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The system failed him when the bullet ripped through his chest, and the man who shot him said he mounted him and stretched his arms out wide, preventing him from even clutching the spot that hurt.
The system failed him in those moments just after he was shot when he was surely aware that he was about to die, but before life’s light fully passed from his body — and no one came to comfort him or try to save him.
That's so weird. That's exactly what I found most disturbing even before reading that article.
The idea that when mortally wounded and in pain, Trayvon had 200 lbs of George Zimmerman straddling him, probably making it even harder to breathe.
And dying alone in the dark and in the rain, with no one to cradle his head or even place their hand on him. It makes me cry. And people think this isn't about race. Did anyone leave any of the Boston bombing victim's lying face down in their own blood for three hours?
As a mother, this is one of the things that bothers me the most. To know he died all alone with no one to hold him. This forum posted a pic of his dead body. I could not hold back tears. I can't imagine my own child being laid out like that with no one to protect and/or hold him. Just terrible...
A great article by Charles Blow in the NYTimes about how the legal system failed Trayvon Martin.
"The system began to fail Martin long before that night.
The system failed him when Florida’s self-defense laws were written, allowing an aggressor to claim self-defense in the middle of an altercation — and to use deadly force in that defense — with no culpability for his role in the events that led to that point.
The legal system failed both TM and the state of Florida.
He had been caught in school with property stolen in a burglary at a local home. Had the system worked, he would have been turned over to the local PD, rather than that crime "swept under the carpet" by his school. And had they prosecuted, he might well have been in jail. Where he would have been unable to assault a local resident simply trying to protect his neighborhood.
Zimmerman saw someone he termed as a possible problem . . .[/quote]and made that SOMEONE into the dreg meth freak's perception of that very "possible problem".
From an objective point of view, Zimmerman was acting 10 times more suspiciously than Trayvon.
Zimmie's "suspicions" were the driving force of his suspicious activity, which by his acts, created and concluded a problem of Zimmerman's own making.
Trayvon owed nothing to the meth freak.
The meth freak believed Trayvon did, and took what he believed was his from his first biased "perception".
The thought that you go around punching people and beating them up for dissing you might be a contributing factor.
Some elements of society think physical confrontation is without consequence and is the default response to every situation.
Physical attack does have consequences, sometimes fatal but perfectly legally permissible self-defense consequences. How many are learning that for the first time because of the Zimmerman trial? Be honest.
This is really quite simple .... but you'll have to get over your own racism to understand it.
First, the particular neighborhood in which Zimmerman was living and performing community watch had been suffering frequent burglaries and thefts ... hence the need for the neighborhood watch. As I understand it, Martin was walking through, AT NIGHT, and according to Zimmerman, behaving suspiciously ... i.e. looking around at the homes, etc., which does appear to an observer to be "Casing" the neighborhood, regardless of one's skin color. And if you are going to serve as a community watch person, are you not going to scrutinize a stranger you don't recognize as a resident of that neighborhood, and to be perfectly blunt, a heightened alert if it is a young black male? Look ... face it .. and stop ignoring the reality that a disproportionate number of these types of burglaries and thefts are being committed by young black males .. to reject that is just intellectually dishonest. Now you can blame whatever you want as the cause of that sad reality .... poverty ... lack of jobs ... poor influences, drugs ... whatever ... but let's not allow political correctness to replace common sense and the truth. Now, does that cause problems for law abiding decent young black men to be unfairly profiled? Yes, it does ... but the fault does not rest with the "profiler" being a racist ... the fault lies in the inordinate volume of such crimes being committed by black males who are making life more difficult for those who are not committing criminal activity!!!
If you would only be honest with yourself, you would realize that carrying a rather large chip on your shoulder, with anger targeted in the wrong direction is not going to help, and only make matters worse. And that's a big part of the problem overall and particularly in the Travon Martin case. Again, was he being racially profiled? Most likely ... so he was being followed, and he became upset about it, and acted in a violent manner, rather than tell Zimmerman that he indeed did belong there because he was visiting his father who had a house just up the street. This is what should have happened ... but the hostile attitude demanded he react aggressively to what he perceived as an insult. Had he simply confronted Zimmerman with "Hey ... why are you following me? what's the problem? I'm visiting my dad ... he lives in this neighborhood?" .. strong chances are, nothing bad would have happened to him. It's the racism chip ... the attitude of black males misdirecting their anger that was the primary facilitator of this tragedy.
So is the attitude embeded in your question "As a parent, particularly a parent of black teenage boys, I am left with the question, “Now, what do I tell my boys?”
My suggestion is, ditch the "poor me the unfairly treated black man" routine, and stop teaching your kids this attitude, because it's counterproductive. Be honest with your boys and yourself. When you have a disproportionate amount of crime being committed by young black males, EXPECT to be watched more closely than a white teenage girl who is the least likely demographic to be committing burglaries . Instruct your boys, and instill a bit of common sense ... don't commit acts of violence against other people ... don't put yourself in bad situations, and realize that you are going to be watched more closely than others because of the extraordinary number of your fellow black males engaging in criminal activity that casts you in a poor suspicious light. This is a reality, and not an unfair racist affront toward you. Deal with it honestly. Want to get angry with someone about this ... get angry with the black males engaged in so much criminal activity that is the CAUSE of this suspicion that they generate and affects you. That's what you do.
Secondly ... when you do everything in your power to create separateness and distinguish yourselves as different .... and as a black community in general you most certainly do go out of your way to do it ... don't whine about being treated "differently". What am I referring to? Well ... how many white, hispanic or asian males do you think will be named "Trayvon"? And to what frequency do you qualify statements like "as a black man .... blah, blah, blah" instead of "as a man ....". How often do you refer to yourself as an African-American, rather than just an American? You may not realize the effect this has on yours and everyone else's psychology, be it subconscious or conscious, but it's there, and you are doing more than your fair share to make sure it's there.
How can anyone expect a color blind society when you seem incapable of stopping yourselves from focusing on your own skin color, and assigning it as the cause of everything bad that ever happens to you? You know, I'm white and a lot of bad things have happened to me .... lots of unfair things ... but since I don't have the built in "persecuted black man" excuse, I'm forced to conclude that Chit happens, and it happens to most everyone, far too often. It's life .... nobody ever said life was fair, and for those who expect it to be fair, expect what never was for anyone.
The reality of this Trayvon Martin case is that the media deliberately fans the flames of racism EVERY CHANCE IT GETS .... creating racial tension has become an art form. And the true racists are the ones IGNORING the bloody injuries inflicted upon Zimmerman by Martin .... so, to them, it's OK to beat the hell out of someone, but not OK for someone to defend themselves? Each person is responsible for their own behavior and response to others behaviors. Now, if Zimmerman had attacked Martin, rather than the other war around, none of you, nor the media would have said a peep had Zimmerman wound up dead. The feeling would be, he shouldn't have violently attacked that innocent young black man, and Martin had every right to defend himself. The system of justice worked, and he was found not guilty, because he was not guilty.
Now, after the verdict ... the racism insinuation continues ... Why were there no black people on the jury? Because Zimmerman, as a defendant has a right to a jury of his peers. The insinuation is, of course, the jury should have been stacked with black people, so that a guilty verdict would have been far more likely. Now, we have the usual suspect charlatans like Sharpton demanding federal civil rights charges .... we had all of the threats of violence IF there was a not guilty verdict ... which means ... the unbiased "black community" had already convicted Zimmerman before any evidence was even presented. Why? ... PURE RACISM.
excellent post does make sense. I never really was into the pity me I'm black attitude. Every race has endured its share of discrimination. White on white too. That attitude doesn't fly with me....just like the suspicion he was profiled because he was black. No he was profiled because he fit the description/demographic of people commiting break ins in that neighborhood. Just like some people think it is unfair to profile a certain religious group in airports, but ok to single out grandma in the wheelchair for a full search.
The only thing that failed Trayvon Martin was his own good judgement or lack there of that night.
Yes, because Zimmerman's actions (staring down a stranger while in his car, leaving his car to follow that stranger) weren't the least bit questionable. No chance his actions could have been misconstrued, right?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer
Well, it could have been about 10 years of crappy Parenting too.
Zimmerman's parents did a hell of a job. What with raising a violent thug in need of medication who is prone to violence against women and law enforcement, all while taking time out to molest a female relative. Given the proclivity of white males being pedophiles, I'm not surprised so many shrug that off as no big deal.
No it didn't. The POS thug got *exactly* what he deserved. The real benefit? He can't reproduce more of the same P'sOS as he was. One less thug is great news for America.
Rejoicing over a teen-agers death - how unbecoming. It seems to be a mainstay of the right.
[Craig's father catches him with a handgun] Mr. Jones: What's that for? Craig: Protection.
Mr. Jones: Protection from who?
Craig: Me and Smoke...I've got to walk Smokey down to his house.
Mr. Jones: Aw, man. Your mother and I never would've moved to this neighborhood if we'd known you need a gun to walk down the damn street.
Craig: You know how it is 'round here.
Mr. Jones: Oh, no, son. That's not the way it is. You kids have been nothin' but punks. Sissified. So quick to pick up a gun. Too scared to take an ass-whipping. [raises his fists] This is what makes you a man. When I was growing up, this was all the protection we needed. You win some, you lose some. But you live. You live to fight another day. Now you think you're a man with that gun in your hand, don't you?
Craig: I'm a man without it.
Mr. Jones: Put the gun down.[Craig complies]
Mr. Jones: C'mon, put up your dukes.[Craig raises his fists]
Mr. Jones: Now you're a man. Your uncle picked up a gun, too. He found out the hard way. 22 years old. You've got a choice. This is all you need, alright?
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. Instruct your boys, and instill a bit of common sense ... don't commit acts of violence against other people ... don't put yourself in bad situations, and realize that you are going to be watched more closely than others because of the extraordinary number of your fellow black males engaging in criminal activity that casts you in a poor suspicious light. This is a reality, and not an unfair racist affront toward you. Deal with it honestly. Want to get angry with someone about this ... get angry with the black males engaged in so much criminal activity that is the CAUSE of this suspicion that they generate and affects you. That's what you do.
does make sense. I never really was into the pity me I'm black attitude. Every race has endured its share of discrimination. White on white too. That attitude doesn't fly with me....just like the suspicion he was profiled because he was black. No he was profiled because he fit the description/demographic of people commiting break ins in that neighborhood. Just like some people think it is unfair to profile a certain religious group in airports, but ok to single out grandma in the wheelchair for a full search.