Althouse: "That sound you hear is the press frantically trying to figure out how to update their ethnic style guides — is Zimmerman now a 'black white Hispanic?'"

April 26, 2012

"That sound you hear is the press frantically trying to figure out how to update their ethnic style guides — is Zimmerman now a 'black white Hispanic?'"

"Or do we use the Obama standard (ever heard our historic POTUS called a 'black white?' no you have not), in which case I guess Zimmerman is just… black."

This overeagerness to impose a racial template onto an incompletely understood news story... it can get you into trouble. It is itself racial stereotyping, and restraint is the better course of action.

Ironically, anti-Zimmermania featured attacks on him for (suppposedly) shooting impulsively because of race, but the attacks on him were themselves shooting impulsively because of race.

54 comments:

Scott M said...: Doesn't this whole thing highlight the ridiculous "how much x blood do you have to have to be x"? Any time that sort of conversation comes up, the more shrill the left gets.; 4/26/12, 7:29 AM
LilyBart said...: Can someone please explain what happened over the past several years? I thought we were all learning to get along - far from perfect, but pretty good. Now, there's more hatred and ugliness between blacks/whites than at any time in my recent memory. It seems to me that our Black community was seething underneath, and now that Obama has been elected, it's come to the surface.

My hope is - we are able to deal with this constructively in the end, and move on. But by constructively, I don't mean more $$$ giveaways / government programs. I mean understand each other and learn to live shoulder to shoulder in peace, not an uneasy truce. Is this possible?; 4/26/12, 7:35 AM
vet66 said...: I thought we were all Americans! There, fixed.; 4/26/12, 7:37 AM
Rob said...: Human beings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. They also are members of a variety of religions as well as ethnic other cultural groups. The concept of "race" is idiotic. A description of a person's physical and psychological makeup may be helpful in some situations. I fail to see how trying to place someone in a "race" is productive.; 4/26/12, 7:43 AM
Rob said...: ethnic and, I meant.; 4/26/12, 7:43 AM
madAsHell said...: "incompletely understood"...you are far too kind.

The press (NBC), and the race-baiters actively distorted the story. Zimmerman is being railroaded.

My only question is "How did this story grow legs 3 weeks after the event?". Jackson and Sharpton only react after the story seems suitably for their attention.; 4/26/12, 7:44 AM
Scott M said...: I fail to see how trying to place someone in a "race" is productive.

So do a large number of biologists.; 4/26/12, 7:46 AM
Tank said...: Here is a better picture of Zim to use opposite the "young" pics of Martin.; 4/26/12, 7:46 AM
Tim said...: The agenda rejects "restraint." Better to define narrative to stir up the pot, get Obama's voters restless, and be wrong, than to sit tight and miss the opportunity, even if it proved a false opportunity later.

The Left can't exist without grievances. If they don't exist, they have to be manufactured.

Voting Democrat just rewards the Left for this tendentitious mendacity.; 4/26/12, 7:46 AM
madAsHell said...: Zimmerman has black roots

Perfect!! We can all go home now, because NOBODY cares when it's black-on-black.; 4/26/12, 7:53 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Too late for any of this. The story is set in stone and there isn't going to be any changing of minds. If Zimmerman is acquitted its going to get ugly in that city.; 4/26/12, 7:54 AM
rhhardin said...: It's just a narrative. Whatever draws a reliable audience runs.

The audience loses interest in unfamiliar story lines.

Either they'll figure out a continuing narrative or move on to the next pretty white girl abducted story.; 4/26/12, 7:55 AM
rhhardin said...: I'd guess the continuation would be, will blacks riot, taking the original story as fixed and true.

White women will tune into a will blacks riot story.; 4/26/12, 8:10 AM
Fen said...: It seems to me that our Black community was seething underneath

Its because blacks are racist.

According to FBI hate crime stats, the most racist demographic in America.; 4/26/12, 8:14 AM
Mundane68 said...: The story had to paint him as a white person because Jesse, Al, and the rest of the professionally and perpetually victimized have to show that white people are the ones responsible for all the problems of the black community. Blacks (and by extension all non-whites) can not be held accountable for their actions because of racism.

Therefore, if George is black or mixed race or anything other than white, he can't be responsible either.; 4/26/12, 8:17 AM
grackle said...: A shooting occurs in February and a boy/young man is killed. Facts are ascertained, witnesses interviewed, statements taken, the shooter is detained and questioned for hours. The shooter cooperates fully, never even invoking his right to legal counsel during extensive grilling by the police.

The State Attorney's office makes the determination that no crime has been committed and the shooter is released.

In March the shooting comes to the attention of the MSM, who proceed to falsely vilify the shooter, painting the incident in racial terms, using every dirty trick in the book in doing so.

The shooter is then arrested and charged, 2 months after he was released.

This isn't justice. This isn't anything like justice. This is lynch mob.

Alan Dershowitz, unusual in that he is a long-standing liberal who is NOT an ideologue, is destroying the Special Prosecutor's affidavit of probable cause in appearances in various media outlets.

http://tinyurl.com/846fzh2; 4/26/12, 8:18 AM
Brian Brown said...: The narrative, which was:
a preteen shot “like a dog” while eating candy by a white “assassin” who uttered racial epithets and was never even touched by the victim, only to be let go by a wink-and-nod police force—is false.

Has completely failed.

Which is example 4,287 of liberals being ignorant.; 4/26/12, 8:33 AM
Fprawl said...: Too late. America has morphed.
Re: Lilybart, I hope we can move on constructively.
On the other hand, I don't want to be pummeled by a group of people just because of my skin color. Is this an irrational fear? Judging from my lot in life, logically, it is unlikely to happen.
Why, then, am I wondering if it was such a good idea to get tickets to "The Iceman Cometh" on an upcoming Chicago trip. A production that lets out in downtown Chicago at 11PM.
Our lizard brains are going to be processing this situation for a long time.; 4/26/12, 8:35 AM
Mark O said...: Ann, he's black. He's exactly as black as Homer Plessy. Octoroon.; 4/26/12, 8:36 AM
Nathan Alexander said...: Lily Bart,
Can someone please explain what happened over the past several years? I thought we were all learning to get along - far from perfect, but pretty good. Now, there's more hatred and ugliness between blacks/whites than at any time in my recent memory. It seems to me that our Black community was seething underneath, and now that Obama has been elected, it's come to the surface.

I can explain it to you.

Critical Race Theory.

President Obama was accepted as authentically black (despite being raised in a white family in Hawaii and a SE Asian family in Indonesia) because he embraced Critical Race Theory.

That's why Soledad O'Brien went to such dishonest lengths to try to undermine Breitbart's video of Obama embracing Derrick Bell. That's why that video includes the announcer saying he was glad they were able to keep the connection hidden during the 2008 campaign. That's why Obama sat in Rev. Wright's church for something like 20 years.

Electing Obama, who appointed Holder, has meant that those who embrace Critical Race Theory (including many who have absorbed it as a "The White World is Against Blacks" worldview w/o being formally instructed in the theory) think that now is the time to get payback. With federal govt protection, no?

In retrospect, electing Obama was the dumbest thing we could have done for race relations. His embrace of Critical Race Theory should have come up, had their been an honest vetting.

Aside: I really don't know why Breitbart.com never followed up on that video.; 4/26/12, 8:41 AM
Tank said...: Fen said...
It seems to me that our Black community was seething underneath

Its because blacks are racist.

According to FBI hate crime stats, the most racist demographic in America.

Fen did not get the memo.

YOU CAN'T SAY THIS !!!!!

Now we need a nuanced education from Andy R to make us all better. Can't we all get along?; 4/26/12, 8:44 AM
MikeR said...: Whoa! He's black? I'm wondering if all the ones who have been frothing will suddenly (and quietly) slow down and find some restraint.; 4/26/12, 8:53 AM
Tank said...: Luckily Fen did not say that blacks, as a group, are more bigoted against gays and Jews than other groups.

Whew.

Shhhhhh.; 4/26/12, 8:56 AM
cassandra lite said...: Seems all but certain to me that the early gang tackle of Zimmerman was incited by the assumption, among blacks, that he was Jewish. Once they'd committed to their outrage, there was no turning back.; 4/26/12, 8:58 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Ironically, anti-Zimmermania featured attacks on him for (suppposedly) shooting impulsively because of race, but the attacks on him were themselves shooting impulsively because of race.

Exactly... except for the three p's.. did I miss something?

I didn't read the linked story.; 4/26/12, 9:12 AM
bagoh20 said...: I've noticed that I, in recent years, have tried to resist including a person's race when describing them in some recounting of something. It's hard to do. You really feel like you are leaving out something very important. Regardless, I think we should all try doing that more, and it would be a good idea if the press did the same. I think this is a necessary step to getting past the whole bullshit idea of race.

The race of Trayvon Martin was only important because it made him look like people that had been robbing homes in the area recently, but so did the fact that he was young and wearing the long running universal uniform of the burglar (the dumb ones anyway).

The the direct conflict between the two cultures of these men was the real cause. Apparently, Zimmerman was into being a contributing, protecting member of his community and Martin was an aspiring thug as his twitter name "NO LIMIT NIGGA" implies.

These two cultures are not going to live peacefully side by side, and when they come face to face, it will probably go bad if both men are truly dedicated to their cultural identities.

Of course, I don't know these men, I'm just making assumptions based on what I've read of their lives before the incident.; 4/26/12, 9:18 AM
Patrick said...: Just for kicks, I went back to the March 29 thread on Zimmerman. At the time, there was lots of speculation, but it was particularly funny to see what Garage and Traditional guy had to say. They were so darn confident {Garage: "I have my reasons") that this was a racist coverup. Garage knows all there is to know about broken noses, and how bloody they are always. Now, with pictures from the scene, Zimmerman's medical records, and the fact the racial identities involved are not what they seemed, the silence is stunning. It no longer fits the lefty narrative, Garage and the rest of the left no longer care. Trayvon Martin, no longer able to help in the quest for power is cast off like so many other victims. He's no longer useful, the stories will fade away. Sharpton and Jackson will find new fake outrages, and Garage will find new ways to blame Bush, Walker or whomever. But they will offer nothing to really improve life for those they claim they are trying to help.; 4/26/12, 9:21 AM
Patrick said...: This case was sad as hell from the get go. The left went and made it worse in its endless quest for power.; 4/26/12, 9:24 AM
bagoh20 said...: "In retrospect, electing Obama was the dumbest thing we could have done for race relations"

This is true, and many of us said so before the election. Even if you want a Black president because of his race alone, a successful Black was not what we needed to showcase. It matters what kind of man he is and what he has done. Otherwise we could just elect Flava Flav.; 4/26/12, 9:24 AM
Aridog said...: According to the "1% rule" theory, Zimmmerman is whatever race you want him to be ... in this it's politically convenient and media useful that he be white. Worst case, if Zimmerman were really a dark skinned man, well then, for the purpose of this distraction (at his expense) he'd have to be an "Oreo."

You cannot argue with such logic, eh.; 4/26/12, 9:26 AM
Wince said...: Ironically, anti-Zimmermania featured attacks on him for (suppposedly) shooting impulsively because of race, but the attacks on him were themselves shooting impulsively because of race.

Indeed. The pen is more racist than the sword.; 4/26/12, 9:35 AM
Scott M said...: Indeed. The pen is more racist than the sword.

(insert joke about the color of most ink); 4/26/12, 9:41 AM
bagoh20 said...: People really need to go read the Reuters article on Zimmerman. It does not describe the man the press has been selling. And I do mean selling, like a cheap sequel of a bad, yet popular, movie.

Reuters; 4/26/12, 9:57 AM
Patrick said...: Bagoh, why bother. That Reuters article will correct a lot of misapprehensions about Zimmerman. Those holding the misapprehensions do not wish to be corrected. Either they will not read it, or they will deny that it is accurate. It threatens their narrative and their power.; 4/26/12, 10:08 AM
X said...: Can we talk about what an anti-gun piece of shit Angela Corey is? She just got a black woman sentenced to 20 years for firing a warning shot in a clear stand your ground case. No one was hurt. 20 years. This bitch needs to be Nifonged.; 4/26/12, 10:25 AM
edutcher said...: Boy, the Lefties must hate the Internet.

Every time they try to sell a lie and do a little "Triumph Of The Will", along comes the Internet blabbing all the facts.

This was supposed to be a nice little white-on-black atrocity to gin up black turnout - which is shaping up as lousy.

Now it comes out they're trying to crucify a guy who's black AND Hispanic.

As I say, they're really riding a cold streak here.

LilyBart said...

Can someone please explain what happened over the past several years? I thought we were all learning to get along - far from perfect, but pretty good. Now, there's more hatred and ugliness between blacks/whites than at any time in my recent memory.

Exactly what was predicted in the weeks before the '08 election. A lot of people listened to what Dictator Zero was saying ("get in their faces") and looked at his background and did the math.

He'll set race relations back 50 years, they said - and he has.

At the very least.

Somewhere Juan O'Donoju y O'Rian sheds a tear.; 4/26/12, 10:40 AM
Pianoman said...: 36 comments in, and not a post yet from any of Althouse's Southpaws. And TradGuy hasn't checked in with his latest conspiracy theory either.

I guess Zimmerman's 15 minutes of Emmanuel Goldstein Fame are finally over. Time to find a new target for their 2 Minute Hate sessions.; 4/26/12, 10:45 AM
X said...: garage and tradguy and the others are probably feeling some shame about being part of a lynch mob and adding to hysteria that's causing violence around the country. not enough shame to admit it though. just enough to avoid it.; 4/26/12, 11:19 AM
Kirby Olson said...: So does Obama correct himself now and say, "If I had a son he would look like both of them! However, he would look a LITTLE more like Trayvon, and therefore I side with Trayvon!"?; 4/26/12, 11:28 AM
Known Unknown said...: The media loves to compound tragedy with more tragedy. It's in their DNA.; 4/26/12, 12:31 PM
Unknown said...: "This overeagerness to impose a racial template onto an incompletely understood news story... it can get you into trouble."

With the exception of one unnamed media functionary who may or may not have been fired or even existed, the only person in trouble is George Zimmerman.

The mob-inciting race baiters, the lynch mobbers themselves, and their media enablers will skate, as always.; 4/26/12, 12:56 PM
n.n said...: Well, that's good news. Now that Zimmerman is Black, both the Hispanics and Whites can feel relieved that they will no longer be targeted for retribution by marauding Blacks. Although, if history is to be our guide, then the Asian shopkeepers should probably maintain a state of preparedness.

The fallout from "justice for Martin" was the reward reaped by opportunistic "leaders" and a society that denigrates individual dignity. The instigators and complicit need to be held accountable for their contribution to chaos. This includes, the civil servants, including Obama, the non-profiteers, including Jackson and Sharpton, and other "leaders" and followers who foment division among people, including the NBPP.; 4/26/12, 1:17 PM
X said...: The guy in Mobile in critical condition needs to sue NBC for doctoring tape and for giving a megaphone to known riot inciter Al Sharpton who has a documented history.; 4/26/12, 1:32 PM
Synova said...: Was it shooting at Zimmerman impulsively because of race or shooting opportunistically, deliberately, maliciously, and perversely because of race?

Where does impulsively come into it?; 4/26/12, 1:39 PM
Synova said...: "The guy in Mobile in critical condition needs to sue NBC for doctoring tape and for giving a megaphone to known riot inciter Al Sharpton who has a documented history."

I think he should.

The vandals should be given no quarter. And all those people out there who count success by how many people they can get wound-up without a single thought about what they might break in the process are vandals.; 4/26/12, 1:42 PM
Steven said...: is Zimmerman now a 'black white Hispanic?'

"Octaroon Hispanic George Zimmerman"; 4/26/12, 1:45 PM
Synova said...: "I mean understand each other and learn to live shoulder to shoulder in peace, not an uneasy truce. Is this possible?"

It's not possible when combating racism is all one direction. Not too long ago someone or other attacked commenters here for supposedly believing that racism against whites was the most important racism of all. It might not be most important, but it's important. And so is Marion Barry thoughtlessly attacking Asians for their success.

If racism is wrong, it's wrong. That goes for racism from any quarter towards any other quarter. We should strive to be color-blind. We're not color-blind, we're color-obsessed.

Talk about color-blindness as a goal to work toward and you'll get called a racist.

Why?

The cynical part of me figures that there are a whole lot of people who would have to retire their life's work and find a real job if their cause is won. Not just the professional race-baiters like Sharpton or Jackson, but an enormous cohort of "studies" professors who spend their life's effort locating and identifying how racism isn't what people think or do at all, but what they are and who come up with BS like white privilege tests to prove you're a racist even when you're not, and who explain that blacks *can't* be racist because you can only be racist if you're part of the oppressor race.

If they gave that up, they'd be out of even their cushy university jobs.; 4/26/12, 2:05 PM
Known Unknown said...: I simply prefer the Morgan Freeman approach.; 4/26/12, 2:28 PM
William said...: I read the Reuters story. It does seem that all the information that has come out about Zimmerman recently has tended to exonerate him. And all the revised information has been revised in his favor. A great many people got him wrong: The President, the NBA players who wore hoods to the game, the New Yorker artists who drew hooded figures to intersperse among the articles in that magazine, the CNN, NBC, and ABC reporters who reported factually incorrect information. The people who got him wrong will now move on to larger, more important issues. They will not continue to hound Zimmerman. The reporters will report on the case as it proceeds, but there will be no more top spin of outrage. There will, of course, be no introspection on their part as to how they got so many moving parts to this story completely wrong. You would think that after the Duke debacle, all would attemd a story like this with a certain amount of disretion and skepticism. Maybe next time.; 4/26/12, 4:14 PM
Scott M said...: You would think that after the Duke debacle, all would attemd a story like this with a certain amount of disretion and skepticism.

This. 1000x this. I've been thinking it since the bruhaha started after the story went national.; 4/26/12, 4:27 PM
Jerome said...: "Can someone please explain what happened over the past several years?"

The children born during the 90's, when black illegitimacy rates were half of today's, have gotten big enough to commit serious crimes. That's what's happened.

For those of you who don't believe race is a useful concept, that means, nothing has happened. Nothing at all.; 4/26/12, 8:17 PM
JAL said...: the attacks on him were themselves shooting impulsively because of race.

Sheesh. Someone finally notices the obvious.; 4/26/12, 9:20 PM
JAL said...: So when Zimmermann's African-American business partner takes the stand ...

Bet they won't put it on TV.; 4/26/12, 9:25 PM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: So the offspring of an Afro-Korean and an Irish-Peruvian is... what?

Funny how quickly this all breaks down. I predict that interracial marriage will be discouraged before long because too many people are too invested in ethnicity.; 4/26/12, 10:16 PM