So I'm feeling devastated about the entire Trayvon Martin case: his untimely, unnecessary death....and his absolutely preventable murder.
But I'm also feeling pretty bad about the fact that among white folks on Facebook, I can't post or discuss this awful, heart-rending case without the white folks deciding that I personally am "...making this all about race." Well, earth-to-white-folks: it IS about race, and if you cannot see and understand that a black teenager-- UNarmed, headed to visit his father, by walking in a predominantly white neighborhood..... getting shot and killed is connected to these facts, then you are in denial.
I really no longer CARE "WHY" George Zimmerman killed Trayvon. I do not care if he panicked, and the gun went off. I do not care if he felt this skinny young man was a threat to Zimmerman's 60-pounds-heavier, gym-bulked-up body, and so he "had to save" his own life. I don't care, because I do not believe him. I do not believe the Sanford Police Department realizes that they are victims too, in that they seem to take it as "gospel" that Zimmerman's perception of the incident, is the only valid one. Almost FIVE WEEKS after this crime, and no arrest, no charges, not even a thorough interrogation. The Sanford Police Department, in my view, trusted Zimmerman because he was part of the "Neighborhood Watch" program, and so they have developed a kind of "relationship" with him.
Very sad, because it's false, and I fear the truth will be buried, like so many black men, in this country's history, have been buried: lynched, hung from trees, more recent memory gave us images of black men dragged behind cars and trucks...... Trayvon Martin was 17 years old, walking to visit his Dad. It never should have happened. Take Zimmerman out of this scenario, it never would have happened.
If there's anyone out there, and you feel, like me, that not enough has been done, please DO post a comment. I need to know I'm not alone; I need to know that other folks, especially other white folks, see this for what it is, that they understand. Think about it:
If this had been a 17 year old white kid, UNarmed, walking in a predominantly black neighborhood, going to visit his dad, and an older, 60-pounds-heavier, bulked-up-from-the-gym black man with a gun had shot and killed him, would ANYONE be saying "Wait, we don't know all
the facts; he said the kid slammed him; it was self-defense..."
Really?
If you feel like I do, please post a comment, if you don't....I don't want to hear you. I've had my "fill" of outright bigotry on my FB Wall, feel free to click on there, by scrolling down to the right of this post, and click the link marked "Facebook". If you feel this attack was at least partially, even unconsciously/ subconsciously, influenced by the race of the victim, Trayvon Martin, please DO post on my Facebook Wall, as I could use the reinforcements.
Thanks for reading.
Peace, kids. Peace.
Showing posts with label Bigotry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bigotry. Show all posts
Sunday, April 01, 2012
Thursday, December 04, 2008
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
UPDATE ON PROP 8
Here's the latest on perhaps WHY Prop 8 (the bill to ban gay marriage)was "approved" in California. I use quotation marks here, because this issue should NEVER have become a "ballot-issue". It will come as no surprise to us LGBT persons, that religion played a major role in this.
I am a believer in a good, loving God/Universe, and cannot for the life of me, understand what drives people to feel this way/interpret the Bible this way/etc.
All so-called "Christians" should re-read the "Christ-parts"(that would be the New Testament, kids) of the Bible. Sigh.
Poll: Calif. gay marriage ban driven by religion
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer Lisa Leff, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO – Voters' economic status and religious convictions played a greater role than race and age in determining whether they supported the Nov. 4 ballot measure outlawing same-sex marriage in California, a new poll shows.
The ban drew its strongest support from both evangelical Christians and voters who didn't attend college, according to results released Wednesday by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Age and race, meanwhile, were not as strong factors as assumed. According to the poll, 56 percent of voters over age 55 and 57 percent of nonwhite voters cast a yes ballot for the gay marriage ban.
People who identified themselves as practicing Christians were highly likely to support the constitutional amendment, with 85 percent of evangelical Christians, 66 percent of Protestants and 60 percent of Roman Catholics favoring it.
The poll also showed that the measure got strong backing from voters who did not attend college (69 percent), voters who earned less than $40,000 a year (63 percent) and Latinos (61 percent).
The proposition, which passed with 52 percent of the vote, overturned the state Supreme Court's May decision legalizing gay marriage in California. The measure inserts language into the constitution limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
The poll found that, overall, 48 percent of voters oppose the idea of making gay marriage legal. Forty-seven percent support it, while 5 percent are undecided.
The results mirror previous PPIC polls from the last three years, suggesting that the $73 million spent for and against the measure did not do much to change public attitudes on allowing gay couples to wed, said survey director Mark Baldassare.
"At no point in time, before or after the election, did we have a majority of Californians saying they supported gay marriage," Baldassare said. "My takeaway from this is that until there is a major shift in public opinion one way or another, it's going to be another issue where voters are deeply divided."
Geoffrey Kors, executive director of the gay rights group Equality California, said the PPIC poll demonstrates that same-sex marriage advocates "need to make inroads in every category. If 2 percent of voters had voted differently, we would have had a different result," he said.
The poll was based on a phone survey of 2,003 California voters in the Nov. 4 election who were interviewed from Nov. 5-6. The sampling error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.
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On the Net:
The poll: http://www.ppic.org/main/publication.asp?i860
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There you have it--the demographics of fear, and bigotry, and hate.
Peace, kids.
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