Why It's Hard to Cheer for the Zimmerman Verdict

Right. George Zimmerman convinced a reasonable number of Floridians that he had a valid reason to shoot Trayvon Martin, that Martin had attacked him first. I'm not particularly moved by the wails about Martin having been "a child" (young and irresponsible, yes, but he had apparently fought like a full-grown man). I'm merely bemused by the howls about Zimmerman being "White" ("Hispanic" is counted as a separate racial group on the census forms). And I believe that, if somebody attacks you, you have a right--and in some cases even a duty--to protect yourself and others from being bullied or terrorized; martyrs have their uses, but nobody should expect anybody to choose martyrdom.

Much as some people, including many White people, might want to, we can't just decide that in any confrontation between people of different races the one with darker skin is automatically in the right, that blaming the relatively light-complexioned man (who comes from a completely different background anyway) will somehow make up for slavery and segregation.

http://www.lloydmarcus.com/?p=3599

Nevertheless:

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/015255.html

"A black woman in FL fires 'warning shots' at abusive husband, gets 20 years. A white man in FL shoots a black child dead, walks free."

Justice was not outrageously abused by Zimmerman's acquittal. Justice has, however, been outrageously abused by prejudicial verdicts in some other cases. This web site is not celebrating.