It's Watch!... Neighborhood Watch. Not shoot.

It's just funny that the tag under him on CNN says "Martin's family reacts to charges."

 

RIP Trayvon Martin

Now, because he finally may. The other thread title was a glib and offensive (to me) take on what his life and death have become - yet another symbol of the state of race relations in this country.

His killer will be tried by a jury of his peers. I can respect that. This will continue to be news. May the other thread rest in peace as well, and may civility return for a while as the trial gears up.

 

Re: RIP Trayvon Martin

Unfortunately he will RIP regardless of the outcome because he's dead, never to be heard from again.

 

Well the first battle will be pretrial on the admissibility of the 911 calls, etc.

Another important procedural step will be how will the "Stand Your Ground" jury instruction be read to the jury?

As for the first witness, I think the defense will think that getting the record straight on Zim's physical condition after his alleged altercation.

 

Any reason those won't/can't/shouldn't be admitted into trial?

 

Was watching Hardball while in the dentist's chair. (Yes, I understand how absurd that sounds.)

Chris Mathews cited a Washington Post poll on the Martin case (which I can't find on their site right now).

Only 5% of whites thought the shooting was justified. I don't remember the exact number, but the number who thought the shooting was not justified was in the high 30's. While well over 50% said they did not have enough information to make a determination.

Sounds pretty fair, and open minded to me. Very few whites are reflexively siding with Zimmerman, and most just don't know.

Meanwhile, only 1% of African-Americans thought the shooting was justified. 19% said they didn't have enough facts. A whopping 81% had already decided the shooting was unjustified.

Now, which group appears to be making a determination based more on the race of the individuals involved, instead of the facts?

What does that say about "race relations"?

The facts might eventually show that Zimmerman was a murderer. If so, I hope he receives a just penalty for the crime.

But, how are we ever going to "repair" our "racial problems" if folks just choose sides based on race?

 

You don't understand why black Americans might have a much different relationship to the institutions of authority in this country?

 

I didn't say that, did I?

 

I understand why they would want a second set of eyeballs to look into a case like the Martin one. I get that there my be mistrust.

I don't see why that would lead to people making up their minds in a case like this.