Trayvon Martin vs. George Zimmerman ....

I agree its frustrating...and that frustration isn't going to end any time soon.

 

It all went wrong when Death Wish got out of the vehicle ... and then your post.

Matt, every response you have made is right on .... thanks for saving me the typing ...

 

The inaccurate initial report is irrelevant .... we NEED to fight this as a nation ... there has been a huge injustice that has made world wide news ... I know it's easier to pretend this stuff doesn't happen or ignore it as such, but when something like this happens, it hurts RESPONSIBLE gun owners and more importantly, bigoted people need to know this will not be tolerated ... and that goes for the bounty those bigoted Black Panthers put on Death Wish's head...

 

Tony and I agree. There is hope for this world!

 

It has made world wide news because of sensational media headlines. If the initial headline read "Hispanic man shoots black teen after altercation in low income neighborhood" we would not be talking about this right now.

 

And how sad is THAT!

 

It is sad. But if we were to become emotionally attached to every injustice in the world today, I'm pretty sure we would all live miserable lives.

 

I think the sensational headlines add fuel to the fire, but there are bigger issues here than "hispanic man kills black teen".

 

Agreed! My emotion on this case will only affect my conversations about it, petitions I sign, and letters I write ... I am still loving life ... but unfortunately Trayvon and those that loved him won't get that opportunity ...

 

I think we are far worse to one another in a group.

When I was first overseas in the Middle East Muslim men offered us money for Porno Tapes their description "Big Breasted White Women". I'm like whaaat!!? then the guys asked me how many ho's I have how many Cadillac's did I own.

It then came to me that their basic ideals of Whites and Blacks came from what they seen on Television. When they see negative images of us on television then that's their perception of us. If we see negative images of them on television that's our perception of them.

I tell you Virginia Shadow you're ever in my part of the area shoot me an Email we'll go out and break bread together... It's on me.

I don't drink and drive so you can knock 'em back for the both of us.

 

all of this makes me feel terrible. well not just this but all of it. the soldier who is accused of killing the civilians, this case and like Christine said a few weeks back 50 people wounded in the Chi over a weekend! bad things happen sooooooooooo much i have grown insensitive to them all. someone was shot? "oh well, damn that sucks" and i go back to doing what i was doing before i heard that. happens all of the time to me, and i suspect others may feel the same.???

 

But if we ignore every one, where does that leave us?

 

The fact of the matter as it relates to us is none of us really know squat about the real investigation that is under way. But we try people in the court of public opinion all the time, this case is no different.

We need to fight this as a nation? What do we need to fight? Racism isn't going anywhere and sadly when it comes to young black men often whites are depicted as their enemy when in fact black on black crime is far more prominant these days, oh well that's not a very interesting story but this one sure is "White Guy Guns Down Skittle Toting Black Child". We don't even know if this case is race related but we have no choice because that's what is shoved down our throats from the jump. It seems to some that everything is race related.

I hate to add another "Oh yeah well this happened to me story"...but I will anyway. I saw some young black guys near my wifes vehicle way after dark in our condos, I confronted them and had them return my camera and my sons PSP. Probably her fault for not locking the car and turns out there was a third kid, he was white. I didn't see them in the car I just assumed they were up to no good, what does that make me? Does it matter if we've had several car break-ins over the past 2 years? Should I be "profiling" like I was? Each persons individual judgements, perceptions, profiling, beliefs, etc generally come from their own life events which always include exposure to racism, bigotry, and stereotyping. I've had good experiences and friendships with people of many races and I have had bad and all of that comes into play. All I know is I didn't walk in Zimmermans or Martins shoes or know enough about either of them to judge their character or beliefs nor do I know what happened that night so again why should I be fighting with my nation to address this death and not the 1000's of others that happened that day and since then? Confused?

 

This question, and some of the responses in this thread, just shows how far we have to go. And how little the races in America actually know about each other.

 

Any kid that don't live to be at least a 100 years old is a tragic lost. Any kid that caused fights, beat up people, took their lunch money as I did when I was a kid. Don't grow and learn what they are doing is wrong. Is heading for a life of crime or death.

I can't help, but wonder why some news organization is baiting people to confrontation. Just to get a news story for ratings on civil unrest Is awful.

 

Emotionally detached from the world that surrounds us, which is what most of us have become, myself included. If a story resonates with you because of some type of connection you have with the victim or scenario, I can understand. But I don't understand becoming emotionally attached to a story because the media has decided that it is the story of the week.

 

Humans have emotions. Its in our nature to become emotionally attached to things. Our children, our significant others, our friends, our pets, our neighborhood, our society, our race, our country, our rights. This case involves those last five. Humans will always find ways to emotionally attach themselves to something...or they become Ted Kaczynski.

 

I agree we have much to learn and a long way to go but what I find most saddening is most don't really want to learn. Put a group of mixed races in a room and what happens? They tend to seperate themsleves into groups, why is that?

My question regarding this situation was what do we need to fight as a "nation"? Answer it, I'm interested in what you and Tony believe we are fighting for and why this story highlights the need for the fight when we know very little about it other than a media generated(so far) racial issue(again) which has caused nothing but more division. As a whole do I think people need to learn to be more understanding, compassionate, neighborly, loving, what ever other feel good words you want to use? Of course I do. I'm just not sure I believe most, regardless of race, are capable of it.

 

I got some of that answer from your last post there Vito, and I see you point.