The Trayvon Martin Case

[Komodin]

If the races of Trayvon and Zimmerman were switched, we either wouldn't be talking about this, or the media would be hailing Zimmerman as a hero. Fact.

 

Well, considering how things go here, the most likely thing to occur from this scenario would be "Zimmerman" almost certainly getting a steep amount of jail time for the crime.

[Tornado]

The media didn't "racialize" the case.

Oh?

http://gawker.com/5898876/nbc-apologizes-for-editing-george-zimmermans-911-call-on-today-show

The media didn't pick up on the racial overtones over what was going on and run with them after they became clear to everyone. The media put them there the second the case broke; over a week before Zimmerman was even arrested and well before any investigation had actually occurred.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Tornado

[Nepenthe]

Oh?http://gawker.com/5898876/nbc-apologizes-for-editing-george-zimmermans-911-call-on-today-showThe media didn't pick up on the racial overtones over what was going on and run with them after they became clear to everyone. The media put them there the second the case broke; over a week before Zimmerman was even arrested and well before any investigation had actually occurred.

The implication that the media was solely responsible for planting racial overtones in an actual occurrence that somehow objectively didn't have any whatsoever before they started talking is nonsense on the grounds that the occurrence was indeed racially charged in the first place.

[Tornado]

You're strawmanning him again. He didn't say there were no racial overtones at all (though his understanding of the ones that were there is pretty ridiculous). He said that the media racialized the case (which they did the instant they got wind that there would be an investigation of the shooting, with NBC painting the entire thing as Zimmerman following and shooting Martin just because he was black before they actually knew anything; and you can't tell me based on how they did it that it was done accidentally), and made the implication that if they hadn't done so things might have turned out differently after the fact (which, for starters, Zimmerman probably would actually have been convicted of manslaughter then).

 

 

And no, I don't believe any aspect of this case was anywhere near as racial as the media (or people in this thread, or the people protesting) were presenting it; and I fully believe that the way the media was presenting it is why Zimmerman walked. If that makes me a "fucking entitled prick," then so be it.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Tornado

[Nepenthe]

I wasn't responding to Spiky with my last post, but to you who said the media "put" racial overtones into the situation the second the case broke, to which I said the implication that they were "put" there by the media means they weren't actually there before- and by proxy that Trayvon and George's meeting was free from prejudice- is nonsensical due to the very facts of the case and the players involved. And Spiky didn't seem to say anything about the actual trial when he started talking about the media "racializing" the case, but rather the violent protests going on.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Nepenthe

[Tornado]

I wasn't responding to Spiky with my last post, but to you who said the media "put" racial overtones into the situation the second the case broke, to which I said the implication that they were "put" there by the media means they weren't actually there before- and by proxy that Trayvon and George's meeting was free from prejudice- is nonsensical due to the very facts of the case and the players involved.

Media Bias: NBC was accused of editing one of Zimmerman's 911 calls to make it seem as if he assuredly profiled Martin; the director in charge of the segment has since been fired and an apology has been issued. Initial photos of Martin and Zimmerman initially leaked to the public have purportedly influenced feelings about the case overwhelmingly in Martin's favor; in contrast, photos of black teens displaying gold teeth and middle fingers were released and said to be Martin mainly by conservative outlets. These were ultimately proven false.

Now you're saying that none of that stuff happened? And that it had nothing to do with what's happening with the protesting going on now that Zimmerman walked?

Also, more specifically:

is nonsensical due to the very facts of the case and the players involved.

What were the facts of the case that were known before the NBC broadcast of the 911 call that made it so obviously racial? Aside from the fact that Zimmerman was white (and allegedly someone who had performed racial profiling before then) and Martin was black, and Zimmerman wasn't arrested for the shooting; of course.

 

 

 

More importantly, which facts of the case were known before the NBC broadcast and widely reported on.

[Nepenthe]

What are you even talking about? I'm not denying anything. I'm making the claim that the media didn't put race into a situation that was inherently devoid of it, not that they never reported on race at all whatsoever. And before the story broke nationally, it was trending on Twitter and the Internet which reported that a white man shot a black teenager and had not been arrested, which frankly are actual facts and a scenario in and of itself that is racially charged. People were up in arms in the beginning both over the mere fact that an arrest had not been made and that yet another black kid was dead seemingly without justice. After all of the net rage and trending, that's when we got into big media reports and stupidity. Frankly, it's basically Twitter that helped this thing initially blow up. Race was a relevant topic in the beginning. The media didn't make it so on their own; the entire country did, and I maintain that they did so because race was inherently always relevant to what we knew about it. Certainly we can argue that it was made a bigger element than it needed to be, but that's a different conversation than the source of that implication, which I maintain is when George profiled Trayvon in the first place.

[turbojet]

As a resident here and incident not being too far from where I live, the facts were known to the big time media until after a group protested at the sheriff's office by sitting in right outside the building. At that time, it was known that George Zimmerman, white Hispanic, shot Trayvon Martin, black kid, and the police did not arrest him on the basis of Stand Your Ground. They did so for about a week before anybody knew about before it got trending. It was racially charged from the beginning. 

 

I remember because I was apart of that group. 

[The Kid]

Didn't the sheriff's office have a reputation among the community already for racial profiling?

[turbojet]

Didn't the sheriff's office have a reputation among the community already for racial profiling?

Yes. In fact, there was an incident in which Sanford police officers beat the shit out of a black guy in 2010 and someone complained about it. That someone was George Zimmerman.

[Tornado]

Race was a relevant topic in the beginning. The media didn't make it so on their own; the entire country did, and I maintain that they did so because race was inherently always relevant to what we knew about it.

 

And I maintain they did so because they were outraged at the idea that Zimmerman might not actually be guilty of anything other than exceedingly poor judgment; so they assumed something else must have been at play for things to occur as they did and rallied around that.

 

 

 

Nevertheless, I now have my answer. Thank you.

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Yes. In fact, there was an incident in which Sanford police officers beat the shit out of a black guy in 2010 and someone complained about it. That someone was George Zimmerman.

George Zimmerman complaining about police brutality towards a black man? You know, now I'm starting to think our country is just looking for blood at the slightest provocation when it comes to social issues, and what's making this shit worse is how people keep making examples out of one another to justify it.

We...I'm sorry, but I think we've hit a stupid era. Either that, or my misanthropy is rearing its ugly head again.

[Mauro Fonseca]

For those of you who think the protests were all peaceful, I'll leave this here. http://www.click2houston.com/local-familys-emergency-trip-to-hospital-interrupted-by-protestors/-/1736084/21009282/-/7whvvlz/-/index.html

A guy reached into a car and punched an old woman. Maybe if the media hadn't racialized the case and made Trayvon the victim, this wouldn't have happened. At any rate, those evil racist police officers eventually got the situation under control by driving the hooligans off the road.

Such a beautiful thing, just look at those comments. Even admitting this happened entirely like the family described it, does it somehow invalidate the protests in the entire country?

My god, how did America become so pussified in terms of protesting?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

My god, how did America become so pussified in terms of protesting?

Ever since we became the only superpower after the USSR collapsed if I were to be any more cynical. Nowadays many of us appear to be like spoiled rotten children to one another.

[Badnik Zero]

So is anyone gonna comment on the president's random address on this?

 

I'm surprised he commented again.

 

This might be the first time I've felt we have a president who's actually black.

[Tornado]

http://www.dlas.org/questions-zimmerman-verdict/
 
 
Interesting. I had my attention drawn particularly to this:
 

[Autosaver]

I really dislike the use of photos of Trayvon Martin having tattoos or gold teeth or even doing drugs. I mean, does that make him a bad person? Using that to judge Trayvon is stereotyping to me.

[the_serendipitous]

So fucking what if the kid had tattoos or golden teeth? I would have stayed off the pot til' I was 20 to 25, but goddamn it, HE. DID. NOT. DESERVE. TO BE SHOT. Fuck!

[Frogging101]

http://www.dlas.org/questions-zimmerman-verdict/

Interesting. I had my attention drawn particularly to this:

Finally we get to see the other, underreported side of things. It always did bug me that the media constantly circulated "undated" photos of Treyvon from years ago when he was a much younger child. They did that to appeal to people's emotions; for the shock factor. The contents of this page tell a story different from the one propagated by the mainstream media. The large media corporations want to make money, and if they can spin a story in a way that generates clicks and sells papers, they will do it.

Other parts of that page suggesting crimes such as assault, drug abuse and theft call the media's portrayal of Treyvon's character into question as well. People think this case was as simple as "a deranged and racist white man shot an innocent boy". Nothing of this nature is that simple. I'm not suggesting that the incident or the outcome were necessarily good, I'm just pointing out that it's not that simple.

I really dislike the use of photos of Trayvon Martin having tattoos or gold teeth or even doing drugs. I mean, does that make him a bad person? Using that to judge Trayvon is stereotyping to me.

This is true. What I said above works both ways; I'd be just as annoyed if the media had only displayed these images to put a different spin on it (a spin is still a spin). Edited August 7, 2013 by Frogging101

[The Kid]

Hmm, was Zimmerman's truck following Martin from where he entered the complex, or was it stationary the whole time?

[Solly]

So fucking what if the kid had tattoos or golden teeth? I would have stayed off the pot til' I was 20 to 25, but goddamn it, HE. DID. NOT. DESERVE. TO BE SHOT. Fuck!

Literally nobody is suggesting this. 

 

Also, Tornado, your image is showing up broken for me, although it sounds like I'm the only one. 

[the_serendipitous]

Literally nobody is suggesting this. 

 

Also, Tornado, your image is showing up broken for me, although it sounds like I'm the only one. 

Nobody here is suggesting this, but I've heard this sentiment elsewhere.

[Nepenthe]

The only reason I would feel those pictures of Trayvon from his social accounts would be posted is to make an implication about his character, you know that whole "black men are thugs" dealio that has been a prominent feature of the character assassination he's gone through.

[Autosaver]

Nobody here is suggesting this, but I've heard this sentiment elsewhere.

I can back you up on this. I don't know how many times I've heard people say he deserved to die.

[Brad]

That was an extremely beneficial website, I'm not afraid to admit my judgement was rash on Zimmerman. I was in the wrong for choosing a side so hastily without looking at everything and the media definitely displayed this case as single sided. Though I still don't believe Zimmerman should have walked away from this without any repercussion (choosing to take the law into your own hands by following the identified shady looking character down a dark alley to make sure he doesn't get up to no good? Why? You've alerted the police), it's sad that he's going to be forever known as the racist pig who killed a totally innocent black teen for no other reason than to be a cruel man. I've never really looked on it from the apparent racist side personally, more on the fact he killed the guy. Doesn't excuse the fact I totally jumped the gun on my conclusion. 

 

Ay, this is all a bit of catastrophe.