Trayvon Martin

[GJZ]

He's from Spain?

How'd he get his CCW I wonder?

Same as the student from VA Tech.

(where they had a debate only months before if VA Tech should be a "gun free zone" or not.

[David in OR]

OMG, you guys. <stretches eyes>

You people encouraging this, you should have your rum rations suspended. You know who you are.

Z's a registered voter and--presumably, therefore--a US citizen. He's not SPANISH. His dad is "white," and his mom is "hispanic," of Peruvian descent, whatever the hell that might mean, perhaps mixed Amerindian and...yes...Spanish.

[Bedlam]

Too funny until it happens to you or someone you know....

No, the incident itself is not funny any way you look at it. I was replying to Elmbow's comment: "By way of Uruguay perhaps?"

Ryan

[Bedlam]

So Zimmerman is of mixed race just like the POTUS. How come the big "O" is always called african-american, while this guy is called white?

Ryan

[David in OR]

So Zimmerman is of mixed race just like the POTUS. How come the big "O" is always called african-american, while this guy is called white?

Ryan

Well, when you get down to it, we're *all* "mixed-race." The category of "race" has no biological validity. It's a cultural invention. On the other hand, we shouldn't kid ourselves that it has no cultural and emotional power. You think people don't see Obama's face and see a "black man"?

"White" people get uptight around "black" people all the time. That has consequences for "black" people. It seems to me dishonest to pretend otherwise.

[Bedlam]

Well, when you get down to it, we're *all* "mixed-race." The category of "race" has no biological validity. It's a cultural invention. On the other hand, we shouldn't kid ourselves that it has no cultural and emotional power. You think people don't see Obama's face and see a "black man"?

"White" people get uptight around "black" people all the time. That has consequences for "black" people. It seems to me dishonest to pretend otherwise.

I agree with you. Personally, I hate the labels that society uses and it also irks me when people describe themselves as "African american" or "Italian american", "Irish American," or any slew of other heritages. IMO, if you were born in america (or over seas in certain circumstances) to parents who are citizens, you are American, that's it. I believe you should never forget where you came from, but it is more important to remember where you are at this moment.

My comment was more of a rhetorical question; the media and protestors have labled Zimmerman as "white." It was focused at people like Sharpton, Jackson, Rush, and others that like to use the black vs. white mentality. Quite simply, Zimmerman is as white as Obama is.

Ultimately in the context of the shooting, race shouldn't (and doesn't) matter. A teen that may or may not have been doing something wrong is dead, and a man that may or may not have been attacked is possibly facing some serious charges.

Ryan

[David in OR]

I agree, it shouldn't matter. But it does, sadly, in weird ways.

That's the problem with history, it doesn't stay in the past just because we want it to. It's like older adults bringing "baggage" to new relationships. Inevitable.

[Ralph]

I might be more impressed by all this hoorah if I saw similar outpouring of concern when a young black kid gets murdered by another young black kid. Most murdered blacks are killed by other blacks, but this fact doesn't seem to be exciting to Sharpton et al.

[Smokepole]

The Trayvon Martin case is the perfect example of anyone with an axe to grind (from both "sides") using something for their own purposes.

Few of the facts are out, and no one besides Zimmerman knows what really happened. Period.

[Smokepole]

Same as the student from VA Tech.

Dude. Cho had no CCW, that was never the issue at Tech.

And Zimmerman is not "Spanish." Or "Mexican." He may be Hispanic, but so what?