I was following one election, among several others, where the candidate was an avowed Marxist/Leninist Socialist, and at one national candidate information site listed as a Communist organizer. This candidate had a number of volunteers, including some from their former party, the Party for Socialism and Liberation. One thing that stood out was the call in campaign literature to “seize” the local utility for the people as well as a statement of being a Socialist. The voting jurisdiction had about a 50% black population and the vote for this person was around 3.5%. Black people in the US may be “liberal or progressive” but they don’t seem to flock to Soviet oriented Socialism even with an articulate and hard working candidate. No opinion as to how they might respond to a Scandinavian type Socialist message.
Regarding the media report on the Martin death. My sense of the incident was a tall, skinny black teen who had been minding his own business was confronted by an eager community volunteer in an aggressive/hostile? way and got angry. He had moved/been moved to live with a relative and try to get his life straightened out, and even when doing nothing wrong was still getting into trouble. Two upset angry people each thinking they were in the right exploded and death occurred. Unfortunately, it appears that stand-your-ground laws have encouraged this kind of tragedy as those states with those laws have seen an increase of those kinds of deaths. All you need is two angry people, neither of which feels he has any legal need to back down, and tragedy can ensue and has.
“Two upset angry people each thinking they were in the right exploded and death occurred. Unfortunately, it appears that stand-your-ground laws have encouraged this kind of tragedy as those states with those laws have seen an increase of those kinds of deaths. All you need is two angry people, neither of which feels he has any legal need to back down, and tragedy can ensue and has.”
I can see where you would get that impression, but it is not the way I understood the events to have happened.
There appears to be a rise in justified homicides in Stand-Your-Ground jurisdiction; there also appears to be a drop in overall homicides. It is difficult to be certain of cause and effect.
How do you do nothing wrong and still get in trouble? He was not innocently walking around in the wee hours, he appeared to be casing houses, in fact, Zimmerman stated on the 911 tape he was stopping and peering into houses. And he was never confronted by Zimmerman, but pursued, as also layed out in the 911 tape, and then George lost sight of him, gave up the pursuit, and was headed back to his car. Then innocent St. Treyvon, who could have easily went to his father’s place, doubled back, confronted then attacked Zimmerman. I encourage you to read the court transcripts. Your perceived narrative seems gleaned straight from the MSM.
Stand your ground results are not a tragedy, they are a victory of an individual’s right to not be harmed or killed by an attacker. All you need is one aggressive angry person and one that fears for their safety and/or life, and victory can ensue and has.