“So when Zimmerman saw this black kid in his mostly white, gated community, he did some quick, reflexive calculations — and thought the boy might be up to no good. Yes, he did use color as a ground for suspicion.”
We don’t know that, and I would argue that it isn’t so. Had Trayvon been a white kid in a hoodie, walking around casing the neighborhood, George would have done the same thing. The word black was an after thought to George as he answered the question from the dispatcher.
What made Trayvon Martin a criminal, among other things, is the fact that he assaulted George Zimmerman. It wasn’t self defense, and it wasn’t necessary. He did it because he thought he could get away with it.
Otherwise, I liked the piece.
“Gated community” is a canard. It was not a well-to-do, wealthy neighborhood. In fact, it was lower middle class. Gated? Sure, much like apartment complexes are “gated.”
Sheesh. . .