Little Red Riding Hoodie

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to get this cartoon.  It speaks to the Trayvon Martin murder and Geroge Zimmerman is definitely the big bad wolf in the case.  Who can possibly argue that race was not a big factor in his killing of  Trayvon, a seventeen year old boy.  Zimmerman maintains that the kid attacked him and broke his nose.  Are you kidding?  You kill a seventeen year old because he broke your nose?  One does wonder what Zimmerman would have done had his attacker been white and not wearing a hoodie.  The 911 call he made just before the shooting is chilling and a testament to impaired perception.

According to a recent ABC/Washington Post poll,  55 percent of Americans feel that African Americans are not treated equally under the law.  Duh!  Only 55%?  What is up with that level of white denial?The United States  has the highest rate of incarceration in the industrialized world-- 2.3 million people, 2.1 million of whom are male.  Of those male prisoners, almost 38% are black. That is a thought provoking statistic considering that blacks make up only 13% of the American population. 

 But any person of color in the nation could tell you that these statistics are right on the money from personal experience, and any white person would not have a clue, because  here in the land of the free and the home of the brave, black people and white people still experience very different worlds.Even our President is not exempt. I'm a conservatively dressed, salt and pepper haired white woman who can drive 80mph through a school zone and never get stopped by a state trooper.  Wonder what would happen if I were an 18 year old black male?  Never mind-- I think I know.

For the moment, George Zimmerman, far from taking responsibility for his actions, has put up a website asking for donations and telling the world how mis-understood he is.  What a nut job.  We are waiting for an announcement from  the special prosecutor in Florida.  It should come today and I fervently hope it is an announcement that George Zimmerman will be prosecuted ( if he can be found). It better be!

 I suspect George is no longer in the country and is being helped by some rather unsavory white hooded friends. I hope he gets caught  and is brought back home to face the music soon.  If he escapes, he will be just another in a long line of white men who have literally gotten away with murder because the victim is black.  We've already had too much of that in this nation.  Time for all of us, black and white together, to face reality and do the right thing.

H/T  About.com: Political Humor

EVENING UPDATE:  George Zimmerman is now in custody and  has been charged with second degree murder.   If found guilty, he could get up to life imprisonment.  Florida's controversial " Stand Your Ground" law  is now coming under close scrutiny as a result of this tragic killing.

 Stay tuned. The fat lady has barely opened her mouth.