How often does this happen:

[ProSense]

Alleged black responsible and valued member of the community kills suspicious white teen?

It seems that some people don't get why people are outraged about what happened to Trayvon Martin. It is a crime specifically involving young black men who are constantly profiled.

In the aftermath, someone always invokes the dismissive claim of black-on-black crime.

They don't seem to understand that young black men are targets because in some people's eyes they are all suspects (and that's not just the opinion of some clown on the street: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022949658)

Suspects first, imprisoned disproportionately and unemployed at rates from 25 percent to about 45 percent, depending on age group.

Trayvon Martin wasn't a criminal, a young man caught in the revolving prison door or a youth failed by the system. Yet he was still profiled.

[Cooley Hurd]

1. I'm stunned, Pro...

[ProSense]

4. It's disheartening. n/t

[CakeGrrl]

2. Someone who doesn't get the outrage over profiling

hasn't lived it or known anyone who has.

[avaistheone1]

3. From what I understand Trayvon was immediately profiled in death by the authorities.

Weren't drug tests and background checks immediately run on Trayvon, and yet NOT immediately run on Zimmerman?

[ceonupe]

5. Because by law the police can't

Unless they suspect you are on drugs or drunk. If not they can't test you to find out they have to document their reason. You have to exhibit being impaired sorry the law is moron your side on this point.

Ask any lawyer

[polly7]

7. Seriously?

Even though you've just shot someone dead?

[ceonupe]

9. 100% serious

That is the law. Unless u spear to be under the influence. Other wise the evidence could be tossed.

[Solly Mack]

6. K&R

[Whisp]

8. This is so upsetting.

to say the least words can convey.

and I feel so isolated because the people I was with tonight when we heard, they all acted like ignorant morans and I was the odd ball.

No wonder I want to be a hermit.

fuck.

[treestar]

10. hearing the 911 tape of Gz

it is just so obvious. He's up to no good. He's coming towards me. He looks like something is wrong. GZ saw everything through a pre-constructed filter. He turned a kid who had gone to get candy into some kind of burglar, all in his mind.

[ReRe]

11. And guess what...

K&R

... NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly is getting ready to take over Homeland Security for Janet Napolitano (I guess so she can get ready to run for President.) He's the author/creator of the racist "Stop and Frisk" profiling program in NYC. What we have here in this country is institutionalized racism.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

12. They tell us that racism is no longer a reality; it's all a figment of our imagination.

But we are black people and we live this every single day. I go into a store and am profiled because people think I'm stealing.

Black men are profiled every single day.

And yet, we are told to shut up and stop being so sensitive.

People wonder why we're angry. Do we not have just cause for the anger? Frustration?

[Cha]

13. It's a fucking nightmare, ProSense.

The worst nightmare came true for the Martin family.

The justice system in Sanford, Florida failed Trayvon Martin today. But, I'm thinking and hoping Justice4Trayvon is not over. there has to be some good that comes out of this and we just don't know what it could possibly be, yet.

[ProSense]

14. Yup, utter failure. Josh Marshall:

Quick Thoughts

Josh Marshall

I’m not surprised the jury didn’t convict Zimmerman of 2nd Degree Murder. I am surprised it doesn’t qualify as manslaughter. The law in Florida has some peculiarities which heavily favored Zimmerman. But this was a situation he created through actions that I don’t think anyone can credibly argue weren’t reckless and showing extremely poor judgment. If a kid who was literally minding his own business ends up dead as the result, it’s hard for me to see it as a just outcome if there’s no criminal culpability whatsoever.

http://editors.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2013/07/quick_thoughts.php

[kentuck]

15. Exactly!

Not even involuntary manslaughter, which would have been basically a slap on the wrist. But nothing? A person died of a gunshot. Somebody pulled the trigger.

[Cha]

17. Thanks for that, ProSense.. Josh Marshall makes it clear.

Snip***

Shock. Anger. Grief. Confusion. These are all the emotions that ran through peoples minds when a jury of white women told the world that in their belief system, it is perfectly okay for a white man to stalk, attack, and murder a black child. The same emotion that ran through peoples minds when Troy Davis was executed even though the evidence was murky. We’re back here again. How could a jury of mothers not understand the fear Trayvon Benjamin Martin felt when a stranger with a gun accosted him on a dark rainy night for no reason except for the color of his skin? How could a black woman who fired shots into her ceiling because she felt threatened but didn’t kill anyone get 20 years in prison while George Zimmerman walked away with no consequences due to the “Stand Your Ground” law? How does a man who was told to stay in his car and not follow Trayvon Martin walk away free? The simple answer? Sanford, Florida is 80% white conservative gun owners. The other answer? Society doesn’t value a black life as they do a white one and it seems to want to break black people down every single time by saying “hey, you’re inferior….hey you’re worthless….hey the President of the United States is black and you will pay for it every single time you step out of your home because you share the same color of skin as he does.”

The rest..
http://theobamadiary.com/2013/07/14/you-cannot-give-up/

[MineralMan]

16. Exactly. If Trayvon had been a 17-year-old white kid

walking back to his father's residence, he'd still be alive. No question. The racial aspect of this is absolutely clear.

Thinking of black youths as likely criminals is endemic in America, not just in Florida. Until we rid ourselves of such ideas, similar incidents will keep occurring in cities and towns all across the country.