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Trayvon Martin's Murder

Discussion in 'In the News' started by goodlove, Mar 8, 2012.

Page 21 of 157

GQ Brotha New Member

One would be hard pressed to tell if this is 2012 America or 1870's Deadwood or Tombstone.

You have a guy walking around with a weapon, accosting someone who has done nothing wrong and then the resulting shooting to death of this young man.

I mean seriously, this is civilized society. All because this young man was black, wearing a hooded jersey and walking in this area on his way back home.

Right is right and wrong is wrong, when you are an innocent person who has not committed a crime and this is your end result you have to wonder if this could happen to any of us for just being black and stereotyped from the get go.

Wonder how this Zimmerman fellow would react if it was a white male walking with a hooded jersey on in this area. Hmmm.

GQ Brotha, Mar 25, 2012

#401
Alinoa New Member

Bliss said: ↑

Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer
March 24, 2012

I thought my son would be much older before I had to tell him about the Black Male Code. He's only 12, still sleeping with stuffed animals, still afraid of the dark. But after the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I needed to explain to my child that soon people might be afraid of him.

We were in the car on the way to school when a story about Martin came on the radio. "The guy who killed him should get arrested. The dead guy was unarmed!" my son said after hearing that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman had claimed self-defense in the shooting in Sanford, Fla.

We listened to the rest of the story, describing how Zimmerman had spotted Martin, who was 17, walking home from the store on a rainy night, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head. When it was over, I turned off the radio and told my son about the rules he needs to follow to avoid becoming another Trayvon Martin - a black male who Zimmerman assumed was "suspicious" and "up to no good."

Always pay close attention to your surroundings, son, especially if you are in an affluent neighborhood where black folks are few. Understand that even though you are not a criminal, some people might assume you are, especially if you are wearing certain clothes.

Never argue with police, but protect your dignity and take pride in humility. When confronted by someone with a badge or a gun, do not flee, fight, or put your hands anywhere other than up.

Please don't assume, son, that all white people view you as a threat. America is better than that. Suspicion and bitterness can imprison you. But as a black male, you must go above and beyond to show strangers what type of person you really are.

I was far from alone in laying out these instructions. Across the country this week, parents were talking to their children, especially their black sons, about the Code. It's a talk the black community has passed down for generations, an evolving oral tradition from the days when an errant remark could easily cost black people their job, their freedom, or sometimes their life.

After Trayvon Martin was killed, Al Dotson Jr., a lawyer in Miami and chairman of the 100 Black Men of America organization, told his 14-year-old son that he should always be aware of his surroundings, and of the fact that people might view him differently "because he's blessed to be an African-American."

"It requires a sixth sense that not everyone needs to have," Dotson said.

Dotson, 51, remembers receiving his own instructions as a youth, and hearing those instructions evolve over time.

His grandparents told Dotson that when dealing with authority figures, make it clear you are no threat at all - an attitude verging on submissive. Later, Dotson's parents told him to respond with respect and not be combative.

Today, Dotson tells his children that they should always be respectful, but should not tolerate being disrespected - which would have been recklessly bold in his grandparents' era.

Yet Dotson still has fears about the safety of his children, "about them understanding who they are and where they are, and how to respond to the environment they are in."

Bill Stephney, a media executive who lives in a New Jersey suburb that is mostly white and Asian, has two sons, ages 18 and 13. The Martin killing was an opportunity for him to repeat a longtime lesson: Black men can get singled out, "so please conduct yourself accordingly."

Like Dotson, Stephney mentioned an ultra-awareness - "a racial Spidey sense, a tingling" - that his sons should heed when stereotyping might place them in danger.

One night in the early 1980s, while a student at Adelphi University on Long Island, Stephney and about a dozen other hip-hop aficionados went to White Castle after their late-night DJ gig. They were gathered in the parking lot, eating and talking, when a squadron of police cars swooped in and a helicopter rumbled overhead.

"We got a report that a riot was going on," police told them.

Stephney and his crew used to talk late into the night about how black men in New York were besieged by violence - graffiti artist Michael Stewart's death after a rough arrest in 1983; Bernhard Goetz shooting four young black men who allegedly tried to mug him on the subway in 1984; Michael Griffith killed by a car while being chased by a white mob in 1986; the crack epidemic that rained black-on-black violence on the city. They felt under attack, as if society considered them the enemy.

This is how the legendary rap group Public Enemy was born. Their logo: A young black man in the crosshairs of a gun sight.

"Fast forward 25 years later," Stephney said. "We've come a long way to get nowhere."

But what about that long road traveled, which took a black man all the way to the White House? I can hear some of my white friends now: What evidence is there that Trayvon Martin caught George Zimmerman's attention - and his bullet - because of his race? Lynching is a relic of the past, so why are you teaching your son to be so paranoid?

There is a difference between paranoia and protection. Much evidence shows that black males face unique risks: Psychological studies indicate they are often perceived as threatening; here in Philadelphia, police stop-and-frisk tactics overwhelmingly target African-Americans, according to a lawsuit settled by the city; research suggests that people are more likely to believe a poorly seen object is a gun if it's held by a black person.

Yes, it was way back in 1955 when 14-year-old Emmitt Till was murdered in Mississippi for flirting with a white woman. But it was last Wednesday when a white Mississippi teenager pleaded guilty to murder for seeking out a black victim, coming across a man named James Craig Anderson, and running him over with his pickup truck.

Faced with this information, I'm doing what any responsible parent would do: Teaching my son how to protect himself.

Still, it requires a delicate balance. Steve Bumbaugh, a foundation director in Los Angeles, encourages his 8- and 5-year-old sons to talk to police officers, "and to otherwise develop a good relationship with the people and institutions that have the potential to give them trouble. I think this is the best defense."

"I don't want them to actually think that they are viewed suspiciously or treated differently," Bumbaugh said. "I think that realization breeds resentment and anger. And that can contribute to dangerous situations."

His sons are large for their age, however.

"I'm probably naive to think that they won't realize they're viewed differently when they're 6-4 and 200 pounds," Bumbaugh said, "but I'm going to try anyway."

I am 6-4 and more than 200 pounds, son. You probably will be too. Depending on how we dress, act and speak, people might make negative assumptions about us. That doesn't mean they must be racist; it means they must be human.

Let me tell you a story, son, about a time when I forgot about the Black Male Code.

One morning I left our car at the shop for repairs. I was walking home through our quiet suburban neighborhood, in a cold drizzle, wearing an all-black sweatsuit with the hood pulled over my head.

From two blocks away, I saw your mother pull out of our driveway and roll towards me. When she stopped next to me and rolled down the window, her brown face was full of laughter. "When I saw you from up the street," your mother told me, "I said to myself, what is that guy doing in our neighborhood?"

--
Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. He is reachable at http://twitter.com/jessewashington or jwashington@ap.org

(Copyright ©2012 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to expand...

This actually made me cry. It's ridiculous. Does anyone have any idea how much mischief gets done by people who don't look suspicious? And how much of it they get away with? Lots and lots and lots just based on what they look like.

Yeah...that tingly six sense he talks about. My ex told me he learned that real fast when they moved to an all white neighborhood in Cali when he was young. Kept him out of mounds and mounds of undue trouble by being able to tell who was going to raise hell with him based on his skin color.

Alinoa, Mar 25, 2012

#402
pettyofficerj New Member

Bliss said: ↑

Trayvon Martin, my son, and the Black Male Code

JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer
March 24, 2012

I thought my son would be much older before I had to tell him about the Black Male Code. He's only 12, still sleeping with stuffed animals, still afraid of the dark. But after the Trayvon Martin tragedy, I needed to explain to my child that soon people might be afraid of him.

We were in the car on the way to school when a story about Martin came on the radio. "The guy who killed him should get arrested. The dead guy was unarmed!" my son said after hearing that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman had claimed self-defense in the shooting in Sanford, Fla.

We listened to the rest of the story, describing how Zimmerman had spotted Martin, who was 17, walking home from the store on a rainy night, the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head. When it was over, I turned off the radio and told my son about the rules he needs to follow to avoid becoming another Trayvon Martin - a black male who Zimmerman assumed was "suspicious" and "up to no good."

Always pay close attention to your surroundings, son, especially if you are in an affluent neighborhood where black folks are few. Understand that even though you are not a criminal, some people might assume you are, especially if you are wearing certain clothes.

Never argue with police, but protect your dignity and take pride in humility. When confronted by someone with a badge or a gun, do not flee, fight, or put your hands anywhere other than up.

Please don't assume, son, that all white people view you as a threat. America is better than that. Suspicion and bitterness can imprison you. But as a black male, you must go above and beyond to show strangers what type of person you really are.

I was far from alone in laying out these instructions. Across the country this week, parents were talking to their children, especially their black sons, about the Code. It's a talk the black community has passed down for generations, an evolving oral tradition from the days when an errant remark could easily cost black people their job, their freedom, or sometimes their life.

After Trayvon Martin was killed, Al Dotson Jr., a lawyer in Miami and chairman of the 100 Black Men of America organization, told his 14-year-old son that he should always be aware of his surroundings, and of the fact that people might view him differently "because he's blessed to be an African-American."

"It requires a sixth sense that not everyone needs to have," Dotson said.

Dotson, 51, remembers receiving his own instructions as a youth, and hearing those instructions evolve over time.

His grandparents told Dotson that when dealing with authority figures, make it clear you are no threat at all - an attitude verging on submissive. Later, Dotson's parents told him to respond with respect and not be combative.

Today, Dotson tells his children that they should always be respectful, but should not tolerate being disrespected - which would have been recklessly bold in his grandparents' era.

Yet Dotson still has fears about the safety of his children, "about them understanding who they are and where they are, and how to respond to the environment they are in."

Bill Stephney, a media executive who lives in a New Jersey suburb that is mostly white and Asian, has two sons, ages 18 and 13. The Martin killing was an opportunity for him to repeat a longtime lesson: Black men can get singled out, "so please conduct yourself accordingly."

Like Dotson, Stephney mentioned an ultra-awareness - "a racial Spidey sense, a tingling" - that his sons should heed when stereotyping might place them in danger.

One night in the early 1980s, while a student at Adelphi University on Long Island, Stephney and about a dozen other hip-hop aficionados went to White Castle after their late-night DJ gig. They were gathered in the parking lot, eating and talking, when a squadron of police cars swooped in and a helicopter rumbled overhead.

"We got a report that a riot was going on," police told them.

Stephney and his crew used to talk late into the night about how black men in New York were besieged by violence - graffiti artist Michael Stewart's death after a rough arrest in 1983; Bernhard Goetz shooting four young black men who allegedly tried to mug him on the subway in 1984; Michael Griffith killed by a car while being chased by a white mob in 1986; the crack epidemic that rained black-on-black violence on the city. They felt under attack, as if society considered them the enemy.

This is how the legendary rap group Public Enemy was born. Their logo: A young black man in the crosshairs of a gun sight.

"Fast forward 25 years later," Stephney said. "We've come a long way to get nowhere."

But what about that long road traveled, which took a black man all the way to the White House? I can hear some of my white friends now: What evidence is there that Trayvon Martin caught George Zimmerman's attention - and his bullet - because of his race? Lynching is a relic of the past, so why are you teaching your son to be so paranoid?

There is a difference between paranoia and protection. Much evidence shows that black males face unique risks: Psychological studies indicate they are often perceived as threatening; here in Philadelphia, police stop-and-frisk tactics overwhelmingly target African-Americans, according to a lawsuit settled by the city; research suggests that people are more likely to believe a poorly seen object is a gun if it's held by a black person.

Yes, it was way back in 1955 when 14-year-old Emmitt Till was murdered in Mississippi for flirting with a white woman. But it was last Wednesday when a white Mississippi teenager pleaded guilty to murder for seeking out a black victim, coming across a man named James Craig Anderson, and running him over with his pickup truck.

Faced with this information, I'm doing what any responsible parent would do: Teaching my son how to protect himself.

Still, it requires a delicate balance. Steve Bumbaugh, a foundation director in Los Angeles, encourages his 8- and 5-year-old sons to talk to police officers, "and to otherwise develop a good relationship with the people and institutions that have the potential to give them trouble. I think this is the best defense."

"I don't want them to actually think that they are viewed suspiciously or treated differently," Bumbaugh said. "I think that realization breeds resentment and anger. And that can contribute to dangerous situations."

His sons are large for their age, however.

"I'm probably naive to think that they won't realize they're viewed differently when they're 6-4 and 200 pounds," Bumbaugh said, "but I'm going to try anyway."

I am 6-4 and more than 200 pounds, son. You probably will be too. Depending on how we dress, act and speak, people might make negative assumptions about us. That doesn't mean they must be racist; it means they must be human.

Let me tell you a story, son, about a time when I forgot about the Black Male Code.

One morning I left our car at the shop for repairs. I was walking home through our quiet suburban neighborhood, in a cold drizzle, wearing an all-black sweatsuit with the hood pulled over my head.

From two blocks away, I saw your mother pull out of our driveway and roll towards me. When she stopped next to me and rolled down the window, her brown face was full of laughter. "When I saw you from up the street," your mother told me, "I said to myself, what is that guy doing in our neighborhood?"

--
Jesse Washington covers race and ethnicity for The Associated Press. He is reachable at http://twitter.com/jessewashington or jwashington@ap.org

(Copyright ©2012 WPVI-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to expand...

Eye of Ra said: ↑

A sorry state of affairs when we are still, as parents, employing the Black Male Code of Behavior speech to our male children, even those of us as parents of biracial male children....
Click to expand...

real talk from the both of u

as a BM..or black person in general, you sort of live in two realms. you're an american just like a white person, but you're also a black american, which means you're going to go through different things and have to look at the world through a different set of glasses, just because your skin has color in it.

i was told the EXACT same stuff by my mom, as far as the cops, surroundings, the way I dress (this goes double for big brothas, as people are already intimidated by your size), and so forth. to not tell your kids the 'code,' you're sending them through life ill-equipped. Racism is far from over.

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#403
Bliss Well-Known Member

pettyofficerj said: ↑

real talk from the both of u

as a BM..or black person in general, you sort of live in two realms. you're an american just like a white person, but you're also a black american, which means you're going to go through different things and have to look at the world through a different set of glasses, just because your skin has color in it.

i was told the EXACT same stuff by my mom, as far as the cops, surroundings, the way I dress (this goes double for big brothas, as people are already intimidated by your size), and so forth. to not tell your kids the 'code,' you're sending them through life ill-equipped. Racism is far from over.
Click to expand...

I was listening to WDAS and they discussed the TRAYVON hoodie thing and mothers were calling in saying they BEG their son's not to wear the hoodie up...

All I kept thinking was...A PERSON should be able to wear whatever the fuck he wants! How come I get to wear a hoodie?? I'm wearing one right now in fact as it's chilly! To think that my mom would have to feel the need to beg me not to wear it for my safety like she would to drive safe in my CAR (which CAN ACTUALLY kill me!)
A piece of cloth...can cost a Black man his life...it's boggling and infuriating.

Bliss, Mar 25, 2012

#404
goodlove New Member

Black friend defends shooter of Florida teen

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ting-friendbre82o0fe-20120325,0,1458950.story

goodlove, Mar 25, 2012

#405
pettyofficerj New Member

Bliss said: ↑

I was listening to WDAS and they discussed the TRAYVON hoodie thing and mothers were calling in saying they BEG their son's not to wear the hoodie up...

All I kept thinking was...A PERSON should be able to wear whatever the fuck he wants! How come I get to wear a hoodie?? I'm wearing one right now in fact as it's chilly! To think that my mom would have to feel the need to beg me not to wear it for my safety like she would to drive safe in my CAR (which CAN ACTUALLY kill me!)
A piece of cloth...can cost a Black man his life...it's boggling and infuriating.
Click to expand...

I remember jogging around my area after dark, and having the same cop car drive past. Needless to say I don't do that anymore, and I was only wearing shorts and a shirt.

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#406
Bliss Well-Known Member

goodlove said: ↑

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ting-friendbre82o0fe-20120325,0,1458950.story
Click to expand...

.."George Zimmerman cried for days in remorse after shooting dead a black Florida teenager,.."

Part two of the defense, right here.

*(Cried because he fucked up.)

Bliss, Mar 25, 2012

#407
GQ Brotha New Member

pettyofficerj said: ↑

real talk from the both of u

as a BM..or black person in general, you sort of live in two realms. you're an american just like a white person, but you're also a black american, which means you're going to go through different things and have to look at the world through a different set of glasses, just because your skin has color in it.

i was told the EXACT same stuff by my mom, as far as the cops, surroundings, the way I dress (this goes double for big brothas, as people are already intimidated by your size), and so forth. to not tell your kids the 'code,' you're sending them through life ill-equipped. Racism is far from over.
Click to expand...

Amazing that we still have to approach things in such a manner in 2012.

I'm a tall black guy and its amazing to me how people can see you and assume you are somehow threatening, violent, uncouth, ill-mannered, gangsta wannabe just because of your physical features.

I dress pretty much like Express Men's, A|X, Banana Republic doesn't mean people don't judge me just by being black.

Now imagine if I wore an oversized white T-shirt, baggy jeans and a fitted cap, throw in some grills and they might run the other way.

I call it the big, black, boogie monster syndrome.

If you are a black male and look a certain way, automatically you are assumed as being "up to no good"

Why do you think its easy to say a black man did it when a crime is done and you want to lead the cops astray.

Shit, they even had a white dude that robbed a bank disguised as a black man.

[YOUTUBE]v=pD5TdzcsD8o[/YOUTUBE]

GQ Brotha, Mar 25, 2012

#408
pettyofficerj New Member

Bliss said: ↑

.."George Zimmerman cried for days in remorse after shooting dead a black Florida teenager,.."

Part two of the defense, right here.

*(Cried because he fucked up.)
Click to expand...

He cried after the media caught wind of his coon killing

Smile for the camera zimmers

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#409
Ches Well-Known Member

i would love to know what all these details are that haven't been revealed yet that will supposedly prove Zimmerman's innocence. I have a hard time believing that Zimmerman was ever in fear for his life from a 17 yr-old, even one who was probably pumped up on his own fear-driven adrenaline.

I'm afraid to see what will happen if Zimmerman isn't brought to justice the way the events as we know them seem to dictate that he should be....

Ches, Mar 25, 2012

#410
Alinoa New Member

goodlove said: ↑

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...ting-friendbre82o0fe-20120325,0,1458950.story

Click to expand...

He took a mans life? Not exactly. He took a minors life. 17 years old.

And he's remorseful? Hell, I'm remorseful when I burn eggs. But I can start over. This baby is dead. You can't make that right no matter how remorseful you may be. And if he's so remorseful why hasn't he turned himself in?

The more I hear about this Zimmerman the less I think he should be...something. Free. Alive. Something.

Alinoa, Mar 25, 2012

#411
Bliss Well-Known Member

pettyofficerj said: ↑

He cried after the media caught wind of his coon killing

Smile for the camera zimmers
Click to expand...

Also when Americans caught wind, too. It was his parents who started the grass roots going through Change.org. I had actually heard about this before the media mentioned it, through them.

I smell a lawsuit. Zimmerman will sue the Sanford PD for not arresting him that night.

Yeah I'm half joking, because truth might be if they had, Trays parents would have been satisfied that at least their son's killer was arrested, it would have gotten local coverage only, Zim may have beaten the rap under the Law, and Tray's parent would have been left to lament on the injustice as many parents are left to do across the country. He's crying alright.."why, oh why didn't you arrest me!"

Bliss, Mar 25, 2012

#412
GFunk Well-Known Member

Alinoa said: ↑

He took a mans life? Not exactly. He took a minors life. 17 years old.

And he's remorseful? Hell, I'm remorseful when I burn eggs. But I can start over. This baby is dead. You can't make that right no matter how remorseful you may be. And if he's so remorseful why hasn't he turned himself in?

The more I hear about this Zimmerman the less I think he should be...something. Free. Alive. Something.
Click to expand...

I know this is a fucked up situation and regardless of age doesn't make any of this right, but labeling a 17 year old a baby is going a little far. The media can label Zimmerman a racist killer of a teenager, which I agree with, but "baby killer" is just misleading. Either way, Zimmerman still needs to die.

GFunk, Mar 25, 2012

#413
pettyofficerj New Member

BACU said: ↑

I know this is a fucked up situation and regardless of age doesn't make any of this right, but labeling a 17 year old a baby is going a little far. The media can label Zimmerman a racist killer of a teenager, which I agree with, but "baby killer" is just misleading. Either way, Zimmerman still needs to die.
Click to expand...

he was a baby in the eyes of many people, just like you are

he hasnt had a chance to experience life at all

although ur view may be skewed since u got people in the army as young as 17 (if they still allow you to join with parents written consent), that are looked upon as men

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#414
Centreville New Member

Please don't assume, son, that all white people view you as a threat. America is better than that.
Click to expand...

Well......

Centreville, Mar 25, 2012

#415
pettyofficerj New Member

Centreville said: ↑

Well......
Click to expand...

wish i could say it got better once u entered the workforce

ur still viewed as a threat, since u got a good portion of whites who think you cant stand them based off their history

like the article warning graduates not to list afro-centric clubs on their resumes, for fear of discrimination

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#416
GFunk Well-Known Member

pettyofficerj said: ↑

he was a baby in the eyes of many people, just like you are

he hasnt had a chance to experience life at all

although ur view may be skewed since u got people in the army as young as 17 (if they still allow you to join with parents written consent), that are looked upon as men
Click to expand...

True, I can kinda understand why people would see him as a baby. But in my opinion, I would think it would be more respectable to refer to him as a young man. Close to graduation and going out into the real world so I would respect him as a young man as I think he deserves that title. Wouldn't want to call him a baby as he receives his diploma.

But That's just me. Back to the main issue for me.

GFunk, Mar 25, 2012

#417
pettyofficerj New Member

young black men like you ARE the issue young buck

you're still viewed as a threat to society

real talk:smt023

pettyofficerj, Mar 25, 2012

#418
Alinoa New Member

BACU said: ↑

I know this is a fucked up situation and regardless of age doesn't make any of this right, but labeling a 17 year old a baby is going a little far. The media can label Zimmerman a racist killer of a teenager, which I agree with, but "baby killer" is just misleading. Either way, Zimmerman still needs to die.
Click to expand...

I just meant in terms of his age as it deals with being able to relate to experience. I don't mean as far as a baby in diapers. I also refer to him as a baby because he was so innocent and such a well behaved young man.

I don't mean it in a derogatory way. Just in a way to highlight how senseless this all is. People going to extremes to cover up for and hide an obvious murderer in comparison to who ended up dead.

Alinoa, Mar 25, 2012

#419
Centreville New Member

i was told the EXACT same stuff by my mom, as far as the cops, surroundings, the way I dress (this goes double for big brothas, as people are already intimidated by your size), and so forth. to not tell your kids the 'code,' you're sending them through life ill-equipped. Racism is far from over.
Click to expand...

..and this is why I have a problem with whites adopting black children.

Centreville, Mar 25, 2012

#420

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