Why does the press present the George Zimmerman trial as having a racial "overtone"?

Um, he is a grown man who shot a little unarmed boy. He is very guilty of at least manslaughter.

The trial has taken on racist overtones as people have insisted Zimmerman may have some kind of defense. “Why does Zimmerman have the right to stalk young men?” an average person asks, and Fox News says, “Come on. You know why Zimmerman should have been nervous.”

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought That “little unarmed boy” was 6 feet tall and had a criminal record. He had been kicked out of school. He had reportedly attacked a school bus driver. I’m not saying that he should have been stalked and killed, but that photo of him as a 12 year old boy is very misleading.

@chyna Zimmerman had been charged previously with assault on a police officer, resisting arrest, and been accused of domestic violence.

Zimmerman is shorter than him, true, but outweighed him by 20 lbs. A six foot tall guy at 158 kinda looks like a stick figure compared to a 5–7 guy at 180.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought And a gun outweighs a bag of skittles. I’m just saying that he isn’t “a little boy” that the media portrayed in the beginning.

@chyna I think a 17 year old guy who is 6 feet tall and weighs 158 looks very boyish. We are in the realm where I could say to you, do some 17 year old women look like adult women? The answer is yes, but you would pick on me after if I hit on them when I was near 30.

If he is acquitted there will indeed be riots. And not in just one location. Should be exciting, but I think I will stay at home.

His dad is white. His mom is from Peru.

His race is white. His ethnicity is Hispanic.

@Imadethisupwithnoforethought The trial has taken on racist overtones as people have insisted Zimmerman may have some kind of defense.

It was the liberal media that painted Zimmerman as a racist hunting down a young black boy. CNN reported that Zimmerman called Trayvon a “f*cking coon” during the 911 call. NBC news apologized to viewers for Its repeated broadcast of an edited version of a 911 call placed by George Zimmerman that made it appear he was racially profiling Trayvon Martin the night he killed him. This story wouldn’t be in the news if Al Sharpton hadn’t been involved.

Yes, there will be rioting if Zimmerman walks free.

@josie

The news editors were interviewed on this issue. The editors themselves admitted that the reason they play these race games and censorships is for political reasons. It is an effort to “guard against subjecting an entire group of people to suspicion.” This is why you will see them censoring a lot of black crime from their networks, focusing on white crime, or make attempts to paint a false image of racism on someone who wasn’t racist (like zimmerman) and when they do report black crime, they refer to it by a different name, such as “youth” instead of black teens, and they also try not to show any pictures or videos either.

His mom is black? I thought she was Hispanic and white? People who are Hispanic white or even Hispanic indigenous (basically native to the Americas) do not perceive themselves as black. In fact I know black Hispanics who don’t perceive themselves as black, especially not black as it relates to American blacks who have been here for generations. A lot of white Hispanics are actually pretty prejudiced against black people. I am not saying the majority, I am only saying if you as a white person, assuming you are white and non Hispanic, look at Hispanics and black as all minorities and they never feel some sort of heirarchy with each other and are never racist or prejudiced, that is not correct.

I think race comes into it because Trayvon was partly suspicious to Zimmerman because he was black in a white neighborhood. I don’t mean he assumes all blacks people are up to no good, only that he was someone who Zimmerman could assume didn’t live there, because not many if any black people lived there. I don’t think that is racist in and of itself. But, one does wonder if the boy had been white if Zimmerman would have pursued him the same way. Possibly. I am sure his behavior played into the suspicion. Still Zimmerman took the law into his hands where he shouldn’t have.

I think they’ve actually been very good about keeping race out of the trial.

I think where race comes into it, is that there was not an arrest made, or a more immediate and thorough investigation. It was “just a black kid.” Had there been an arrest or a proper investigation, I don’t think the public would have become as involved, and I think that involvement stemmed largely from the belief that law enforcement does not treat crime against African Americans as seriously as crime against Caucasians; and that suspected criminals also receive different treatment based on skin color.

@GoldieAV16 I forgot about that. I agree completely.