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A tale of two profiles of black men caught in the rain
7/19/2013 | dirtboy

Posted on 07/19/2013 7:06:35 AM PDT by dirtboy

Years ago, I lived and worked in a suburban township adjacent to Philadelphia. I had a black co-worker who was a systems professional. I’ll call him Mike.

Around the corner from our office was a deli/pizza joint that sold slices and we would often go there for lunch or a snack. One day, Mike had gotten a slice and was just leaving the deli when it started to rain. Being a rational man, Mike broke into a run and got back to the office before he and his slice got soaked.

Right behind him were two cops who barged into the office and asked “What’s up, Marcus? Why are you running away from us?” This interrogation continued for a couple of minutes before the owner came out of his office and reamed the cops a new one for harassing one of his employees who wasn't even named Marcus.

This is an example of the kind of bad racial profiling that rightly raises the hackles of black middle-class Americans. Mike had a perfectly good reason to be running – it was raining. The cops saw a black man running and did not factor in that his running was not grounds for suspicion under the circumstances.

Heck, the other day I got caught out in a thunderstorm a block away from my house and ran that last block (or what passes for running at my age). No one thought that suspicious.

And it was not an isolated incident, another black co-worker of mine was harassed by the same township's local cops when he was walking back to his car after playing basketball. The man had a completely professional appearance and nothing about him gave an impression of a potential criminal - other than, apparently, his skin color. I do agree that there are cases such as these where black Americans have legitimate grievances with profiling - but that does not mean all profiling is without merit.

Such as another, more recent profile, namely Zimmerman’s profile of Trayvon Martin.

From the 9-11 call transcript:

“Zimmerman: Hey we've had some break-ins in my neighborhood, and there's a real suspicious guy, uh, [near] Retreat View Circle, um, the best address I can give you is 111 Retreat View Circle. This guy looks like he's up to no good, or he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

Rather than running or at least walking briskly and directly to get out of the rain, like my former co-worker had done, the person was just walking about and looking around.

It was only later that Zimmerman was able to determine the person’s race.

So in other words, Martin first drew Zimmerman’s attention because of how he was acting under the circumstances, not because of his race.

In the case of my former co-worker, he was acting rationally in response to being caught out in the rain. In the case of Martin, he was not. That is what precipitated the eventual conflict. Not racism on the part of Zimmerman.

And there is ample evidence to bolster Zimmerman’s account. Trayvon had been suspended for possessing women’s jewelry and a screwdriver in his backpack at school. He also was carrying two ingredients to make lean, a potent high that he had discussed on social media.

In other words, Zimmerman’s belief that Martin may have been casing homes to burglarize was in-line with Travyon’s recent actions.

Black Americans trying to claim Zimmerman hunted down and shot Trayvon because he was black need to realize that sometimes the profile fits, and they need to get all of the facts of this case, not just those spoon-fed to them by the left-wing media and race hustlers seeking face time on TV.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; FReeper Editorial
KEYWORDS: vanity
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1 posted on 07/19/2013 7:06:35 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy

I hope you weren’t in Chester.


2 posted on 07/19/2013 7:09:25 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: EEGator

No, this was a well-off township.


3 posted on 07/19/2013 7:09:59 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy

I’ve argued with several liberals about the Z case that I understand their frustration, but the chose the wrong case to make their point.

It made them, at the end of the day, look stupid and irrational.


4 posted on 07/19/2013 7:11:30 AM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: dirtboy
So in other words, Martin first drew Zimmerman’s attention because of how he was acting under the circumstances, not because of his race.

Z was profiling BEHAVIOR, a logical thing to do after a string of burglaries.

5 posted on 07/19/2013 7:12:48 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: dirtboy

Good post.

But, you know, the supporters of Trayvon have studiously avoided ALL of the known facts. You can approach the Zimmerman matter in a great number of ways and all of those ways point to Zimmerman’s innocence, Taryvon’s bad decision-making, and a justifiable shoot. The facts are in, and the matter is extemely cut-and-dried.

But the Trayvon supporters don’t care and will not look at any of that. A black guy got shot. It’s must be racism. Punish the guy who isn’t black. That’s it.


6 posted on 07/19/2013 7:13:34 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (21st century. I'm not a fan.)
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To: dirtboy

Okay. Well, you make a decent point with your story. Although you know that the small percentage of Black males committing crimes is ridiculously high. Something like 3% of the population committing almost 50% of all violent crimes.


7 posted on 07/19/2013 7:14:40 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: dirtboy
It's raining and he's just walking around, looking about.

Isn't that what Zimmerman proceeded to do once he was off the phone? He got out of his car and followed on foot? So how hard was it raining really?

8 posted on 07/19/2013 7:14:50 AM PDT by 0.E.O
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To: dirtboy
The Saint Skittles saga has nothing to do with truth.

The Saint Skittles saga is an "under the radar" gun control propaganda operation being run out of the Department of Justus.

The minute the story hit the news Eric Holder sent a team of DOJ community agitators to Sanford to soften the place up.

Nobody cares about the truth here. This is an Alinsyite political operation from start to finish.

9 posted on 07/19/2013 7:15:45 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: dirtboy
Black Americans trying to claim Zimmerman hunted down and shot Trayvon because he was black need to realize that sometimes the profile fits, and they need to get all of the facts of this case, not just those spoon-fed to them by the left-wing media and race hustlers seeking face time on TV.

Bump that. Look at this despicable graphic that Stephanapoulos is still using(!) ...

I would argue this one is just as fair and balanced ... wouldn't you Georgy?


10 posted on 07/19/2013 7:16:54 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: 0.E.O
Isn't that what Zimmerman proceeded to do once he was off the phone? He got out of his car and followed on foot? So how hard was it raining really?

He had a reason to be doing that. He was following someone acting suspiciously.

11 posted on 07/19/2013 7:17:24 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy
Black Americans trying to claim Zimmerman hunted down and shot Trayvon because he was black...

They need to honestly answer one simple question: If Z was "hunting", why is it that his firearm was only drawn when he was in danger of being killed or crippled? I'd have had mine out as soon as the thug reappeared.

12 posted on 07/19/2013 7:17:25 AM PDT by JimRed (Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
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To: 0.E.O
So how hard was it raining really?

What difference does it make, Hillary?

13 posted on 07/19/2013 7:17:33 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Who knew that one day professional wrestling would be less fake than professional journalism?)
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To: dirtboy

Do you seriously believe that people who don’t run in the rain are acting suspicious or are you just trolling?


14 posted on 07/19/2013 7:17:50 AM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: dirtboy

The only relevant fact for the trayvonettes is that st. tray was black and GZ was white. Nothing else matters to them. (Except the bounty on GZ by the nbpp. Uh, is that equivalent to trying to hire a hit man?)


15 posted on 07/19/2013 7:18:51 AM PDT by rktman (Inergalactic background checks? King hussein you're first up.)
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To: dirtboy
Maybe if law-abiding, middle class, functional American Blacks would actually rise up and denounce the feral and criminal Black underclass.....

....but no. It's all the Republicans' fault.

The numbers don't lie. In literally every election going back decades, Blacks vote for their liberal slavemasters upwards of 90% every time. Blacks blame all of their misfortunes on Republicans. Oh, and, one other thing:

American Blacks are among the most racist people on planet Earth. I say that with confidence and experience. I've been to many countries over the years.

16 posted on 07/19/2013 7:18:52 AM PDT by IDontLikeToPayTaxes
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To: Kirkwood

Most people caught out in the rain without an umbrella are not lollygagging.


17 posted on 07/19/2013 7:19:28 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy

So, in a sense, Trayvon got killed because he didn’t have sense enough to get in out of the rain.


18 posted on 07/19/2013 7:19:43 AM PDT by Hardastarboard (Buck Off, Bronco Bama)
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To: dirtboy

My daughter lives in Chester Springs. That’s a very nice area.


19 posted on 07/19/2013 7:19:45 AM PDT by rwa265
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To: dirtboy

I’m betting that if the crime statistics were less disproportional

this “profiling” would cease, because it wouldn’t make sense.

As things are, “profiling” is just common sense.


20 posted on 07/19/2013 7:19:49 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: dirtboy

Just a fool waiting on the wrong block.


21 posted on 07/19/2013 7:20:09 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: 0.E.O

He did not follow, he was asked to give a location when the vague one he gave was apparently insufficient for the 911 operator. That is what caused him to go looking for an address, which is being wrongly construed as following Trayvon that fateful night.


22 posted on 07/19/2013 7:20:51 AM PDT by jurroppi1
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To: 0.E.O
So how hard was it raining really?

Hard enough for the grass to sound wet on an Obamaphone.

23 posted on 07/19/2013 7:21:32 AM PDT by Gamecock (Member: NAACAC)
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To: JimRed
I'd have had mine out as soon as the thug reappeared.

Indeed, I would have assumed an intent to harm me at that point.

24 posted on 07/19/2013 7:21:44 AM PDT by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: cuban leaf
It made them, at the end of the day, look stupid and irrational.

Yep. But it taught them nothing. Facts do not matter to libtards, only feeeeeeeelings.

25 posted on 07/19/2013 7:24:34 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: Kirkwood

Get lost, jackass. I am hardly trolling. I am making the point that Trayvon’s actions are what got Zimmerman’s attention and not his race.


27 posted on 07/19/2013 7:27:05 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy

If George Zimmerman had gone to a tanning salon for a couple of weeks before the shooting, it never would have gone to trial or become a media sensation.


28 posted on 07/19/2013 7:28:24 AM PDT by techcor
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To: dirtboy

i don’t buy the first story. too contrived.


29 posted on 07/19/2013 7:30:22 AM PDT by camle (keep an open mind and someone will fill it full of something for you)
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To: camle

I was there. And, like I said, it wasn’t an isolated incident in that township.


30 posted on 07/19/2013 7:31:59 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: dirtboy
He had a reason to be doing that. He was following someone acting suspiciously.

He could have done that in his car. I'm not saying Zimmerman didn't have reasons to be suspicious, I just doubt the author of the article is correct in emphasizing the rain as if that was the primary reason. Zimmerman also said Martin appeared to be on drugs or something. That would catch my attention more than someone walking along in the rain.

31 posted on 07/19/2013 7:32:01 AM PDT by 0.E.O
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To: 0.E.O
Zimmerman also said Martin appeared to be on drugs or something. That would catch my attention more than someone walking along in the rain.

The point is, Martin was not acting like a normal person out in the rain.

And Martin also was not walking along the road, he had moved to a walkway between buildings.

Nice fact-free attempt to bolster liberal spin on this, though.

32 posted on 07/19/2013 7:34:43 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: IDontLikeToPayTaxes
American Blacks are among the most racist people on planet Earth. I say that with confidence and experience. I've been to many countries over the years.

Some Japanese and Chinese are more racist and with some justification given their high IQs. 
Polls show that American blacks have very high self esteem and (unjustified) feelings that they are right in what they think and do. Whites are plagued by self doubt and second guessing

33 posted on 07/19/2013 7:37:28 AM PDT by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything -- Buddhist monk)
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To: Vigilanteman

Yep. But it taught them nothing.


That is why it made them look stupid.

Ignorance is a human condition, but once you are informed on an issue and STILL take an irrational position on it, you have crossed over from ignorant to stupid.

The Zimmerman trial exposed even more stupidity in this country than the last presidential election did. It is a “deeper” and more personal stupid.


34 posted on 07/19/2013 7:39:44 AM PDT by cuban leaf (Were doomed! Details at eleven.)
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To: 0.E.O
Nice fact-free attempt to bolster liberal spin on this, though.

Just having trouble keeping track of all the different versions of what happened that night is all.

35 posted on 07/19/2013 7:43:58 AM PDT by 0.E.O
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To: Kirkwood
Do you seriously believe that people who don’t run in the rain are acting suspicious or are you just trolling?

While I don't generally run in the rain, I do generally walk briskly and directly to my destination, particularly if I don't have an umbrella or rain-jacket.

36 posted on 07/19/2013 7:50:25 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come for you.)
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To: dirtboy

37 posted on 07/19/2013 7:52:33 AM PDT by isthisnickcool (NO MORE IRS!)
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To: ClearCase_guy

The biggest thing they and especially the media, including Faux News, is publishing the photos of Thug Martin, as he actually WAS the night he sucker punched Zimmerman.


38 posted on 07/19/2013 7:54:32 AM PDT by Tucker39
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To: 0.E.O

Wrong. Zimmerman walked with a purpose - to find the address of his location.


39 posted on 07/19/2013 7:54:52 AM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: Kirkwood

Hahaha. Idiot.


40 posted on 07/19/2013 7:56:49 AM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: 0.E.O
Wrong. Zimmerman walked with a purpose - to find the address of his location.

Not according to the police transcripts.

41 posted on 07/19/2013 8:04:02 AM PDT by 0.E.O
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To: 0.E.O

Then look at these:

Zimmerman police interview:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FjouKQFMKaE

Zimmerman crime scene walk through:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=X_2NeMrGCvg


42 posted on 07/19/2013 8:07:05 AM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: 0.E.O

You read the police transcripts? Really?

Because you seem so uninformed, obtuse and opinionated.


43 posted on 07/19/2013 8:10:53 AM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: dirtboy
Well said. There are many kinds of "profiles", too. I remember once in 1986, I was walking home from the local store and I realized there was a man behind me, following me. I sped up, and he sped up. Then he yelled "Hey!" at me and I took off running, scared witless. He was white, but he was a MAN, and when you're a small female of around 22, that's enough.

I ran all the way home and got inside and locked the door. A minute later, it was unlocked and my husband came in, laughing, and saying "Why did you run, I was trying to catch up with you!" I hadn't recognized him because it was dark and I didn't know he was home from work already. I felt like an idiot, but the point is, we all profile, and blacks are not the only people who walk through life being judged on appearances.

If you're a male over 6 feet tall, no matter what your color, you may be perceived as dangerous by strangers. If you are a small person of any color, you may be perceived as laughable at best, or a target at worst. And if you are a woman, you are very, very often perceived as a piece of meat, and subject to the catcalls and depredations of strange men (admittedly once I hit 40 and it stopped, I was a little hurt... LOL) But anyway, that's life on this planet.

44 posted on 07/19/2013 8:13:13 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: C. Edmund Wright

‘Fair and balanced’ ping.


45 posted on 07/19/2013 8:13:32 AM PDT by Servant of the Cross (the Truth will set you free)
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To: JimRed
If you listen to the tape of the first 911 call, you can hear Zimmerman screaming for 55 seconds before that shot is finally fired. And he'd been screaming for several seconds before, because John Good heard the screaming, got up to go see what it was, his wife told him not to, he went out anyway onto the porch, looked into the darkness for a bit, finally figured out what was going on, asked Zimmerman if he wanted him to call the police, went back inside, got his phone... and THEN the 55 seconds of screaming starts.

Zimmerman was being beaten mercilessly all that time. And he fired ONE shot. Trayvon stopped beating and he stopped shooting. That's incredible restraint. I'm with you. I'd have had my hand on that gun the minute that thug started walking toward me.

46 posted on 07/19/2013 8:18:33 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: A_perfect_lady

I don’t think Zimmerman shot in response to the assault. I believe him that he only shot when Trayvon went for Zimmerman’s gun. At that point, there was utterly no recourse but to shoot ... or be shot. The fact that he took the beating for so long before a shot was fired indicates to me that he did not have the weapon drawn and did not believe that lethal force was a response to getting assaulted. It actually shows he was acting under a tremendous amount of restraint, given the circumstances.


47 posted on 07/19/2013 8:23:01 AM PDT by dirtboy
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To: 0.E.O
Actually, there is only one available version of what happened, excepting for exact quotes. The re-enactment Zimmerman gave the police just days after the incident, on location, is in accordance with his recorded phone call to the police, and with the recorded phone calls to 911 starting with the beginning of the altercation. And even Rachel Jeantel's testimony, suspect though it is, doesn't actually contradict Zimmerman's. The coroner's report and the medical evidence offers no contradiction. The eye witness reports offer no contradiction. And that's why Zimmerman was acquitted.

If you do not want to take my word for it, feel free to click on my profile and check out the websites I have listed so that you can see for yourself.

48 posted on 07/19/2013 8:25:38 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: dirtboy

Yes... that’s really the only interpretation that makes sense.


49 posted on 07/19/2013 8:28:05 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
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To: jurroppi1

Zimmerman did not get out of his vehicle to follow Trayvon. He got out to find a street sign. Excellent point. I have not followed this all intensly, but that is the first time I’ve heard that point made directly.


50 posted on 07/19/2013 8:29:07 AM PDT by getitright (If you call this HOPE, can we give despair a shot?)
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