03-25-2012, 12:03 PM
I'm not sure this story would have been reported much differently if both Zimmerman and Martin were white, or both were Hispanic... One of the main reasons this has become so high profile, in my opinion, is the fact that Zimmerman was essentially left to walk away after shooting and killing someone. He wasn't properly interrogated and it seems the "stand your ground" law and the fact that he was a neighbor watch patoller enabled him to claim self defense without law enforcement following up properly, even though they had the 911 calls. Law enforcement fucked this one up, imo.
Any family whose child was killed and saw nothing happening to the killer might reach out to the media. I'm glad they did; this story deserves to be told and might help prevent future abuse of the law and/or apathetic investigation. There is a reason the Chief stepped down. We wouldn't have seen Al Sharpton and maybe not Obama making comments on behalf of the family if this was a same-race killing, but likely other high profile persons would have jumped into the mix to support the victim's family and condemn law enforcement's handling of the case. Obviously, some segments of the black community believe strongly that racism cost Martin his life or speedy investigation and feel the need to protest on that basis. That probably woul not have played out the same if it was a same-race killing...
I don't know if Zimmerman was a racist and that's what cost Williams his life, or if law enforcement would have acted more responsibly if Martin had not been black. Waiting to hear more details. But, even if so, there's a lot more to this story than racism.
Any family whose child was killed and saw nothing happening to the killer might reach out to the media. I'm glad they did; this story deserves to be told and might help prevent future abuse of the law and/or apathetic investigation. There is a reason the Chief stepped down. We wouldn't have seen Al Sharpton and maybe not Obama making comments on behalf of the family if this was a same-race killing, but likely other high profile persons would have jumped into the mix to support the victim's family and condemn law enforcement's handling of the case. Obviously, some segments of the black community believe strongly that racism cost Martin his life or speedy investigation and feel the need to protest on that basis. That probably woul not have played out the same if it was a same-race killing...
I don't know if Zimmerman was a racist and that's what cost Williams his life, or if law enforcement would have acted more responsibly if Martin had not been black. Waiting to hear more details. But, even if so, there's a lot more to this story than racism.