George Zimmerman, the Florida man who killed unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012, will try again this week to sell the handgun he used in the shooting after an online auction last week was hijacked by fake buyers.
On the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, many Oklahoma pastors will preach not in robes, but hooded sweatshirts, or hoodies, to protest a proposed state bill that would ban a mask, hood, or covering of the face in public under certain conditions.
In the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death on Feb. 26, 2012, and now again in the aftermath of the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman, many commentators have speculated on how the outcome might have been different if some critical aspect of the case were different. I call this the What If game. For example, “What if Martin were white?”
I first learned about President Obama’s comments about racism and the Trayvon Martin case last week when a Facebook friend posted a link with this comment:
“Full text of the American President’s divisive and racist remarks today. He moves smoothly into his new role as race-baiter in chief.”
Anthea Butler, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Department of Religious Studies, said the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin last year, shows that God is an armed white racist stalking young black men, the New York Post reported Wednesday.
I will never have to have the talk. As the parent of a white child, I will never have to sit my son down and explain in painful detail how he may be unjustly targeted by police and neighborhood watch-folk, how his community may view him as a threat before he ever speaks.
Sure, I will talk to my son about sex. Drugs. War. Unbridled capitalism.