Why Does This Appear to be a Black Problem?

Deez is correct in that some non dominants incorrectly assert that they cannot be racist based on an inaccurate definiton of the term that focuses on power. It is true, however, that racism practiced by dominants has the potential to be much more leathal because of the access to power.
 
Proper investigation?

How much do you have to investigate a crime scene that includes:

Unarmed victim dead on ground.
Person who shot him on the scene with weapon.
Person who shot him got out of his car to confront pedestrian who ended up dead.

Maybe that's not enough to convict, but it sure seems to be enough to arrest and arraign.

If the racial roles had been reversed, does anyone believe the police action would have been the same? I don't.
 
I think this thread sums up much of the problem surrounding racism. Fear, prejudice and the "you do not know what it is like being me" mentality that is inherently racist in and of itself.

Again, It sounds like Zimmerman was in the wrong. I hope it gets a full investigation.

I am fortunate to live in a gated community. It is small and basically everyone knows each other. If I saw a kid, regardless of race, walking at night that I did not recognize, I would likely follow and call the police. Unless I saw him breaking the law, Iwould simply wait for the police.

My wife called me a couple of years ago in a panic. Two men were in our back yard. She called the police and I raced home. My pistol was ready when I arrived. I beat the police to my home.

I questioned the men and told them to get out of my yard. They had no identification as any public or private worker. Turns out they worked contract for a major cable provider and were marking lines.

When the police arrived, the black man openly called us racist and that we only called the police because he was black and the other man was Hispanic. Thankfully, the black police man told him to shut up, that we had every right to call the police given the circumstances and for him to be thankful I did not unload my 9mm in him.

I pray for the kid's family and I one day pray that these type of threads calling each other racist are no longer around.
 
Previous poster's response also noted the statement regarding how fearful he is about his son leaving the house. It is common for everyone, but again, under liberal views we are not all equal.

I posted twice that Zimmerman was wrong and deserved investigation. My point is that you do not have to be white to be biased or racist, a fact that often escapes you and Satchel.
 
If it is your contention that you must have conversations with your son about how he is considered suspicious and dangerous by some because of his skin color and that alone could put him at great risk, call me dubious.
 
As parents, I hope we all educate our children that there are idiots, crazy people and generally bad people everywhere. It is not just a black problem.
 
Nobody here said it was. But to suggest your conversation(s) are like those of black fathers is to not get just how different our American experiences can be.
 
Heard an NPR interview riding home with several activists including a woman whose black brother was gunned down by police who never really were calle to account for it, and the Florida legislator most associated with Florida's stand your ground law. The legislator said that the bill was never intended to allow "pursue and confront" and rather hyperbolically suggested implementation of "stand your ground" has "saved thousands of lives" as gun owners protect themselves. He blamed the drug culture for creating a violent environment in which citizens needed to arm themselves. The journalists and activists on the show were amazingly restrained, the only criticism of the legislator is that his expression of fears may tend to escalate reather than descalate violence.
Nobody seemed to confront him on the fact that Zimmerman and the local police basically believed that "stand your ground" was an invitation for Zimmerman to do precisely what he did or note that our culture instead of becomng increasingly violent is becoming markedly less violent on a trend line that started in the mid 1990s.The Link The legislator pretty much attribues any progress in deescalation of violence to citzens arming themselves, something that wouldn't require statistical genius to confront and refute but no one took him on in a too brief segment on this topic.
 
Is it racist to joke about how white people can't jump or dance? That there is a magazine, awards shows, history months for black and Hispanics?

There is a difference between racist and bigot..please don't act as if white people are the only race that practices either at times.

Imagine a Miss White America contest. A White Entertainment tv network...a movie called "Black Men Can't fill in the blank" I think one of the major problems is first of all, there are 2 ends of the bell curve, and the idiots, bigots and racists get the publicity.
Secondly, I think some members of minorities want it both ways....equality at times, special treatment (such as a lower bar for college admissions) at others.

I have black friends and I treat them as friends, period. Then something like Hurricane Katrina comes along and they change and assume that no one acted due to their color. Frankly I sometimes feel as if I have to walk on eggshells. I made the mistake of calling the Katrina victims coming to stay in my hometown as refugees--the term commonly used on the news, and got my head bit off because they "were black Americans, NOT refugees" Times like this it seems as if there is just an invisible chip in the shoulder...

I think the murderer is a scumbag, but I also know there are similar situations with colors reversed, and you don't see an outcry and protest.I think this guy was itching to pull a trigger on someone and it happened to be an innocent young black man. But I agree with the above poster that any kid out that night with a hoody in a gated community would have been open season for this guy. Sometimes it isn't about race, or black v. white, and I do think that conclusion is jumped on way too fast.

And believe it or not, everyone in the US has experience bigotry or racism in some form or fashion, no matter their color or sex. It is presumptuous to tell someone they have no idea how they feel when you don't know what they have been through.
 
And therein lies much of the problem. Generally speaking, when dominants encounter police officers, they are comforted. The opposite is often true for non dominants.
 
Just so it is clear:

Blacks can be and are prosecuted for hate crimes against whites based on anti-white bias. There is nothing in the law that says that anti-white crime is not to be considered for hate crime prosecution.

Hate crimes by whites against blacks are of particular note because of this country's historic battle with racism as a form of debilitating power relations. As a society-wide phenomenon, black racism is not viewed, and I would say not really experienced, as a deeply debilitating and oppressive force, so black racism doesn't play into the dialogue about race and power the way that white racism does. This is usually lost or ignored by those who think of these issues as simple scenarios for moralisms and un-nuanced ideas of fairness.

In reply to:
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Buckhorn:
I always enjoy reading your posts. What you wrote is an excellent explanation as to why the “double standard” exists. It has always been a point of frustration for me when someone starts a discussion about race with “Well how come so and so minority can say ….” and I cannot” or “why isn’t it racist when a minority says something derogatory about white people.” Well, I don’t know if it is racist or not, but this attitude shows a remarkable naiveté about what racism really means.

If racism could be boiled down through history to white people only using the “N” word but without the systematic oppression that went along with it, well then racism really wouldn’t be a big deal and calling someone “Whitey” or whatever would actually be an equivalent. Obviously though, this is about far more than the use of name or slurs.
I am an optimist by nature, and I tend to see this as an issue that improves with each generation. I hope I am right, but clearly part of that battle is changing the criminal justice system. An interesting essay by John McWhorter in the New Republic recently named ending the “Drug War” as the single most important issue that could improve the lives of black Americans. McWhorter is hardly a radical, and the general argument continues to gain traction.
 
Sorry Buckhorn, your post was so text heavy it was hard to read. I do realize there was a time for things such as a Black Miss America, but I feel that time has passed. It is fairly routine for a black woman to win. One day I pray I will see a time when their doesn't have to be the celebratory message, "Only the 3rd black American to..." If I were black I would find these "qualifiers" offensive.

As far as all the stuff you typed about looks, fitting in, etc., you can't hang that on white people. That is on,if we are talking about blacks, black people. I don't see Asians, Vietnamese, Indians, Hispanics or other races lightening skin, dying hair, changing eye shape etc, to "look white" and they seem to be doing just fine in America, in fact prospering.

At some point, you got to lay down the load and own what is happening (changing looks, having poor self esteem I guess?)

And by the way, I have wavy curly hair and straightened it for years in high school, and the did say eff it and got a haircut that works with the waves.
 
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