The President's Speech

[Marianne Kiendl]

What is your reaction to President Obama's speech on the Treyvon Martin case?  Will it help or hinder race relations in this country?

http://news.yahoo.com/political-world-reacts-obama-trayvon-moment-1...

[T2Friends]

I listened to the entire speech.  I think it was thoughtful and interesting.  He did not cast any doubt or dispersions on the verdict or even the trial.  But he took the time to explain from a perspective not usually heard on a national stage in calm and rational terms, how folks in the african american community may be viewing this event and the verdict. In my opinion his points were not incendiary nor terribly controversial but reasoned and rational.  I do believe that it will help to frame the discussion, but I agree that those discussions are best when they come from groups like this rather than politicians.  And I believe his comments provided a framework is which a discussion like this very post, can help to bring to light everyone's personal bias' and help us all live an examined life.  I am not necessarily talking about black and white.  I am talking about the context in which each of us makes our decisions, based on our own personal experiences, our education, our socio-economic backgrounds, our current status in life, etc., all of which influences how we react and what we hear and how we experience things.  We are all quick to make decisions and opinions of things, I believe that working to examine those decisions and opinions from a different perspective on an on-going basis,  can help lead to a more balanced and less biased approach to almost everything.   IMHO

[ProblemAgain]

obama essentially ruled out a civil rights case and declared the zimmerman legal matter over. and this country does need to come to understand the other person in the racial divide whether black or white, orange or green..til we can actually communicate with each other,  those race relations won't get better.

[frenchy]

i agree problem .. there's two sides to this whole thing .. and one side has been grossly overlooked .. don't get me wrong there are times when i see black people gettin a raw deal and when that happens i'll say so . treyvon martin ain't one of them times .. they should start with that parents tellin their kids to not call 911 for starters .. that should be at the top of the list . if thats actually true .. and maybe some kinda national hotline to report murders in the black community annonamously .. just tell em what you know and let the authorities check it out .. down here in ft. myers we've had a couple of dozen black on black homicides in the last year and nobody says anything .. one guy was shot in front of a daycare center .. and they were waitin on him .. in broad daylight , kids all around .. and you probably never even heard about it .. the sherrif down here told the naacp the treyvon martin thing was over and the verdict was cast and they should start concentratin on the crimes we still haven't solved .. and they called for his resignation .. and this is a pretty good community overall .. what about chicago or detroit ?? every day they have to bury 2,3, 4 or 5 of their kids .. why not focus on that for awhile .. 

[crestofwaves]

I don't think this case was a miscarriage of justice.  I think it was the perfect storm and it ended in inevitable tragedy.

One thing Obama doesn't mention is that lots and lots of crime that gets punished, the burglaries, the muggings, the drive-by shootings, are perpetrated by black youths in urban areas. That's not racial profiling--that's fact. I'm sure that in the Ozarks, it's white meth addicts doing these types of crimes.

White collar crime, which hardly ever gets punished is a whole other animal.

[ProblemAgain]

the reason the innercity crime is a lot black is the innercity is a lot black...the burglars and muggers would need to take the bus to the suburbs for a better demographic mix   and then you have the trouble of doing your getaway on the bus and all that

and yes white collar crime IS a whole other animal....how bout jeff skilling from enron? gonna get out earlier than the original sentence ..after all he only managed to be comlicit on a fraud that bankrupted thousands of people, both employees and stock investors and damaged pension funds to the tune of billions of dollars.... remember mike millken? he was the fraud king of junk bonds and made a billion off them...when the fraud was found out he was severely punished by having to spend 18 months in a halfway house without his toupee and forfeit half of his billion dollars...that'll larn you buster!

[T2Friends]

he did mention that Crest.  He talked about the statistics.

[ProblemAgain]

this crimewatching thing has become almost like a sport and when you allow race to enter it AT ALL, you obscure the view of good guys versus bad guys.....it becomes shirts and skins....and we absolutely have to get past taking sides based on race....the other day i read an opinion piece by a hard right conservative who had the absolute nerve to throw around statistics like '90 per cent of the crime is committed by blacks' and he went on and on in that vein. in this country we as races are MARRIED to each other for better or worse..we are ALL americans....the example of some bigots calling marc anthony a foreigner singing at the ball game the other day is just another case of some people not realizing that we have all sorts of races, creeds and religions who are americans. in fact if they want to drone on about patriotism and sacrifice, i suggest some of those people go back and read the names of the fallen from iraq and afghanistan. the lists are replete with hispanic surnames and replete with the names of innercity kids who joined as their duty to their country and who might not be allowed at that conservatives picnic since they weren't REAL americans

the issue of race and crime and race and victimology is a lot more complex than just 'some people are just born to steal' or any of that old hogwash...

[crestofwaves]

I don't think people, according to their race, are born to steal.  I think poverty is the culprit, along with drugs.  In our cities, most of the poor are black and Hispanic.  In the rural areas, it's white people. In France, it's Northern African and Muslims.  Is disnfranchisement and desperation that are the biggest culprits.

 

Off to Shakespeare in an amphitheater.  Ciao...