Posted on 08/01/2013 5:55:10 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
"Today... I'm proud to be an American.”
– Robert Zimmerman Jr., on Twitter, following his brother's acquittal
An ABC News-Washington Post poll reveals that a full two-thirds of white Americans believe that Trayvon Martin’s killing was justifiable. Therefore, that same two-thirds of white folks also believe that George Zimmerman's acquittal in the second degree murder trial against him was also justifiable.
Historian and activist Paul Street writes in BlackAgendaReport.com that these poll numbers reflect the “separateness in perspective that reflects very real, savage, and profound, literal segregation” of the races in America.
“That’s a lot more than just the segment of the white population that’s Republican or Tea Party. There’s a lot of Democrats in there, and that probably includes a whole bunch of ‘liberals.’ This isn’t just about cracker whites in the South.”
Street is also author of The Empire’s New Clothes: Barack Obama and the Real World of Power.
As Street indicates, on the other hand, the same ABC-Washington Post poll shows that 86 percent of black Americans disagree with the jury's verdict. Blacks wholeheartedly support the bringing of federal civil rights violations charges against Zimmerman. Eighty-six percent.
Opinion
In any statistics course in any university, one of the first thing one learns is that polls represent only a “snapshot” of that particular sample's thinking at that particular time.
Not so in this case, however.
This poll highlights an ongoing and pervasive “divide” between the “races” as to the question of “race.” For example, this poll also shows that most white people do not believe that “race” played much of a role in the Zimmerman trial at all; while black people see race as the absolute and defining issue in the matter.
And, despite (or perhaps because of) President Obama's recent framing of the killing of Trayvon Martin and Zimmerman's acquittal as based in “racial profiling,” most white folks reject this characterization, while most black folks welcome it.
So, what's really going on?
Those white poll respondents who agree with the Zimmerman verdict have little or no personal experience grounded in oppression solely because of the color of their skins. It is just plainly, simply, damn near impossible for them to even imagine such a thing. They have gone through life believing – experiencing – the “American Dream” as a lived reality, something that is achievable if only they work hard enough, obey the law, and treat everybody right.
The black experience is a whole different kettle of fish, however. For black people in this nation-state, the color of their skins has always – always – being the singlemost defining characteristic that determined their social, political and economic outcomes vis-a-vis a white-dominated society. No amount of education, hard work, or honest dealing with others has ever changed this dynamic for the masses of black people.
Individuals, yes. Certain, select black individuals – usually those who must disavow any relationship with “blackness” – are allowed a modicum of success outside the black paradigm.
And so these poll results are not particularly surprising.
So black people must retrench and regroup. It goes without saying that this has not been a particularly good period for civil rights.
What we are witnessing is a long, slow old-style “white backlash” and white retrenchment into a new-style white supremacy. Many simply cannot accept or stand Obama's black presence in their “White” House.” Overwhelming approval of the Zimmerman verdict is just one, therefore, among many ways and means of expressing that distasteful reality.
As the saying goes, “It is what it is.”
The Author
Yes, and right friggin' now would be a good time to smarten up.
Polar bear huntin' season is OVER!
I hope this guy didn’t watch Bill O’Reilly, he’s gonna have a coronary ...
My God, why are they polling this case? There are serious scandals brewing and all these dimwits can focus on in the GZ case?
People are sick!
Pure delusional thinking.
The author is an idiot...Zero is Arab/Caucasian, with about 6% negro thrown in...he may LOOK 'black', but he isn't.
I think this author is annoyed that Zer0 is just a mulatto and not really a black.
Obama had the opportunity of the modern era and he blew it on purpose.
They just don't get it. Years ago, I worked with a young white dude from Northeast Philly. Nice enough and smart enough, but everything in his mannerisms projected that he should have been doing construction work instead of having a white collar job. Me and two other co-workers constantly schooled him on how to present himself better. And to his credit, he listened and learned.
My immigrant ex-wife tells new immigrants to learn how to act like white men because that is the culture of business.
I'm sorry, but if you show up at an interview with me with your pants down below your a**, you will get five minutes and a trip out the door. And if you are white with your a** hanging out of your pants, you won't even get that five minutes.
I am thrilled to have Clarence Thomas' black presence on the Supreme Court.
Kiss my grits. It ain't about race.
One big reason is that most whites believe that they have done everything they can to not be racial in their thoughts and actions, only to be continually under suspicion.
At some point, you realize that some people could never be placated in this regard, so you quit trying.
It’s all about Zero’s ‘color’ with me...RED.
But the black author has ... I suspect his idea of oppression consists of non-black strangers avoiding him at night (in the context of him giving them hostile looks) or not being handed plum positions at his command. And that's par for the course - among the races, blacks are recorded to have the highest self-esteem. The Dunning-Kruger effect describes pretty accurately the self-assessments of a wide swathe of the black community.
My question: is success white or black? It's neither...it just is. You either have it or you don't. The fact is black Americans have the lowest rates of scholastic achievement, the highest rates of illegitimacy, and the highest rates of crime. That is a sure prescription for failure. For the umpteenth time, whites are not holding back blacks anymore. Blacks are holding back blacks.
Due to my recent suspension I have no comment.
Dear author, your race card is overdrawn.
Inisting on a guilty verdict for GZ means that blacks think self-defense is a crime. Smart thinking ... .they better hope that self defense doesn’t become illegal.
Oh, wait they’ve been conditioned by the liberal publik skools to believe that only people of color can practice self defense. What was I thinking?
So...if I disagree with a black person I am automatically racist?
Yep, two perspectives. 1) Believe in the rule of law. 2) Believe in the rule of gimme.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
