Dave, while I understand your concern about “hood rat” references and such you can’t tell me that a black family in your neighborhood or a black man/woman you might work with is the same as some person hanging out on a corner in the ghetto areas of a big city. You wouldn’t be the least afraid of passing someone in a grocery store, or a department store, or walking the sidewalk in your neighborhood - but none of us, no matter how liberal thinking, would feel safe when in a ghetto with a group of men or women walking toward us.
We all harbor feelings that are grounded in a real concern for safety that might be considered “incorrect” to say out loud. Even Jesse Jackson has said the same.
But this wasn’t in a ghetto and Zimmerman was not a passive part of this scenario.
I have a concealed carry permit. If I carry a gun, it is in case trouble comes to me. I don’t strap on a gun and then go chasing people around.
It’s not prudent.