Omegavegeta wrote:
Gbaji wrote:
It would be interesting to find some research on the ratio of cases where African Americans are actually mistreated by police or other authority figures compared to the number of cases where their fear of being mistreated causes them to take actions which then cause the authority figure to respond in a harmful way towards them. That would seem to be relevant in a case like this, where we might want to think about Martins odds of being shot to death if he walks home openly and calmly (and willing to allow Zimmerman to approach and question him) versus running and hiding from Zimmerman. How often really does allowing the authority to approach and talk to you and taking the risk that he'll arrest you or beat you for no reason really result in harm versus choosing to flee, hide, or fight?
Uppity black folk. How dare they attempt to stand up for their rights!
What rights are we talking about? I'm talking about the idea that in many cases it's not a difference in skin color that causes differences in outcomes, but differences
in behavior, and that those differences of behavior themselves arise from black kids being taught to distrust and even fear law enforcement of any kind. Can you really be so sure that if a white kid had behaved exactly as Martin did that night that the outcome would have been different? I'm presenting for consideration the idea that whatever rate of actual racial discrimination towards black males that may exist among our law enforcement is significantly outweighed by the rate of fear based behavior by black males creating reactions from the police which cause negative outcomes for black males.
This is *not* a violation of anyone's rights, nor is it racial discrimination unless you can really argue that if a white kid had done exactly what Martin did, that the outcome would have been different. And I don't think you can really make a strong argument for that.
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What right does someone have to be a black youth in this country after getting into an altercation with a creepy dude whom outweighs him by 100lbs & was arrested & charged with "resisting officer with violence" and "battery of law enforcement officer" (but got off because his Dad was a magistrate & he went to rehab), after being stalked both in a truck & on foot, to swing back?
He has precisely the same rights to do those things as a white person does. The statistic is less about the other guy treating Martin differently because he's black, as it is about Martin acting differently because he's black. So maybe that's the problem? Just a thought.
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None, in Florida, apparently. But if Martin had a legal gun on him, I'm supposed to believe he would have found innocent if Zimmerman died?
Sure. If he'd been the one with the busted up nose, and witnesses reporting him on his back being punched by Zimmerman just before he fired, why assume otherwise? Ever consider that maybe that assumption is the root of the problem here? Perception not matching reality and all of that?
Is it? Or do you just assume it is? The problem is that the media only reports stories that fit the narrative you're acting on. Clearly there are cases of shootings by black people of white people that do not result in murder/manslaughter convictions. Hell, the PBS article link clearly shows that there are since it measures how much more often the shooter is released based on SYG laws being present). Happens all the time. You just don't hear about it. Black man being found not guilty, or even not being charged, on the basis of self defense doesn't make the news. But it does happen.