The politics of hoodie wearing

It makes me afraid, too. But it also enrages.

I guess this won't suprise anyone...

Poll: Trayvon Martin case split by race

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74902.html

A lot depends on whether someone is getting his head beaten against the sidewalk
b4 he blasts the perp.





David

If I put myself in Trayvon's shoes -- some stranger in a car following me, getting out of the car and hunting me down, knowing I hadn't done anything wrong -- I surely would fight back because I would have been scared witless.

Trayvon didn't have any idea of what this guy was about.

Kids are told from the time they can walk to be wary of strangers in cars.

He did not deserve to be murdered.

For those of you who find the 911 recording compelling evidence of Zimmerman's racism, I suggest you watch the following CNN clip, in it's entirety.

I doubt this will change the minds of anyone who was only looking for evidence to support an assumption formed upon hearing a white man shot a black teen, but at the very least it greatly calls into question the certainty that Zimmerman used a racial epithet.

Kudos to CNN. The only thing I take issue with is the comment the reporter makes about Zimmerman supporters. One doesn't have to be a Zimmerman supporter to believe that didn't actually use the word "coons."

There are still issues of Zimmerman's culpability to resolve and it still may prove out that he was in part or in whole motivated by racism, but the only evidence suggesting this is the fact that Martin was black and Zimmerman was not.

http://www.wtam.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=104668&article=10002988

Exactly. Everything that Trayvon is known to have done, IMO, is completely understandable, and that's even if everything Zimmerman claims is true. The things Zimmerman did and the choices he made are not. And thats what it comes down to for me. And the hoody just doesn't matter. I don't actually believe that a cop would have found him suspicious (as someone else suggested), and even if one did, the outcome most certainly would have been different as its safe to say that Trayvon would have reacted differently to being approached by a cop, and a cop likely would have just approached him directly without all the creepy following.

I could care less whether Zimmerman was a racist or not. I see this as the example of what happens when you arm citizens and let them act without risk of consequences. This is precisely the thing that David and others like him claim will never happen if everyone is armed. That is part of why David is so invested in coming up with reasons why Zimmerman HAD to act the way he did.

I myself never bought the racial epithet story, so no biggie.

I think enough of MLK to believe that anyone in his organization who intentionally causing discord and hatred between races would be asked to stop - if not publicly, privately. Jesse Jackson is anathema to good race relations in this country. It is possible he didn't begin that way, although I read opinions from MLK associates who described JJ as an opportunist hopping on the MLK wagon for notoriety. Still, that was an opinion. However, no one needs a first person account now to clearly see what he's about.

That is so disturbing. I don't know what to tell my seventh graders. ALL of them - all 7 ethnic backgrounds / girls and boys - wear hoodies up whenever they can.

This will provide such an intense exchange re news, bias, propaganda, law, public policy, slant. It will be very real to them. I'm thinking of doing a unit on it.

It hasn't been proven. It is being claimed by Z's family. Waiting for verification one way or the other.

Finn, it's a little unclear to me why you find a clip about the crash of a Navy jet in Virginia relevant to the discussion.

You don't know that those are facts, unless you were there.

Recent news: "broken nose" and "pounded head against sidewalk" are Z's atty's claims.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/06/us-usa-florida-shooting-idUSBRE8350D520120406

My mind is still open on this pending more information, but this part is unpersuasive:



That's when all that's happened is shaking. If your head is pounded repeatedly into the pavement, then there are likely to be visible external signs.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/03/us-usa-florida-shooting-idUSBRE8310UZ20120403

The most legitimate (I guess) information I've found.

Certainly a far cry from what we've been fed from the media.

There are reports that there were (visible signs). They have been discounted by the media - who obviously want to try and judge the case themselves. It'll be proven or disproven soon, I trust. There were witnesses.

excerpt from previous link:

"Trayvon Martin was returning to his father's fiancee's home at a gated community on February 26 when Zimmerman saw him walking in the rain wearing a hooded sweatshirt and considered him suspicious. Against the advice of a police operator, Zimmerman followed Martin and a fight occurred. Witnesses heard screams for help and then a gunshot, sounds captured on 911 emergency calls by neighbors.

Zimmerman told police that Martin approached him, punched him in the nose and slammed his head against a concrete walkway before he fired in self-defense.

Forensic experts say the voice heard on the tape calling for help was not Zimmerman's, according to a report in Sunday's Orlando Sentinel. The newspaper asked voice recognition experts to examine the screams and compare them to Zimmerman's voice on calls he made to 911 before the shooting. The results did not match.

No tests were done comparing the tape with Trayvon Martin's voice because the newspaper could not obtain a sample of the teen's voice.

ABC News on Monday reported a newly enhanced version of surveillance video from the night of the shooting in the Sanford police station more clearly shows what appears to be an injury on the back of Zimmerman's head."
_____________________________________

Strawman? What were we "fed"?

I haven't seen anything saying that he's in hiding or otherwise resisting.

The coverage has been overwhelmingly about whether he should have been arrested.

Meanwhile, I saw the video of him after he was brought in to the police station and while the resolution was not great, he really doesn't look injured. (Edit: the enhancement has been questioned and is not conclusive, itself.)

I'm waiting for more details there and find the lack of them somewhat damning, though maybe it would come out in a trial. If his nose was broken and his head was pounded into the pavement, why didn't anyone take a picture that could show that conclusively?

I''m not sure why you say that Reuters story is a far cry from what you hear in the media, Lash, considering the whole thing is a rehash of what you hear from the media. It also leaves out a huge amount of information available on the case.