This is from the 'comments' in the NY Times wrt the story about Obama's statement.
" The evidence suggests that Trayvon Martin made first physical contact, and at the time of the shooting had Zimmerman on his back, and was beating him. I think real leadership on the President's part would be to tell black youth and the people who raise them that this is not such a great way to handle conflict. That for the past few decades, this has been the approach of choice for many, many young black men, and it has led to a lot of deaths, and a lot of jail time. Telling white America how hard it is for a black man, and implying that somehow Zimmerman had what Trayvon did to him coming, is just supporting the age old victim mentality. I have no doubt that African Americans face even today regular discrimination in many forms, and it is wrong and should stop. However, African-American young men in particular bring an awful lot of pain onto themselves. They may or may not be able to change society, but they are 100% responsible for their own choices. Trayvon is responsible for his, and paid the consequences. Sadly, Obama chose to neglect this important message. Those of you who suggest that he set aside his political self to make the statements he made are wrong, if he had really done that, he would have told Black America that it is time to stop waiting for everyone else to change, and to start making the changes that are within their own control and are desperately needed. " |
