President Barack Obama, today:
And for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these "stand your ground" laws, I'd just ask people to consider, if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws.
When our individual worldviews refuse to let us, stand in the other guy's shoes, well then our individual worldviews may just be out-dated worn-out 'constructions', in need of some serious repair ...
If you can just look at someone and automatically presume their likely guilt -- instead of their assumed innocence -- and simply from your gut-impressions -- well it may be long past due for a 'worldview tune-up' and maybe even a total upgrade ...
Black boys denied the right to be young
by Eugene Robinson, washingtonpost.com -- July 15, 2013
[...]
The assumption underlying their ho-hum approach to the case was that Zimmerman had the right to self-defense but Martin -- young, male, black -- did not. The assumption was that Zimmerman would fear for his life in a hand-to-hand struggle but Martin -- young, male, black -- would not.
The Jury of Zimmerman's peers
simply assumed:
George needed and had the right to self-defense; The black kid did not
George was 'fearful for his life' when the black kid defended himself. And the kid had no right to be afraid, like George. No right to defend his own ground.
Hmmm. Those faulty assumptions just might be part of bigger worldview problem, eh?
[... from the same Eugene Robinson link ]
Our society considers young black men to be dangerous, interchangeable, expendable, guilty until proven innocent. This is the conversation about race that we desperately need to have -- but probably, as in the past, will try our best to avoid.
The society of Zimmerman's peers
simply presumes:
That black kids are dangerous.
That black kids are all the same.
That value of a black kid's life is somehow, not quite worth as much, as their own kid's.
Any Questions? Nope, that society that views the world through the lens of 'white privilege', rarely ever questions its built-in presumptions at all. It's just the way they were brought up, you see ... to simply assume that THEY are the norm.
[... one more ]
And we know that a skinny boy armed only with candy, no matter how big and bad he tries to seem, does not pose a mortal threat to a healthy adult man who outweighs him by 50 pounds and has had martial arts training (even if the lessons were mostly a waste of money). We know that the boy may well have threatened the man’s pride but likely not his life. How many murders-by-sidewalk have you heard of recently? Or ever?
When a black kid presumes to
defend himself from an unknown hostile aggressor:
We can assume he will put up a helluva a fight. Wouldn't you?
We can assume he may put that aggressor back on his heels, or better yet flat on his pompous ass.
We can assume he might have then hurt that aggressor's fragile pride (which probably wouldn't take much).
BUT we should never confuse who was the aggressor, and who needed defense.
We should never confuse who was 'armed and dangerous', and who was not.
We should never confuse the 'presumption of innocence' -- with the automatic 'assumption of guilt.'
Because according to the Constitution we are ALL presumed innocent -- at least until we actually commit a crime, a crime that can be proven before a Jury of our own peers.
An actual crime against society -- and not simply standing up for yourself, in self-defense -- using only your weapons you have -- your fists and your voice. And your naive, young-kid presumption that -- someone -- will actually run to help you in your time of great need.
Having not yet learned life's cruel lessons, that most people will just walk on by -- simply presuming just another crime statistic. Safe in their upbringing, and snug in their puncture-proof cocoon, and above-it-all self-righteous pride ...