There has been a mountain of material already written about Zimmerman and Martin (hereafter Z and M) from many points of view. I am going to add mine. Several parts of this case seem important to me, in no special order.
-Z was originally not charged. The Sheriff felt there was insufficient evidence for a charge. He was fired, and he was right. A charge only came after the case was painted in racial terms, and was made in essence to placate a community viewing the case racially rather than factually. If the races are the same, or race is not made a part of the case description there is too little to make into a case.
-Z was painted as a racist by the media. Most egregious was the deliberate altering of a tape and its transcript. The slanting and 'editing' of information for viewership is despicable regardless, but especially so here, as a media outlet tried to inflame a story just for ratings. Z will almost certainly sue NBC for intentional infliction of emotional damage, and he is going to win.
-It was a dark and rainy night. Ask yourself- if you are a neighborhood watchman, what are you supposed to do if you see a person wandering apparently aimlessly in the rain and the dark? I would call the police, and Z did. According to his account, he followed M to keep tabs on him. He says he was sucker punched. Take a look at his injuries and you decide. The claim Z attacked M makes no sense, and was not supported by evidence.
-M was not the model citizen the case tried to make him. His background was kept out of the case, and rightly so, as it had no bearing on whether this was a murder. But his background is relevant in considering why M might follow him or find him suspicious. He was on a two week suspension from school for having had a baggie found in his backpack suggestive of marijuana use. He had already been suspended twice. His tweets are sexually offensive and loaded with references to MJ use. He was in the neighborhood because he was staying with his father, his mother having asked him to leave the house after his latest suspension. his father was visiting M's stepmother, who lived in the gated community.
I have lived in and visited gated communities. If there is a watchman (and there usually is) who sees a stranger wandering apparently pointlessly at night, in the rain, I would want that watchman to report and follow that person. Z had significant training, and knew perfectly well not to accost the person, and I have read no evidence that he did so. Even M's call to Chantel suggests he was not attacked- he said he was being followed.
But I want to address some material that is specifically racial in nature. There have been extensive claims this incident was racial. Might it be cultural, or behavioral? let us ignore race completely and ask about behaviors here. A young man is out late at night, in the rain, walking in a culture devoted to cars. He is wearing a hoodie. That plays as suspicious to most people, especially when it is out of context for the behavioral sleeve of the neighborhood. I would be very concerned to see someone dressed and behaving like that in my neighborhood regardless of race.
What about what are politely called racial overtones in this case. The prosecution's star witness, Chantel, was perceived as an ill-spoken slob. Some claim this is a racist view. Really? She was combative and ill-spoken. She conceded she did not write the letter she said she wrote. She was ill-dressed, loud and rude. Are those racial judgments, or just human judgments? Are we to claim there should be different standards for behavior for every community and race? Admittedly there are different expectations for education, dress and behavior in different settings, but not for different races in the same setting. A man who dresses in a suit at a ballgame is an overdressed prig. A man who comes to a private yacht club in jeans falling off his ass and a hoodie is a boor and a slob. And all this is not racial.
What about racially concentrated behaviors. Is making a judgment on them racial? More black teens that white listen to rap. More black teens than white use bad grammar, drop out of school, become teen mothers, use drugs and engage in violent crime. making judgments on behaviors is not racial. I have been practicing medicine in a city that is 91% white. White teens who behave like that produce the same disdain as any black teen. It is the behavior, not the race, and if you behave like that most people will not be warm and kind to you. As I perceive the events in Sanford, a teen with a hoodie was out late in the rain in a private community. Z sis not target or profile him. M profiled himself. And that warrants being watched.
I mentioned in a previous post that racism is making judgments on a group based on their group identity. making judgments based on behavior is not racism. If you engage in behavior that makes people uncomfortable or angry, don't cry racism when they don't like you for it, or call the police, or tail you through a neighborhood while waiting on the police.
The jury got it right. And those crying racism need to look hard at the behaviors they are defending behind a curtain of racial complaints. Do they want their children to behave like that? If they do I think they have poor priorities and are likely to have trouble.
Ted
-Z was originally not charged. The Sheriff felt there was insufficient evidence for a charge. He was fired, and he was right. A charge only came after the case was painted in racial terms, and was made in essence to placate a community viewing the case racially rather than factually. If the races are the same, or race is not made a part of the case description there is too little to make into a case.
-Z was painted as a racist by the media. Most egregious was the deliberate altering of a tape and its transcript. The slanting and 'editing' of information for viewership is despicable regardless, but especially so here, as a media outlet tried to inflame a story just for ratings. Z will almost certainly sue NBC for intentional infliction of emotional damage, and he is going to win.
-It was a dark and rainy night. Ask yourself- if you are a neighborhood watchman, what are you supposed to do if you see a person wandering apparently aimlessly in the rain and the dark? I would call the police, and Z did. According to his account, he followed M to keep tabs on him. He says he was sucker punched. Take a look at his injuries and you decide. The claim Z attacked M makes no sense, and was not supported by evidence.
-M was not the model citizen the case tried to make him. His background was kept out of the case, and rightly so, as it had no bearing on whether this was a murder. But his background is relevant in considering why M might follow him or find him suspicious. He was on a two week suspension from school for having had a baggie found in his backpack suggestive of marijuana use. He had already been suspended twice. His tweets are sexually offensive and loaded with references to MJ use. He was in the neighborhood because he was staying with his father, his mother having asked him to leave the house after his latest suspension. his father was visiting M's stepmother, who lived in the gated community.
I have lived in and visited gated communities. If there is a watchman (and there usually is) who sees a stranger wandering apparently pointlessly at night, in the rain, I would want that watchman to report and follow that person. Z had significant training, and knew perfectly well not to accost the person, and I have read no evidence that he did so. Even M's call to Chantel suggests he was not attacked- he said he was being followed.
But I want to address some material that is specifically racial in nature. There have been extensive claims this incident was racial. Might it be cultural, or behavioral? let us ignore race completely and ask about behaviors here. A young man is out late at night, in the rain, walking in a culture devoted to cars. He is wearing a hoodie. That plays as suspicious to most people, especially when it is out of context for the behavioral sleeve of the neighborhood. I would be very concerned to see someone dressed and behaving like that in my neighborhood regardless of race.
What about what are politely called racial overtones in this case. The prosecution's star witness, Chantel, was perceived as an ill-spoken slob. Some claim this is a racist view. Really? She was combative and ill-spoken. She conceded she did not write the letter she said she wrote. She was ill-dressed, loud and rude. Are those racial judgments, or just human judgments? Are we to claim there should be different standards for behavior for every community and race? Admittedly there are different expectations for education, dress and behavior in different settings, but not for different races in the same setting. A man who dresses in a suit at a ballgame is an overdressed prig. A man who comes to a private yacht club in jeans falling off his ass and a hoodie is a boor and a slob. And all this is not racial.
What about racially concentrated behaviors. Is making a judgment on them racial? More black teens that white listen to rap. More black teens than white use bad grammar, drop out of school, become teen mothers, use drugs and engage in violent crime. making judgments on behaviors is not racial. I have been practicing medicine in a city that is 91% white. White teens who behave like that produce the same disdain as any black teen. It is the behavior, not the race, and if you behave like that most people will not be warm and kind to you. As I perceive the events in Sanford, a teen with a hoodie was out late in the rain in a private community. Z sis not target or profile him. M profiled himself. And that warrants being watched.
I mentioned in a previous post that racism is making judgments on a group based on their group identity. making judgments based on behavior is not racism. If you engage in behavior that makes people uncomfortable or angry, don't cry racism when they don't like you for it, or call the police, or tail you through a neighborhood while waiting on the police.
The jury got it right. And those crying racism need to look hard at the behaviors they are defending behind a curtain of racial complaints. Do they want their children to behave like that? If they do I think they have poor priorities and are likely to have trouble.
Ted
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