No doubt that racism swings both ways, but I can't help but wonder if blacks just maybe have legitimate reasons for their feelings about whites. It wasn't the blacks who sold the whites into slavery and wrote the segregation laws.

And we wonder about and don't understand the tribal feuds in other parts of the world while tribalism continues unabated right here in the good ole USA.

Yeah Salmonella, you're racist. So am I. It's the ones who say they aren't that most likely aren't being honest with themselves.

Sg

Salmo, it was blacks in Africa that helped sell other blacks into the slave trade.

The Word "ISSUES", come on that is a Little Girl Word. What happen little ChitFly, some skateboarder Dude run over one of your 2 semi-dead brain cells???? ISSUES

Sg,
You are one of the most intellectually honest posters here on PP.
Though on some issues we may disagree, you always put forth a well thought out response, instead of some two bit partisan sound byte.
Thank you.

I can only view the world from my white middle class perspective.
That said, I find perpetual victimhood rather disturbing.

I grew up in a very difficult situation.
My parents divorced when I was young, myself and three brothers lived with my dad who battled with alcoholism for many years.
Eviction notices, turned off electricity, bill collectors calling, little to eat, etc..etc.. not a good environment to grow up in to say the least.

I got a job at 18 and knew it was either sink or swim for me as I had no support system to fall back on.
Every single day I strived to succeed, knowing that I wanted out of my childhood situation.
My brothers were the same,today all of us have forged good families and comfortable lives.

Often I see peoples of similar upbringings copping out to drug & alcohol induced failures, blaming their rough childhoods and abusive parents for their complete lack of personal responsibility.

Yes, white Anglos were responsible for horrific injustices toward an entire race of people.
I wonder however just how many hundreds of years must pass before that is no longer a valid crutch.
It seems like the so called civil rights leaders (namely Jesse Jackson & Al Sharpton) foster the continued sense of victimhood of their fellow African Americans.
Again I can only see the world through my prism, and perhaps my fate would have been different if I were born with dark skin.
I have always enjoyed the refreshing mind of Bill Cosby, who continually preaches self responsibility and the might to break the shackles of continued victimhood based on race.



Author Shelby Steele has some revolutionary concepts regarding black society in America in what he calls "The Religion Of Racism".

It's going to take some clever lawyering to sell "justifiable self defense" when the record shows that Mr. Z chose to continue pursuit after being told to stand down.
Anything can happen in these circus trials, I suppose.

I can't decide whose side I'm on though.
Let's see, black kid w/hoodie vs. 1/2 Hispanic-1/2 Caucasian with a Greek given name and a Jewish surname.

Salmonella,

Thanks for the compliment. Always enjoy your stuff too.

Gotta' agree that there's plenty of blame and responsibility to go around. I don't even claim to understand it. Lotta' learned sociologists been writing about racism and black culture in the US for a long time, and it doesn't look like anyone's any closer to figuring it out now than they were 100 years ago. It does give me a little more empathy to the nutty tribalism that's a 1,000 years old and governs behavior in some other countries.

Rodney King summed it up as well as anyone with his famous question: "why can't we all just get along?" Probably because we're human, and it's not in our nature, apparently, is the only answer I've come to.

Sg

And you see that as relevant why?

"In 2009, completed law-enforcement investigations showed that 352 African-Americans were killed by known whites — a category that includes Latinos — and 4,094 African-Americans were killed by African-Americans, according to FBI data."

Perhaps more outrage for black-on-black murder rates would be in order. I see it in the protests over in Oakland, but it isn't as highly publicized as the unfortunate killing of Trayvon. No Jackson, no Sharpton over there deploring those grim numbers. No national media attention over the the 41, mostly black, in Chicago who were shot (9 of them dead) in Chicago alone between March 16-19.

Where's the outrage?

Black-on-black crime widely ignored, say African American activists

Am I the only person who doesn't give a $hit about this and am sick of hearing about it? Other than the fact that somebody died, both people involved appeared to have escalated the situation so it probably could have been avoided and that's unfortunate. We don't have all the facts, we don't try cases in the media, the police and the prosecutor have the facts, are doing an investigation and a court and jury will decide it if need be. I see no reason for protests, "no justice, no peace" chats or $10,000 wanted dead or alive posters for Zimmerman. But then again I have some faith in the essential decency of the white man's system.

This isn't even a racial issue, just stupid a$$es try to make it one. Only people who see the world through a race based prism (racists), see this as a racial issue. I don't, I see it as a rich vs poor issue. Why does him being a stranger dressed and acting suspiciously in a neighborhood that had 6 break ins in the past few months have anything to do with his skin color? Also the fact that he was caught with burglary tools as well as women's jewelry has nothing to do with his skin color. What does him attacking Zimmerman have to do with his skin color? He could have ran from that fat bastard. He was shot because he was a stupid kid not because he's a black stupid kid. Trevon wasn't followed because he was black. He was followed because he was poor. He was followed because he was young. But mostly, he was followed because he was an outsider.

You have to understand the mentality of a gated community. I've lived in several and never will again because of the people who live there. There is always some corksoaker who makes himself the king of the neighborhood and hassles everybody. Also, keep in mind that gated communities are private property, even the roads, the police can't even come in without being called. Strangers to the neighborhood are often stopped and questioned to make sure they are legitimate guests and not trespassers. Running from security is not a good idea, but a better one than attacking them and getting shot over it.

He approached Trayvon not because he was black but because THAT'S WHAT ZIMMERMAN DOES. He made 50 calls to police in a year. If I (white) were walking through people's yards in that neighborhood at night in a hoodie, I'm sure he'd call the cops on me too. The difference between me and Trayvon is I wouldn't run from him or attack him, I would just tell him whose house I was staying at (so he knows who I am and that I have a right to be there) and then I'd tell him what I truly think of people like him going around harassing people.

Only in America can we not understand this is a class based issue, not a racial one. There is the same stereotypes against poor youths in hoodies in Europe, where they are the same race. In the UK, you are actually prohibited from wearing hoodies in most public places. Not because they are racist, it's because they don't like poor people.

And there is a legitimate reason to dislike poor people, because the poor people are the ones stealing. Like it or not, it's not middle class middle aged men or upper class women burglarizing houses. It's poor young men and boys doing it. Not all poor young males burglarize houses but pretty much all burglars are poor young males. So if you fit that profile, you are going to face more scrutiny. Deal with it without getting violent and you are much less likely to get shot.

Video related, it's a commoner rapping about hoodies while frightening the middle class, and they are both white.

There's a lot of perpetual victimhood being played by gun owners...Watch out for those Grabbers!...and Christians...It's a War on Christmas!!!...

Perpetual victimhood is how the real redistribution of wealth takes place...distributing it to those who not only tell you to be afraid...Be Very Afraid!!...but by those who tell you that they are the only ones who can save you.

Funny part is that those who tell you to be afraid, and offer to save you, are always the same people.

Fish on...

Todd

To quote Dave V.........You see that as relevant how?

Like these recent NRA scare tactics...

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/guns/nra-keeps-tabs-california-3-anti-gun-laws-1-pro-gun

And those paranoid hunters fearing that their beloved sport is being attacked by evil Democrats...

http://sd28.senate.ca.gov/news/2012-03-2...ing-packs-dogs-


Sheesh...

From those links, I'd say you need a few more mounts in that trophey room.

Was NBC fanning the flames?

NBC to do ‘internal investigation’ on Zimmerman segment

Exactly in line with what I said five days ago.
[b]Sad waste of life, and the media is busy playing to everyone's emotions on all sides. I feel the media isn't so much concerned in reporting the news, rather they are more concerned in sensationalizing events.[/b]

The same with the killings in Afghanistan. The media plays it how they want the public to react, rather than just reporting the news in a straightforward manner.

Dogfish, methinks you protest too much. How do you report either story (Florida and Afghanistan) in a straightforward manner? Both stories have "facts" that are all over the place. I wish we, as a society, would be willing to wait for the facts to become clear, but we are not and as soon as one news outlet presents the story (incomplete, innacurate, and premature), all others follow. We get what we deserve and what we demand.

In the case of NBC, it isn't reporting facts if other relevant facts are omitted. That is editorializing and distorting the news rather than simply reporting it.

How about they start with the facts. Don't pick and choose what you present to sensationalize the story. First they defame the shooter, then they say the kid got kicked out of school, then they go back to the shooter again and say he was accused of DV, and so on. If you can't see the see-saw, you're blind.

Both parties made mistakes, nobody should have lost their life. Sad.

Which facts? In the Florida case we have two sets of "facts".

1. Zimmerman followed this kid
He called 911
He did not exhibit any defensive wounds
The kid did not exhibit any contusions on his hands consistent with beating on Zimmerman.
Zimmerman shot the kid.

Or

2. Zimmerman followed this kid
He called 911
Witnesses report that the kid attacked Zimmerman
Witnesses report that the kid was slamming Zimmerman's head into the ground.
Zimmerman shot the kid

Right now, the only facts that are consistent is that Zimmerman followed the kid, called 911, and shot the kid. And those facts mean virtually nothing without context.

Eddie,

"Right now, the only facts that are consistent is that Zimmerman followed the kid, called 911, and shot the kid. And those facts mean virtually nothing without context."

And that's exactly the problem. Media have been coloring the context since the beginning, rather than reporting that which they knew happened and not trying to fill in the blanks. But sensationalizing news is how to keep a story alive for days and weeks. If they can't keep it alive and moving, well, in the news business, yesterday's news is today's history. And they ain't in the business of reporting history. Americans hate history. Americans love American Idol and the Batchelor and any shallow-minded programming. But they do love trying complex issues they don't understand in the court of public opinion.

Sg