@cicerone imposter,
Quote:firefly, You're wasting your time trying to talk sense into those racial bigots.
A COMPLETE WASTE; not worth your time or effort.
You're right, C.I.. This isn't worth my time and effort.
I really hope the 50th Anniversary March on Washington later this month helps to galvanize another major civil rights movement, and that people will continue to express their outrage at the ongoing manifestations of racism, discrimination, and inequity in our society, through organized effective social and political action.
The solution is not arguing with racist idiots in threads like this, it's working to accomplish change in the real world. And I do believe Trayvon Martin's death will continue to be symbolic of the need for that change. Not just his death, but the trial, and the verdict, all highlight the deep vein of racism, and the racial divide, that poisons the heart of this country. It is so deeply rooted, many people, particularly white people, have a difficult time even seeing it, let alone acknowledging it. And I think that was probably true of the well intentioned jurors who acquitted Zimmerman--they bought the racial stereotypes that Zimmerman's defense lawyers sold them, and they wound up convicting the victim, about whom they really knew nothing, because they assumed he fit a stereotype. But they will tell you, they never thought about race, and that may be true, but it permeates thinking subconsciously, and that's the really pernicious aspect.
Trayvon Martin never had a chance to get justice. Not from the vigilante who profiled and pursued him, not from the police who neglected to even test his killer for drugs or alcohol, not from the D.A. who didn't think a fatal shooting, in response to only an apparent punch in the nose, by an unarmed young male victim, warranted an arrest and investigation, and not from the forensics team who made only minimum effort to insure that all crime scene evidence was carefully collected and preserved. It wasn't until after Trayvon's father identified his body, and verified that his son had belonged in that community, and was just returning from the store, that the police really realized that Zimmerman's inconsistent story didn't quite add up, but, by then, things were already botched, because they had prejudged Martin, with a negative racial stereotype, and had not questioned this death enough, and evidence now was lost. And it still took repeated public demonstrations, by a justifiably outraged black community, to even get Zimmerman arrested, even after it was clear that he had profiled and stalked an innocent teen and provoked an encounter with him.
Trayvon Martin had no chance at justice. The deck was stacked against him all along. And that did have to do with the color of his skin.
Whether it's through an action by the Justice Dept,. or a wrongful death civil suit by Martin's parents. or simply by serving as a symbol to galvanize a movement to effect social change and address racism, I do hope that Trayvon Martin will eventually get justice.
And, you're right, C.I.. I can't get it for him in this thread.
