Conservative "Christian Post" on the Trayvon Martin murder
It looks like the conservative Christian Post is all-in with defending the murder of Trayvon Martin. Check out this article by Paul Stanley Fla. 'Stand Your Ground' Law Under Microscope in Wake of Trayvon Martin ShootingChristian Post 03/26/2012. He provides some rhetorical strategy that white fundamentalists can use to support lynch-murder in a mealy-mouthed way without saying outright, "So, that guy killed one of those 'f***ing coons', so what?"
Stanley:
The shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has created an outcry over the state's self-defense statute, commonly known as "Stand Your Ground." What is being debated is whether the law could be used as a viable defense in Martin's death.
Actually, outside the yeehaw-for-lynch-murder world, what's also "being debated" is why the Stanley police department handled the investigation even at the crime scene in such a way as to maximizes the shooter's chances for skating on any legal charges over shooting and killing an unarmed black kid.
He then quotes sections of Florida's kill-a-black-person-with-no-consequences law, aka, "stand your ground" that could be exculpatory, mentioning that it was no less a fine Christian white man than Jeb Bush who signed it into law, then:
It is not entirely clear since details of the shooting death remain sketchy, however, Bush is backing away from the law, saying that it should not be used as a defense in Martin's shooting death and calling the shooting a "tragedy." [my emphasis]
Translation: heck, we don't know what happened, maybe the black kid committed suicide!
This was the most notable part of the article to me:
The gentleman who made the initial 911 call and reportedly shot Martin is George Zimmerman, a 28-year-old mixed race (white and Hispanic) male who has yet to be charged as the Stanford, Fla., Police department are still investigating the incident. [my emphasis]
Of all the reports I've read and heard on this case, this is the first one I recall describing Zimmerman as a "gentleman".
Defenders of lynch murder have eagerly focused on the alleged fact that Zimmerman has one Latino parent. It would take more than one sentence of one- and two-syllable words to explain to Zimmerman's fans about the mixture of race in Latin countries. Stanley obviously doesn't think any of them thar Hispanics is white. Maybe he can't decipher the implications of that phrase "non-Hispanic Caucasian" that appears on pretty much any form that surveys ethnicity these days. I wonder if he thinks Jews are a separate race. How about Yankees?
Outside of the 911 call where Zimmerman described Martin as looking "suspicious" ...
Oh, and, you know, grumbled about "f***ing coons" just before he chased the 17-year-old Trayvon Martin down and shot him to death ...
... but was instructed not to follow Martin and told where he was to meet police, few details of the incident exist. Many are speculating that Zimmerman did pursue Martin and that the young black man got the upper hand prior to Zimmerman shooting the 17-year-old. Since Zimmerman has not yet given his side of the story and Martin is deceased, investigators may never know what really happened. [my emphasis]
I love that "Many are speculating"; classic FOX News type reporting. "Some say ...", "Some people say..." Yes, "investigators may never know what really happened", since the local cops obviously thought Zimmerman had made him a mighty fine kill, and besides, the dead kid was just one of those "f***ing coons", anyway.
Actually, in the real world, we know all the important details, and they aren't really in dispute. Zimmerman was obsessed with fear and hostility toward black teenagers. He saw one walking by armed with iced tea and a bag of Skittles, chased him down, shot him in the chest and killed him. But I suppose those are only a "few details" and, anyhow, the kid was, you know...
But the Feb. 26 shooting has sparked a nationwide outcry led by civil rights activist Al Sharpton and others who are calling for Zimmerman's arrest, although through his attorney he has invoked the "Stand Your Ground" statute as his defense. [my emphasis]
In the segregationist world, "Al Sharpton" is one of those phrases that mean, "Scary black man! Scary black man!"
But Parker provides us with some analytical background:
Florida's law is similar to the ones passed in several other states and are also known by other terms such as "Castle Doctrine," which also allows individuals to defend their home, life or the life of others if they feel they are in immediate danger. ...
Meanwhile, other state legislators who sponsor the bills are maintaining the laws are needed. "I understand it's a tragic case that happened in Florida. I wasn't there. The only two people who were there were the victim and the man who defended himself," Iowa Rep. Matt Windschitl (R-Missouri Valley), who sponsored a "Stand Your Ground" bill that died last year in the Iowa Senate, told the Sioux City Journal.
"Nobody can tell you what happened besides those people. I think Iowans have a right to defend themselves where they have a right to be present. To require an Iowan to retreat when they feel threatened, I think, that's an asinine proposal," added Windschitl. [my emphasis]
Yes, "the victim and the man who defended himself" are the only ones who can say anything meaningful about his. And one of them is unfortunately dead. (And, besides, he was just a ...)
So, there you have it. A model of how good Christian white folks can defend a "gentleman" like George Zimmerman, "the man who defended himself", without having to actually say that you're glad he killt him one of them "f***ing coons".
The publicly-respectable white fundamentalist defense of the lynch-murder is to call vaguely for "justice" but to argue that its a matter of "social justice" but not race, oh no, definitely not race, race had nothing at all to do with it, certainly not white racism. Zimmerman is half-Hispanic, don't you know? (Of course, the kid was wearing a hoodie so he probably hated white people, nudge-nudge wink-wink.) The latter articles is by Luiza Oleszczuk:
Florida churches and prominent evangelical Christian leaders from across the nation are joining the calls for justice for slain teenager Trayvon Martin, with the issue of race dominating discussions about the African-American student's fatal shooting at the hands of a white Hispanic male. However, some Christians say the case is more about social justice than it is race. [my emphasis]
Adn she gives us a specific example:
Alan Brumback, senior pastor of Central Baptist Church in Sanford, ... whose church is about 30 percent black and 10 percent Hispanic, believes the Martin-Zimmerman case is an issue of social justice and not a "racial issue."
"There is a definite desire of all Christian churches in the city of Sanford to be involved, because there is a race aspect to this, even though I don't see it as a racial issue, I see it more as a Gospel and social justice issue," he told CP. "Some pastors of some denominations pray for it but they are not being overly involved. A lot of it is just because there's some division in town. As a pastor of a Southern Baptist church – we have been actively praying for them [the family]."
The pastor noted, however, that he was not "trying to get involved in 'political wrangling'" of the case as much as "to be there to share a word of comfort to the family," and to "speak a word of the Gospel to bring reconciliation to the community."
"I think the only thing that's going to really resolve [the disagreements over the nature of the tragedy] and bring reconciliation in Sanford, it's going to have to be the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If there is one person who can understand losing a son in a very unjust way, it's God the father. He spared his son for us," he told CP.
"This is not a black-white issue, but this is an issue of the Gospel; it's the issue of sin" he added. [my emphasis]
Just to be clear: in the fundamentalist world, especially for leaders, "social justice" is about protecting those precious unborn babies from those disgusting sluts carrying them around in their wombs when they should have kept their legs closed, so that some white Christian family can adopt their baby. As you see here, the term social justice is specifically meant to exclude any discussion of, much less confrontation with, white racism.
