George Zimmerman the man who shot the young teen Trayvon Martin in Florida well likely face manslaughter charges rather than first or second degree murder, due to a Florida law that is called “Stand Your Ground’.
That legislation, derisively called the “Shoot First” law by its critics, gives Floridians the right to use deadly force to defend themselves in public places without first trying to escape. The National Rifle Association lobbied hard for the bill, saying it would allow citizens to better protect themselves from violent crime.
While the case itself is terrible and sad in itself, I have a huge beef with the media… they keep insisting and calling Zimmerman “white”, my question is why, the man is Hispanic, my guess is they do not report he is Hispanic because it does not sensationalize the story enough.
It is clear the media doesn’t really care about Trayvon Martin but more so about a good racist story, and they want it to be a ‘white shoots black’ case…
It’s just like the story last year when a black man brought a gun to a Tea Party, the media cropped the picture to show the gun, and portrayed the gun carrier as “white”.
Why is there so much “white hating” going on in the media…
I guess the head lines Hispanic male kills Black teen doesn’t sound racist enough to the media…
The parents of George Zimmerman came out today to say he is not white, he is Hispanic and He is Not Racist!
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PLAYING THE HISPANIC CARD DOESN’T MITIGATE MURDER —¡EL ASESINATO ES UN ASESINATO!
George Zimmerman discovered to be part Hispanic. So what? My reactions are based on many actions in the Hispanic (Latino, Latin American, etc.) community and direct observations in the realm of identity politics. I am an “African American” woman, who visually has a lot in common with the mestizaje or “mixed race” members of the various Hispanic communities.
To make the point finer: When I lived in the SF/Bay Area in the 1970s, there were fewer Latinos than today in the general population. Latinos would greet me with “¿Cómo está?” — a more formal and yet distancing greeting. I was still perceived as Other or a good Afro sister, but friendly. (A point: Latino is aggregate. A Mexicano, is not a Cubano, is not a Puertorriqueño, and is not a Salvadoreña.
Years later, the number of Latinos with various colors and hues overlapped with those of African Americans. The greetings changed to “hola,” and a wave, an indication of group inclusion until it was learned that I was not a Latina, Spanish speaking or no. Eventually, the number of Latinos soared. The greetings were sometimes interspersed with “Hola, hermana” or “Hi, sister.” We, lighter-skinned African Americans and Latinas, had begun, except for language, to “look alike”. Rarely, did I observe or hear about the same greeting used with darker African Americans. In most Latin-American countries, the darker people are called Negros and Zambos and are discriminated against and avoided.
In both the U.S. and most of Latin America what sets people apart is the proverbial color line. Not the color line that DuBois referred to when comparing Blacks (or Negroes) versus White, but the intragroup “light versus dark” color line. The terms, “mulatto” (a Spanish term) dredges up the comparisons drawn between the privileges of “field Negroes” (dark and few) and “house Negroes” (mulatto or light and greater). Those differences are the same as found in the Latino communities with caste terms, such as, morenos (browns), or zambos (Indian and Black) versus blancos (White or European).
Today, lighter-skinned Latinos often identify racially as “White” and ethnically “of color”. In short, it’s an identity two-way street. When benefits are distributed (especially those to assuage injustice and discrimination toward African Americans) or they are in legal trouble many Latinos want to be considered “minorities”. But for the privileges, these same Latinos check “White” on the forms for racial identity, much like the Italians, Sicilians and Irish learned to do in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Comedian Richard Pryor used to do a skit whereby he said: The first word immigrants learn when they get “off the boat,” is N—-r.
Supposedly, George Zimmerman was of Peruvian (mother) and White (father) descent. Many would say, “Peruvian? WTH is Peru?” Yet, Peru, and its Slave Trade should not be left out. Enslaved Africans brought directly to Peru were designated bozales (“unskilled, untrained). Peru’s pigmentocracy hierarchy was: Spaniards at the top, mestizos in the middle, and Africans and the indigenous populations at the bottom. As New York writer and activist Michaela Angela Davis says, “George Zimmerman’s Hispanic roots don’t give him cover.”
It is intriguing that in the midst of trouble and a possible arrest for murder, George Zimmerman’s father would play the card, “we’re just another minority group called Hispanic.” “Some of our best friends are…” Obviously, George Zimmerman had an overactive and live, “wanna-be-a-White-Boy-so-bad-complex” which led to him to carry a gun, be a “badass” and look to shoot one of “those people” (why else carry a gun and follow Black people).
Hispanics’ identity choices and the downstream consequences should and must be explored before Hispanics choose the route that so many light-skinned marginalized immigrants have taken before their entry into the American culture. The title of books tells the history: “How the Irish Became White” [Ignatiev] (and “How Jews became White Folks” [Brodkin] and “How the Asians Became White” [Volokh].
While it will take some time to drill down into the forensics of the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I can say with all confidence, “Playing the Hispanic card doesn’t mitigate murder.” ” “El asesinato es un asesinato.” ¿Entiende usted que?
Kathleen Rand Reed
Applied Anthropology
The Rand Reed Group
Washington, DC and Portland, OR
news2organizations4kate@yahoo.com
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We still don’t know the facts… I am saddened by how our media, and so many people reacting with outrage, don’t even care about objective data before forming an opinion. And its not just an opinion, its a grossly hyper emotional nonsensical reaction that shows mountains of ignorance about ethics, morality, and the rule of law.
What evidence is there so far that the police have acted with negligence or criminally? As of right now, they have released nothing… I am not saying they haven’t, I am just looking for evidence to decide if they have or haven’t – and I can’t find anything so far!
And yet the typical black demogogues like al sharpton come rushing to the spotlight fanning emotional flames and making demands. For his and other outrage blacks behavior to be appropriate, there must be a presumption that the police were negligent or are corrupt – but there is no evidence of that to be found. Even if that does come to light, its telling how they all rushed out of the gate long before we knew it to be true.
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You’re right JJ, we have been sending @TheRevAl our thoughts on twitter. Thank you for your thoughtful and cogent post. It is greatly appreciated.
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if you call some one a coon and then shoot them, then yes you are a racist, now i dont believe that we should blame white people for this crime, because if he is latino he is still a racist, why do people think whites are the only ones who can be called racist. either way his dad is white and his mom is mexican, by definition you are who your dad is
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Thank you for your comment.
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I’m sorry, I gotta comment again, lol. Just heard the 911 call. Even though I wouldn’t put it past the media to have altered it since it took forever to notice the racial slur, but even if it is authentic: since when is a racial slur proof of a hate crime? But that’s the least of my concerns on that tape, I wanna know what no media has mentioned: Why in the first place was Zimmerman calling 911 about a teen he was obviously on foot chasing? I doubt it was for no reason and I doubt he wanted to call witnesses (the dispatcher) for his ‘hate crime’ he was about to commit? And I still can’t get over every media outlet describing the teen as ‘armed with Skittles’. How blatantly indoctrinating can you get? Since when are hand contents published when they’re not weapons?lol Can’t wait to see how this plays out. Media is pathetic.
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Hate crimes should be abolished. They’re stupid, crime is by definition, hate. But now on another note (and we have asked him to stop) on twitter @TheReverAl is stirring a lot of racist division. We’re @PushBackNow
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Took the words right outta my mouth@the media sensationalizing, Angel. I have been on both sides of this coin throughout my life in this wonderful racist pit we call the USA. And I have white,black, Asian, Arab, & Native American in my fam, so I could care less if dude was purple, the point is: where is his statement & where’s the rest of the story? The American media portrayal of this story is so biased, its sad: “unarmed black teen shot simply buying candy & tea accosted”. If that’s the case, what@home invaders/burglars that don’t bring weapons or street fights that end with one dude having a weapon & the other short because he didn’t? There’s obviously more than meets the eye to this case. Was there an altercation? Was Zimmerman just a psycho (now that the media let him off hook as a racist because he’s part Hispanic,lol, that’s hilarious) looking for YBM’s to kill & if so, did he just eenie-meenie-mynie mo his prey this day? Wake up, America, the media is the racist counterpart here for (as Angel said above) feigning like they care for this teen when they only want sensationalism & to start another American race riot. I have doubts@the authenticity of the 911 call too, but even if its accurate: it wouldn’t be the 1st time someone used a racial slur when angered at somebody, no matter how much we Americans love to deny it.
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Agreed. Very sad. And at the forefront of this is the racist “rev’ Al. Here is what I tweeted to him earlier today. And Al is going on now with his HATEFEST. Father God, I pray that @TheRevAl would share Your healing power and the peace that surpasses understanding. It seems he is stirring strife. @DaveOrts Join me on twitter.
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It really doesn’t matter if he’s white, black, or Hispanic. He needs to be in Jail. And we don’t have to prey on whites for crimes against blacks,,,,there’s Plenty of it….
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Yeah, plenty of black on black crime too, oh wait, FAR more actually. Let’s not forget about the Black on white crime either, or the race baiting fake phony fraud and money grubbing progressive hijacker of truth Al Sharpton @TheRevAl. Until the facts are out, you can wait, and quit the hate.
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The corporate media is simply anti-White. Not enough White people to prey on for “hate crimes” so they try to co-opt a Mestizo and make out he’s White.
Note. I don’t write “Hispanic” because that’s PC-speak and it robs real White Hispanics of their European ancestral identity.
My two cents anyway…
Hot debate. What do you think?
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