The question comes down to why do you care about some dead black kid?
The words in the title, and in the quote aren't mine, but are
Bomani Jones'. He is a sports personality that hosts a weekly video podcast called The Evening Jones and appears on various ESPN shows across their network. On Monday, the inevitable question was raised about Geraldo's hoodie comments. The quote I open with is where he ultimately ends up. He covers a range of topics within the Martin case and does it in a very logical way. I can't get the video to embed correctly (any help would be appreciated...) but the link is
here. If you have 20 minutes or so, please watch from 43:40 on (and if you have any interest in sports, watch the whole thing)
Mr. Jones also wrote a blog posting on the subject entitled Trayvon Martin and When a Black Man Deserves to Die. My favorite quote, to entice you onwards;
Not to get all self-indulgent, but with a hood on, 6-3, 140 pound Trayvon didn’t look much differently than I would. And I first would have walked quickly, then run. And if Zimmerman got out of his car and came toward me, I’d have swung on him. And then he would have shot me, and I would have been just as dead. Thing is, since I’m a grown man, chances are Zimmerman would have had some marks on his face for the cops to see.
Would you, after the fact, have then thought it was OK to shoot me?
For giggles, let’s say that Trayvon’s body was found with a gun nearby. This happened in a town I went to school in many years ago, where Irvin Landrum, Jr., the victim of a police shooting, was found with a gun nearby. Cops claimed the young man drew down on them. The gun was once registered to a deceased former cop. The district attorney found no evidence the gun was planted, though.
For a second, forget whether or not the gun was planted. The real question is whether simply having the gun made it OK for cops to shoot this man. By that token, any cop riding in Sanford would have open season on George Zimmerman. He had a gun, after all. But we all know simply having a gun doesn’t mean you deserve to get shot. They wouldn’t license them if that were the case, no?
Truthfully, I don't have any more commentary to add, and if I did, it would be nearly as spot on as what Mr Jones says, so I will leave it at that.