So it is actually OK to say that "gangsta thug culture" is a negative influence? Or you can only say it when a person of a different race isn't involved? I thought it was a code word. Is it not a code word when you use it, but is when your debate opponents use it? So many questions.
There's a conversation about "thug culture" in general, and there's a very real effort on the part of Zimmerman's defenders to paint Martin as a thug in order to blame him for getting killed. Context matters.
There's also no evidence that Zimmerman was the kind of person who would shoot a stranger simply because he was a different race. In fact, the evidence I've seen has suggested that Zimmerman was not a racist. Zimmerman's account should not be taken without question. He's the only living witness, but on the other hand, he may go to jail based on whatever the heck happened that day so he does have a motivation to lie. So while his statement should be investigated fully by law enforcement, I do find it basically credible.
I think the biggest problem with conversations about race is the trouble we have communicating about the difference between a person being a racist, and a person performing a racist action. The latter does not imply the former. I don't particularly care if Zimmerman is a racist; I don't think he is, I think calling this a hate crime cheapens the term, and I think it's irrelevant anyway. Most of the conversation I've seen is saying that the police failed to fully investigate the shooting because the victim was black.
What would you suggest that a woman do if somebody tries to rape her? Just take it and try to give a good description to law enforcement? I recognize that you may be one of those liberals with a fetish for gun control, so I doubt we will agree on this. But anyway.
The fraction of rapes in which an unknown assailant jumps out of the bushes and grabs the victim is far smaller than you think. Most rapes are perpetrated by acquaintances of the victims, or against a drunk or drugged victim. The idea that giving women guns is a solution to the problem of rape comes totally from this idea that America is an extraordinarily dangerous place and the only way to survive it is with a gun. It's at odds with reality. I don't think gun control laws are constitutional or a solution to the problem, though.
Oh man. Please don't even go there. Read about "Fast and Furious" sometime. blah blah.
I'm aware of Fast and Furious; it sounds like a shitty idea. It wasn't the first operation of its kind, but it appears to have been the biggest. I think more investigation is needed, and I wouldn't be too upset if Holder lost his job, nor if someone with more direct responsibility goes to jail for negligence in the operation's execution. I think the controversy is overblown, and the Obama administration has done far worse.
Well, if we find that "thug culture" promotes the attitude that if somebody disrespects you, you should tackle them and beat them up, then it may be relevant to this case. If Trayvon did that, then it was a mistake that contributed to the tragic outcome. It is possible that Zimmerman is telling the truth, ya know? That still may (or may not) justify his shooting Trayvon based on what was happening right at that moment (was George's head being bashed against concrete? was Trayvon trying to grab his gun?), but it is at least a relevant thought for the living to take to heart in an effort to avoid repeating this incident.
This is what I'm talking about. "Thug culture" is far from the only part of our society that promotes violence against people who disrespect us. We drop bombs on people we think are disrespecting us! Tom Friedman says we had to make Iraq "suck on this." Michael Leeden says we have to "pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business," and he isn't laughed out of the world. The idea that black people invented macho shit like this is preposterous. The idea that fighting back against some weirdo following you through a neighborhood you don't know well is something only a gangsta thug would do is ridiculous. It's a red herring.