My daughter is in 8th grade, but said they have discussed the case in civics class. She said the general consensus of her classmates is it is going to be difficult for him to get a fair trial because of all the media hype. They are also concerned about the "bounty" on him and don't understand why nothing is being done about that and why the media is so quiet about it.
It's been very interesting listening to her talking about it and how her peers are reacting. She said one of the boys brought up how it could be used to attack the 2nd amendment - that young black man happens to belong to the same 4-H shooting club as my daughter. She said the teacher asked him to expand on that and it turned from a discussion of the case to Constitutional rights, and then to civil rights and whose may have been violated here. The attitude was "maybe" Martin's, but the "bounty" definitely violates Zimmerman's.
This is a rural area, with a decent sized African American presence, as well as a large number of Hispanics.
Oh, and did I mention, the civics teach is a black woman?
It has been my experience that rural blacks in general, tend to be more conservative, and more concious of their rights to self-defense and property than urban blacks.
Oh, and did I mention, the civics teach is a black woman?
I had a number of black teachers who understood that rights aren't rights unless they apply to all, equally. But that was before affirmative action. Good to see that continues, at least a little.