Monday, August 26, 2013
WASHINGTON (AP) — NAACP President Ben Jealous says he plans to turn over petitions with more than 1.7 million signatures calling on the Department of Justice to pursue charges against George Zimmerman for violating Trayvon Martin's civil rights.
Zimmerman was acquitted by a Florida court for the February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Martin, who was unarmed.
Jealous says about a million of the signatures collected were sent by cell phone, and many were from young people.
Martin has emerged as a recurring symbol at protests of continued unequal treatment of blacks and other minorities.
His mother was among the speakers at Saturday's events marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Images of the slain teenager were displayed on T-shirts, posters, signs and buttons.
Comments
js1976 10 years, 7 months ago
"Martin has emerged as a recurring symbol at protests of continued unequal treatment of blacks and other minorities."
Zimmerman is a minority as well.
donnaladd 10 years, 7 months ago
So? Even black people have participated in subjugation of other blacks due to buy-in of attitudes of white majority culture (used to be called Uncle Toms). Zimmerman is just as white as President Obama is black (or white). He's part Peruvian. Chances are that Trayvon had white blood in him as well.
What you choose to miss is that the above statement is about the victims and the attitudes about them that lead to violence and attitudes that they deserved the treatment. You keep shifting the focus away from the victim and toward the "hero" who dared to stalk and shoot an unarmed black kid. You're not helping your own argument, but you seem too mired inside it to think critically about it. And you show little to no knowledge of America's race history for context. You've shown yourself to be the last person a thinking person would take seriously on these issues. Or one of them. White Zimmerman supporters have defiantly come out of the woodwork of late. Interesting company you keep.
donnaladd 10 years, 7 months ago
And many a lynch mob contained "white" people with Native American or even black "blood" -- so they didn't actually lynch someone because he was black? Or they're weren't racist?
See how quickly your argument crumbles?
js1976 10 years, 7 months ago
Pardon me Donna, but once again you are placing words in my mouth that I have yet to speak! Not once have I ever declared George Zimmerman as a "hero". How many times must I state that I believe he should have been convicted of Travon's murder before it actually sinks through your skull? So I'm not real sure what argument you believe I'm attempting to win. It actually just appears that you are aguing with yourself, so good luck with that.
I was mearly pointing out the irony in this article. It appears that the NAACP and the media take turns choosing which ethnicity individuals belong when they are of mixed race. Obama is a perfect example.
js1976 10 years, 7 months ago
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/opinion...">http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/opinion...
This opinion piece is a perfect example of what I was attempting to point out. The media has gone so far to paint this as a racially motivated killing that they coined a new term for his ethnicity! This has nothing to do with our opinions of the verdict, but how the nation is reacting to this incident and Zimmermans race.
donnaladd 10 years, 7 months ago
I apologize if I missed you up with Bubba and the usual apologists re Zimmerman guilt, JS. Beyond that, my response to your comment totally stands. The statement that confused/amused you makes total sense as stated (even if I'm against using "minorities" as a noun). People not considered fully "white" have often committed atrocities against "minorities." Thinking that makes no sense doesn't make sense.
bubbat 10 years, 7 months ago
Donna-I have never said Zimmerman was a hero, just that the verdict was correct, he shot Martin in self defense plain and simple. How many times do I have to tell you their race has nothing to do with as far as I am concerned.
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