Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Racism: Killer arrested, charged with murder

Liz Goodwin (Lookout); Frank Newport (Gallup); Wisdom Quarterly
(washingtonpost.com)

Armed vigilante/volunteer Neighborhood Watch patrolman George Zimmerman has been charged with second degree murder.

It carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Colluding officers, police brass, and his allegedly dissembling former judge father have not been charged.

In his foolishness or hubris, the accused murderer has lost contact with his attorneys, who then dumped him. He instead preferred to media spotlight on his own, going on Fox News and starting his own websites, exciting Neo Nazis to patrol in his place and "keep an eye on things."

It is certain they and other American racists hope for any issue that provokes a long awaited "race war" on the 2oth anniversary of the Los Angeles riots following the acquittal of racist, civil rights violating police in the sensational Rodney King trial. Bias is alive and well in many parts of America.

Meanwhile, Zimmerman's alleged second degree murder -- as well as that of police across the country who continue to execute black and brown men on the street and at least two men who seem to have targeted blacks in a shooting spree -- has divided the nation along race lines.

Going from a plan of mass incarceration, as outlined by Michelle Alexander, to street execution has led the nation from bad to worse, from state crimes to state atrocities.

Blacks, Nonblacks' different views of Martin case
Frank Newport (gallup.com)
PRINCETON, NJ - Black Americans' views differ dramatically from those of nonblacks regarding the circumstances involved in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida on Feburary 26, 2012. Blacks are paying much closer attention to the news of the incident; overwhelmingly believe that George Zimmerman is guilty of a crime; believe that racial bias was a major factor... More

Poll shows big racial divide
Liz Goodwin, Lookout (news.yahoo.com) OPINION
Americans are sharply divided by race in their opinion of the shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Florida by a Hispanic neighborhood watchman.

A Gallup/USA Today poll finds that most black Americans (73 percent) think Trayvon Martin's shooter, George Zimmerman, would have been arrested if Martin had been white. Only 33 percent of non-Hispanic white people said the same thing.

The racial divide on Zimmerman's guilt was also big: 51 percent of black people said Zimmerman is "definitely guilty" based on the information available, compared to only 10 percent of whites. About 20 percent of both whites and blacks said Zimmerman was "probably guilty."

Zimmerman told police that he was following Martin because he looked "suspicious" when the unarmed 17-year-old then attacked him. Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense. He hasn't been charged. Martin's family says Zimmerman followed and then attacked and shot Martin in an act of vigilante policing.

An earlier Pew Research Center poll found that only 16 percent of black people said there had been too much media coverage of the shooting, compared to 43 percent of white people. The Gallup poll of more than 3,000 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Source

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