'Trayvon Martin could have been me' - Barack Obama

[Shooterist]

Trayvon Martin was bashing a man's head into the sidewalk an got shot for trying to be a "gangsta" Obama is a puppet and a fool. He can't talk without a teleprompter. Zimmerman saved his own life cause the police would have been 20 minutes too late if he hadn't.

[Publicus]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

Cool! I've learned something new today!

According to wikipedia, Hispanic is an ethnicity and not a race. Hispanics can be racially divided into while and non-white groups. Supposedly 50% of hispanics in the US are white and 50% are non-white. Now what I don't know is if Zimmerman was a white hispanic or non-white hispanic. I also don't know how to distinguish them other than by color of skin and even there, what is the difference between a somewhat dark white, and non-white. Too confusing for me. Ethnicity is easier.

Yeah, contemporary anthropology has gone off the deep end in recent decades. Present day anthropology even says now that all of humanity came from the same, one mother in Africa. That sounds as whacky as the earth being flat, yet that's what modern anthropology says.

It's time for the men in white coats to come to take away the anthropologists except they too wear white coats. So yes, the world is confusing.

Imagine if you were Hispanic.

[JetsetBkk]

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

Beat me to it.

[slipperylobster]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

OMG ..i can't believe I just read that... check the Census bureau.....Caucasian, Hispanic,Asian, and "OTHER"

[slipperylobster]

had to look it up....here it is:

The United States is a diverse country, racially and ethnically.^[1]Six races are officially recognized: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races; a race called "Some other race" is also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official.^[2][3][4] The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino",

[Publicus]

had to look it up....here it is:

The United States is a diverse country, racially and ethnically.^[1]Six races are officially recognized: White, American Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races; a race called "Some other race" is also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official.^[2][3][4] The United States Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino" and "Not Hispanic or Latino",

I'd already mentioned the US Census Bureau lives in its own world, a world apart from the standard definitions used by the UN and other international organizations.

Have you ever asked a Hispanic in the US if s/he is Caucasian or Negroid? I haven't asked either because I don't like getting a bloody nose (of Caucasian physiological characteristics and traits)..

[Ulysses G.]

Have you ever asked a Hispanic in the US if s/he is Caucasian or Negroid?

Most would respond that they are neither one. They are Hispanic.

[Publicus]

Have you ever asked a Hispanic in the US if s/he is Caucasian or Negroid?

Most would respond that they are neither one. They are Hispanic.

You're holding onto that one for dear life.

[Publicus]

Did anyone notice Prez Obama made an extensive statement at the White House Saturday about the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman trial, to include race relations in the United States?

Reading this thread one wouldn't necessarily know that is the topic.

[Chicog]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

What language do they speak in Manassas, Virginia then?

[Tywais]

An accusatory post regarding the OP has been removed.

"Please be informed that ThaiVisa is an apolitical discussion forum, meaning that we take an unbiased position in regard to political matters in Thailand."

[sevenhills]

Black Man Shoots White Teen, Jury says Self Defense. And Nobody Cares.
Double standards or what? Makes you wonder what Obummers motive is???

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2013/07/tim-mcnabb/black-man-shoots-white-teen-jury-says-self-defense-and-nobody-cares/

[movsrus]

I've given the thread a few moments thought now.

I'm hoping this thread might show some understanding and empathy for Trayvon and for his family, friends - and to include the larger picture of young black males in the United States whose legacy is 200 years of slavery and another hundred years of Jim Crow laws. Destroyed families from their outset.

However, I see my worst fears of this thread topic are already being realized. The other side is in fact the other side, i.e., it hasn't any feeling for a kid who got very nervous about some little white sh*t following him in silence with eyeballs fixed on him.

The other side is devoid of human feeling, sympathy, caring for the black kid, the deceased. Can't put themselves in the other fellow's shoes and haven't the slightest interest in trying to do so. To them Martin is bad, Zimmerman is good. White is right and if you're black get to the back.

The SOS is polluting this thread too.

Martin was an active participant in this encounter. He could have stopped the whole thing from escalating by being calm and not engaging Zimmerman in a war of words. When things got physical he drew blood on Zimmerman and Zimmerman used the rights afforded him under the Stand Your Ground laws in Florida to protect himself. The jury listened to the evidence and made a determination. That is how the law works in America. Martin should have learned by then that actions have consequences and people have to own up to what happens.

Obama came on TV and talked about how black men feel a discrimination when people watch them, lock car doors when they are around and women clutch their purses when in elevators with black men. Part of that reaction by white people is in response to actions taken by black men against them. Look at the flash mobs in Philadelphia composed of black kids who rampage the streets attacking people indiscriminately and loot and vandalize business. Look at the black on black violence in Chicago and then ask yourself if you, as a white person, would want anything to do with these people. Look at the lifestyles of many in the black community who do nothing and exist only on government handouts and still feel they are entitled to more. It is the "why can't I buy a Cadillac with food stamps" mentality.

We can't paint an entire race of people with the same brush but it is fact that much of the white attitude toward blacks in America today is a result of the actions of many members of the black community.

[Ulysses G.]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

What language do they speak in Manassas, Virginia then?

George was an altar boy when he was young. He spoke English and Spanish, read the liturgy in both languages, and Spanish was the primary language at home

[rotary]

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

The profile of the US expat at TVF is Obama basher.

Christmas has come early for them this year.

Obama does not need bashing, he is doing a great job making sure in the history books that he shares a page with Jimmy Carter.

[Tywais]

Comment on moderation removed

[rotary]

Some people wish it was. However I don't have a dog in this fight so I don't care.

Oh c'mon. You gotta appreciate the ridiculous unpresidential like statement. Better than Gore's I invented the Internet.

I agree, very unpresidential. However, I guess a lame duck can say whatever is really on his mind. I doubt a first term Obama would have uttered such a statement...

The statement was black presidential. We'd never had that before, so it may seem stranger to some among us than it does to others.

If you mean Prez Obama didn't have the speech transparencies flanking him, or didn't stand straight upright, didn't act formal or speak authoritatively or forcefully, then it wasn't a presidential style of formatted speech.

Prez Obama spoke extemporaneously, in a quiet voice, a calm tone, used two note cards which the media reports say he may have twice glanced at, didn't gesture much if at all. It wasn't a state of the union style or format of delivery.

It was black presidential, thoughtfully addressing for the first time the point of view of the black population of the United States spoken by a black man twice elected president, who spoke at a time an open wound was festering throughout the country.

Prez Obama is the first president who doesn't need a Booker T Washington to advise him on life in the USA as a black man or from the perspective of the African-American population of the country. Prez Obama is it and has lived it despite the fact some people try to deny him the reality of his existence as a black man.

I'm amazed at what some people can miss about the first black president in the context of both recent events concerning the trial in Florida and the initiating event of 17 months ago in Sanford, Florida.

We are talking about our country, are we not?

I was doing a bit of ancestry work on Obama, just got to his mother on the tree. Can you help me here? What race was his mother?

[Ulysses G.]

Obama came on TV and talked about how black men feel a discrimination when people watch them, lock car doors when they are around and women clutch their purses when in elevators with black men.

This is from an e-mail a friend sent me.

"I am a white woman, who always tucks my purse tightly under my arm in an elevator if I'm alone and a man of any color is present. What may make a difference, is the dress of that male, the age of the male, and the general demeanor of the male. The same is true for a female. President Obama is over-generalizing."

[qdinthailand]

That is the same thing I thought as I heard him give the speech. Yes, Trayvon could have been Obama if Obama attacked and badly beat a man for virtually nothing. The reason that the jury found Zimmerman not guilty is because the evidence left no choice other than self-defence.

No, the Stand Your Ground Law left the jury no choice but to find him 'not guilty'.

Fact is, due to George Zimmerman's actions, T. Martin is now dead.

And no one, except George Zimmerman, is alive to know what happened. Love it how millions of his defenders know that poor Georgie was an innocent victim of the 'boy in the hood'.

[mopar71]

One of the regretful things now, ( maybe always? I don't know ) is that just about every issue in the US starts with a dividing line. Democrats/Republicans, Black/White, you get the idea.

Once the barricades are built no one comes down from them. It's a modern day American tragedy.

It is done by political design. Most Americans don't hold such strong views against others, whether we happen to agree with them or not. It is done to curry constituencies by political leaders. Almost all political victories in America come from swinging marginal voters, so it is is very important, politically to foment division. To pit the old against the young, the gay against the straight, the black against the white, the poor against the rich. It is democracy by parsing groups up to get to 50.001% rather than unifying. There's a lot of money in it.

Well said.

[mopar71]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

Cool! I've learned something new today!

According to wikipedia, Hispanic is an ethnicity and not a race. Hispanics can be racially divided into while and non-white groups. Supposedly 50% of hispanics in the US are white and 50% are non-white. Now what I don't know is if Zimmerman was a white hispanic or non-white hispanic. I also don't know how to distinguish them other than by color of skin and even there, what is the difference between a somewhat dark white, and non-white. Too confusing for me. Ethnicity is easier.

Here is the easy way to think about it:

When Obama walks into a room, no one looks at him and thinks he is white.

When Zimmerman walks into a room, no one looks at him and thinks he is white.

[qdinthailand]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

Hispanics are Caucasian.

What, do you judge people by the US Government census form?

Cool! I've learned something new today!

According to wikipedia, Hispanic is an ethnicity and not a race. Hispanics can be racially divided into while and non-white groups. Supposedly 50% of hispanics in the US are white and 50% are non-white. Now what I don't know is if Zimmerman was a white hispanic or non-white hispanic. I also don't know how to distinguish them other than by color of skin and even there, what is the difference between a somewhat dark white, and non-white. Too confusing for me. Ethnicity is easier.

Well, think of it this way.

The white hispanics in the Americas are likely descendants of the Spaniards, while the non-whites are descendants of the indigenous "Americans" that they conquered in their quest for riches. Lots of interbreeding between the whites and browns, and so, yes, a lot of homogenization of the colors so it becomes more difficult to categorize into one or the other.

So browns are "Americans" and whites are invading marauders, killers and plunderers. The ones in between? Mutts!

and so what's it matter what color, language, ethnic origin? They's human beings...no better, no worse than ourselves.

[Chicog]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

What language do they speak in Manassas, Virginia then?

George was an altar boy when he was young. He spoke English and Spanish, read the liturgy in both languages, and Spanish was the primary language at home

I can google as well, and his father says he speaks Spanish, but he grew up in Virginia, attended catholic and public schools, and you are honestly trying to say English is his second language? Plus his father is of German extract, not Hispanic.

[mopar71]

Obama came on TV and talked about how black men feel a discrimination when people watch them, lock car doors when they are around and women clutch their purses when in elevators with black men. Part of that reaction by white people is in response to actions taken by black men against them. Look at the flash mobs in Philadelphia composed of black kids who rampage the streets attacking people indiscriminately and loot and vandalize business. Look at the black on black violence in Chicago and then ask yourself if you, as a white person, would want anything to do with these people. Look at the lifestyles of many in the black community who do nothing and exist only on government handouts and still feel they are entitled to more. It is the "why can't I buy a Cadillac with food stamps" mentality.

We can't paint an entire race of people with the same brush but it is fact that much of the white attitude toward blacks in America today is a result of the actions of many members of the black community.

Obama is trying to get blacks and guilty white liberals all riled up so that they turn out in record numbers in the next election. The truth of the matter is it is not only white people who are wary of young black men in hoodies. If asked, the vast majority of blacks will admit they are too. The rest are lying. Don't take my word for it, listen to this black preacher...

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a70_1374030948

[Chicog]

Trayvon Martin was bashing a man's head into the sidewalk an got shot for trying to be a "gangsta" Obama is a puppet and a fool. He can't talk without a teleprompter. Zimmerman saved his own life cause the police would have been 20 minutes too late if he hadn't.

Yep, the official Fox News version in a nutshell.

[mopar71]

OMG, a thread for the Obama bashers.

The profile of the US expat at TVF is Obama basher.

Christmas has come early for them this year.

Obama does not need bashing, he is doing a great job making sure in the history books that he shares a page with Jimmy Carter.

Except that Jimmy Carter has come out an agreed with the verdict. Obama knows he is in trouble when Carter starts sounding more presidential than he does.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2013/07/jimmy-carter-on-george-zimmerman-verdict-right-decision/

Jimmy Carter says the jury made the right call in finding George Zimmerman not guilty.

“I think the jury made the right decision based on the evidence presented, because the prosecution inadvertently set the standard so high that the jury had to be convinced that it was a deliberate act by Zimmerman, that he was not at all defending himself,”

[chuckd]

Somebody remotely locked their car as I walked past it yesterday.

Do you believe they simply do not like or are fearful of 75 year old white men?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What a ridiculous statement to be made by the so-called leader of the free world.

By the way, Obama should be technically classified as a white African-American in accordance with today's definitions.

[chuckd]

Trayvon Martin was bashing a man's head into the sidewalk an got shot for trying to be a "gangsta" Obama is a puppet and a fool. He can't talk without a teleprompter. Zimmerman saved his own life cause the police would have been 20 minutes too late if he hadn't.

Yep, the official Fox News version in a nutshell.

As well as the official version of the courts of Florida, as verified by a jury of his peers.

[mopar71]

Zimmerman is Hispanic, not white. English is his second language. Your whole premise is very flawed.

What language do they speak in Manassas, Virginia then?

George was an altar boy when he was young. He spoke English and Spanish, read the liturgy in both languages, and Spanish was the primary language at home

I can google as well, and his father says he speaks Spanish, but he grew up in Virginia, attended catholic and public schools, and you are honestly trying to say English is his second language? Plus his father is of German extract, not Hispanic.

There are many Hispanics out there with the last name Zimmerman. If you have Facebook, go to the search function, use a standard Latino first name and Zimmerman for the last and you'll get plenty of results. If you dig deep enough, you might find that Zimmerman's roots come from Germany via Argentina and his grandpa left Germany in 1945. OMG!!

EDIT: Remember, if we want to focus on a last name, then our President is really Kenyan!!

[hawker9000]

One of the few things Obama's ever said that I think is probably true...