Let's talk about Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and how unbelievably fucked up this all is

Like somebody in liberal paradise NYC pointing at florida and shaking their heads and forgetting about amadou diallo and sean bell

I've not heard of those cases, i've heard a huge amount about this one, and the coverage has often made a point of syg etc.

use the google, please.

more recently, less noted, Kimani Gray

The point is opposite to that.

xpost to darragh's 3rd to last
This case deserves special attention as a symbol of the moral bankruptcy our entire country has re:race. We don't need to just fix FLA. We have a laundry list of things we need to do if we want to stop young black men from being walking targets in America:
end the war on drugs
get serious about gun control
fight these stupid stand your ground laws
demand better representation of blacks in the media (even seeing the trailer for Captain Phillips, which is based on a true story, made me ill yesterday. we don't need any more white fucking heroes fighting black villains)
stop biting our tongues when friends/relatives/coworkers say racist things
etc
etc
etc

sorry, "stop young black men from being walking targets" was worded very poorly.
more like "stop asshole america from treating young black men like walking targets"

florida is a good boycott target because

a. lots of people across the country and world have already focused on it and would be willing to participate
b. there is a fairly achievable goal/endpoint (getting rid of a law that even many people in florida aren't behind)
c. its tourism industry actually gives people who don't live there a lot of leverage

ie it's a good choice because it could actually succeed, not because it's more racist than alabama or nyc cops or w/e

So how many poor black/latino people are gonna get put out of work before this boycott convinces hardheaded rich white men in power to concede?

14

i think it might be worth concentrating on florida during this particular moment for two reasons: 1) florida really is out there at the front of the pack. with its laws and this verdict, it seems to have declared itself a hunting ground. 2) florida is simply the current focus of public attention.

i guess i'm trying to seize republican tactics -- take any chance to get people on board & engaged. symbols are powerful tools. small, symbolic targets are valuable in that they're easily grasped and communicated. better yet, they make huge, systemic problems seem manageable. if public outrage could be productively gathered against florida's "stand your ground" laws, it could perhaps then be turned against similar statutes elsewhere, against the gun lobby, even against american racism in general.

Well, then, let's just set up a kickstarter for those 14 and start boycotting.

Don't mean to be a jerk or anything but isn't Florida up "at the front of the pack for race-oppression" because black people actually live there, as opposed to Wyoming or New England

Black people actually live in most of the US.

dayo's link otm, of course

Actually, this is more accurate

Mass is 85% white and is the most "diverse" of New English states.
Wyoming I mentioned because it's the most gun-violence-per-capita state and it is 90% white.

Side question: is it completely nuts to wonder if the prosecution threw the case? Mark Geragos made that claim last night on CNN and Jeffrey Toobin (does he always smirk? he was unwatchable) basically said you're nuts. Still I wonder....

― Iago Galdston, Thursday, July 18, 2013 12:16 AM (37 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

apparently the prosecution's opening was so strong that the defense attorneys lost their minds and improvised a knock knock joke, so I doubt this.

Racism is everywhere, and boycotts need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis in terms of their consequences (intended and otherwise), but I agree with contenderizer's point that id'ing a definable target for people to channel their energies toward is a smart thing right now. Perhaps the target needn't be geographic, but even if it is, it can still be done in a way that explicitly recognizes that this shit's happening everywhere. Civil rights movement was focused on the south at first, but a few years later we see it up in places like Chicago, shedding light on discriminatory housing practices and so on.

Personally I'm trying to figure out What Is To Be Done, locally (Boston area) or otherwise. I work in an arena where I can do some things regarding the capillary (as Foucault might say) manifestations of racism, but I'd like to go beyond that.

Start using the tactics of the anti-choice crowd, and follow NRA execs and ALEC staffers around, bother their kids at school, put up posters in their neighborhoods saying they advocate murdering black teenagers, etc.

No place may be exempt from racism, and I personally do believe that. But in 2013, Zimmerman could not have gotten away with what he specifically got away with anywhere, just in some select places. Places like Florida, generally, with its confluence of nuts gun laws and (more overt) racsim. But would he have gotten away with it in Miami? Dunno.

CG otm, but this Boycott Florida thing is picking up steam and I worry that it's going to waste a lot of useful energy and momentum. Can't say I can think of anything better. How about "Boycott Captain Phillips"?

by the way, guys, you want a reference point? Here.

www.tampabay.com/stand-your-ground-law/cases/case_211

JIC keep on believing these things can only happen in Hickville USA

The florida boycott idea is stupid. The majority of the country either supports or doesn't give a shit about the verdict. Nobody's gonna cancel their trip to disneyworld because a 17 year old black kid was murdered

so cynical

I didn't say these things only happen in Hickville USA (which isn't that bad, if you know the right places to eat!). But the south just happens to be a crux of latent/real racism and lax gun laws. Racism is pervasive, but states like Florida make it a little easier to shoot someone, too.

The majority of the country either supported or didn't give a shit about the majority of bad shit that has proved to be worth fighting for.

fighting against, rather.

otm

basically seems like you can walk around Florida accosting people and when one inevitably resists you get to shoot them.

this kind of fits what I think of Florida tbh

― thuggish ruggish Brahms (DJP),

You can also go to Disney World and get a bluetini tbh

"One sip, George, and you'll forget this following Trayvon business"

http://i1.disneyfoodblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Blue-Glow-Tini.jpg

bluetini actually a sex act available only in florida

http://thegrio.com/2012/11/20/71-year-old-black-man-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-jury-rejects-stand-your-ground-claim/

Stop picking on Florida! Can we please get some Stand Your Ground related miscarriages of justice from some other states?

Let's just boycott ALEC

Here are some good 'n's: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/top-five-stand-your-ground-cases-zimmerman

I realize ALEC's role in all of this, but I'm curious - did these laws just pop up all over the country in response to a feeling that the existing laws didn't give people enough leeway to defend themselves when they were in danger?

I just remember arguing with some gun fanatics about a decade ago who were saying the existing laws were insufficient and that you could wind up in jail even if you shot an intruder in many states, all kinds of shit that of course wasn't true but believed wholeheartedly by em all.

Let's just boycott ALEC

― Fetchboy, Thursday, July 18, 2013 3:36 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

now this i'm behind

"black people actually live there, as opposed to Wyoming or New England"

Never cared for this kind of rhetoric because it erases the black people who do live in these places. It was only so many times I could be told I don't exist before it started to bug the hell out of me.

^

How about we have just one day where white people don't make grand pronouncements about black people? Can we do that?

TAKING ALL BETS

djp why you always wanna blame this shit on us man

How about we have just one day where white people don't make grand pronouncements about black people? Can we do that?

― "Post-Oven" (DJP), Wednesday, July 17, 2013 11:47 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmbo

Jimi Hendrix was the best guitarist of all time

0 days without incident

nominate 1 subject, any subject, dare ilx to go a day without making a grand pronouncement on it. repeat until successful.

https://soundcloud.com/djassault/the-glue

I apologize if I offended anyone, that wasn't my intention. I see how bringing up demographics of New England would be offensive to Rev and DJP and I am really, deeply sorry. My intended point was that boycotting Florida only further marginalizes the non-whites who live there. Referencing demographics was in reaction to "welp there's certainly no gun violence in Vermont" anecdotal arguments I've read elsewhere and it had no bearing on this discussion and I am sorry