ZooCrewDude
NBA Starter
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What's your opinion on the matter?
You didn't ask for mine, but I'll give it.
Gang related violence in the United States (and anywhere for that matter) has been very well chronicled in our country's history. It is a major and deflating issue in today's society and its evils are not unnoticed - they are just so rampant that, yes, often it does not receive the national attention that this author points out. But what we have in the Trayvon/Zimmerman is a very tangible occurrence of racial profiling (not the gang violence that Rogers points to). If it can force the national media to take notice of the issue at hand, then it is important that we do so. Steroids changed our 'American Pastime' for a couple decades before a couple high profile cases were brought to our attention and it eventually helped to steer baseball back in the right direction. I don't mean to use this analogy to trivialize racial profiling - I'm simply pointing out that if a media frenzy can push a serious issue to the national forefront then it will likely result in some positive outcomes. What if after the Conseco/McGwire storyline, pundits simply said, 'This shit is going on in all of our professional sports for a long time now, why are we making such a big deal now??' The national media has its flaws, and these frenzy kind of events can be one of them. But if it lets people take notice of issues outside of our sphere of influence or comfort zone, then they are important and should not be ignored.
To the other points of Rogers' article... What happened after Zimmerman confronted Trayvon is irrelevant to me. Neighborhood watches are a useful tool when applied appropriately. Zimmerman's role in his neighborhood was not a harmful one - until he took matters into his own hands and directly ignored a police directive. It resulted in the tragic death of an innocent human being - regardless of said human beings fucking academic record. If Zimmerman listens to the dispatcher, the police arrive and determine he was a kid buying candy and a tea - regardless of whether said kid was 6-2, 5-2, played football or played chess. Great for Zimmerman and great for the neighborhood if the guy was able to prevent violence or theft in the past, but this time he went too far - and someone was senselessly killed because of it.
The evidence will speak for itself in court - regardless of how we or Rogers interprets it. But at the end of the day - an entire country is taking notice of racial profiling and how tragically it can end.