and fix that.

I was waiting for someone to say this.

The attention and outrage will be different because the majority of person violence for all racial and ethnic groups is intraracial. Whites are more likely to be violently victimized by whites; Blacks are more likely to be violently victimized by Blacks; Asians are more likely to be violently victimized by Asians; Native Americans are more likely to be violently victimized by Native Americans; etc. That is about the victim-offender relationship in highly racially and social class segregated societies such as North America. The reason why interracial violence receives the attention that it does is because it is much less common than intraracial violence.

It is the equivalent of responding to public outrage over a murderer who identifies as Christian and who murders someone who identifies as Muslim by saying "I wish we would respond like this when Christians kill Christians." No, we would not because in North America, the majority of offenders and victims identify as Christian. When that is not the case, based on the relatively small percentage of Muslims in North America and the relative difficulty in the average North American Christian to have extensive exposure to Muslims in North America, there is a question over what motivated the offender to target and therefore victimize a nonChristian. That is one of the foundations for hate crime legislation because the person's group membership is what motivated the crime rather than what typically motivates offenders. In addition to a different motivation for crime, it typically takes more time and effort to target and victimize members of groups with whom the offender has relatively less interaction.

Similarly, males are most likely to be both the victim and the perpetrator for all crimes except for sexual assault and rape for which females are more likely to be the victims. Yet, people respond differently when a male offender robs a female than when a male offender robs a male. The outrage and fear for safety is not the same when discussing male-male violence and victimization. In fact, males report an extremely low fear of crime despite having the highest victimization for crimes except for sexual assault and rape.

If people want intragroup violence to be as shocking and appalling as intergroup violence, that's fine, but that requires an understanding of victim-offender dynamics. It is about much more than "Black people aren't outraged when we harm each other" as though that is completely accurate and unique to Black people.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by TonyB06

So, if some one has an equally irrational aversion to white guys in collared shirts and ties, should the white guys take that into account when dressing?

I get your point. Personally, I detest the dumb-a$$, sagging, pants off your a$$ look. But until a law is passed outlawing it, guess what, I gotta get over it. People need to control their own aversions/fears unless and until someone steps to you or presents you with a clear and present danger.

I know this was a rant, but that's not what I said. I agreed that some looks make certain impressions. I didn't say people deserve to die because of the way they dress.