You raise some great points which rightly call into question the very validity of the Sanford police investigation itself. I will admit that I didn't know many of the facts that you brought up, and I'm sure there are many more that I don't know. Likewise, I'm sure that there are facts that you don't know about the killing of Trayvon Martin, and it's a fair bet that there are facts that the police don't know and perhaps never will.

My point was not that the Zimmerman is innocent, or that the Sanford police did a good job on the investigation, but simply that that this case was murky from the start and is still murky now. When it comes to questions like who struck first, none of us know the answer. The people in the best position to know what happened are those who actually did the investigation, in this case the police. Now, you could assert that even if the investigators know what happen, they might lie about the facts for various reason (probably racism, maybe a bit of the blue code of silence). But I don't think we have a situation where we independently know enough to make a sensible decision as to the facts. At least, I certainly don't, and I have a hunch that most people in the public don't either.

I guess my biggest hang-up is my feeling that a lot of the rhetoric isn't directed towards "we need a more thorough investigation", but rather "Zimmerman should be arrested." The former I can agree with; the latter less so. It's possible that my read on a lot of the outrage is wrong and I'm just punching at straw men, but this is what I think nonetheless.

Aj,

Your point about the lynch mob comment is certainly valid. I should have put more thought into my writing before posting it, and for that I apologize. About the twitter and facebook comment, you are correct in not understanding the point of it because I wasn't really trying to make a point. It was (to do another half-hearted integration from class) extraneous bullshit. Sorry for wasting everyone's time with that.

About the points about racism, I think that question is much less murky (relative to the actual events of the case, I mean). Was Zimmerman racist? Probably... I feel confident saying that I think he was and probably still is. Should Zimmerman be arrested? That I'm less sure about. I definitely agree with your point that this whole fiasco is telling about the state of race, class, and stereotypes in America. But I also think that we need to remember to distinguish between moral wrongs and legal wrongs. I think a lot of attention is being paid to the legal wrongs in this case, and I'm wary of the line blurring (hence my previous ill-worded line about mob justice).

Moving on to the issue of race, class, and stereotypes in America, I wonder to what extent physical segregation plays a part in mistrust and racial antagonism. Many cities are still heavily segregated (not by legal fiat, but by economic fiat) and the inability to interact with people of other races probably contributes to Zimmerman's suspicion of (a) black people in general and particularly (b) black people who are walking around in private gated (and probably predominantly white) neighborhoods. But if physical segregation is the problem, what could be the solution? We could mandate that people must live in houses next to people of a different race, but that seems to infringe a bit on personal liberty. One idea that I like in theory (not sure how well it works) is to work on integrating schools, where kids develop their personalities and worldviews... racial quotas and such that seek to ensure diversity.

-- KensingNg - 05 Apr 2012