It sets up understanding of the Zimmerman affair as metaphor. It is clear that Trayvon Martin is a figure representing to whites all that is wrong with the African-American "community." He further represents to whites all that is cognitively wrong with the African-American "community."
To whites like me we are in a situation in in which reality is utterly irrelevant to the cognitive state of the African American community. It does not matter who started the fight, it does not matter whether Zimmerman actually profiled Martin, it does not matter whether Martin was a street thug preoccupied with aggression and fighting, it does not matter that he was twice suspended from school for possession of stolen jewelry and a screwdriver which represent a burglary tool, it does not matter that he called Zimmerman a "cracka," it does not matter that there is simply no evidence of any wrongdoing on the part of Zimmerman.
This metaphor makes clear that the African- American community is deaf to reason. Worse, it is susceptible to demagoguery.
To extend the metaphor, if one examines the inability of the African-American community to deal with reason and logic, to accept facts, to thoroughly examine its own behavior, to move away from victimology, we begin to understand Detroit.
We have Detroit because we have millions of Trayvon Martins
