He clearly didn't return to his truck. The fight and the shooting occurred on a sidewalk that was not next to his truck. Additionally, he said he would meet the police near the mailboxes at the clubhouse. That area is in the other direction. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/14/2748048/interactive-map-of-trayvon-martin.html
Malco provided a pretty good piece except I just don't see why we have to place the blame on the rappers. It seems to me that is no different than placing the blame on video games or movies. Rap is entertainment just like a game or movie and nobody is out there telling actors to stop acting in violent movies or doing voices in video games. Again, people aren't emulating rap they're already part of the environment that rap perpetuates.
I didn't say media was at no fault, there is some, but you are missing my point. The underlying issue is black Americans need to take responsibility and fault into bettering themselves. I just said stop blaming the media and other sources for your short comings. (general speaking)
In the court of law, you must proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It's very good that's the standard. We don't want to find folks guilty just because they seems guilty - but too often, that's what happen anyway. I agree that public opinion are often made without waiting for facts to surface (just look at all the various Obama scandals). But once facts are made, you can make a good judgement. In this case, GZ was found not guilty. Fine, no problem. I'm not one that say he got away with it and I agree with the verdict myself. What gets me is the "public opinion" of some that find TM guilty of seeking GZ out and attacking him (you are one of those with your statement of what TM did), when he was not the one on trail.
Many of them do yet unfortunately for the ignorance of a minority of the population, the entire population has to deal with blanket statements such as those. And also, there are other factors much more important than race which play into this as well which everybody seems to ignore in favor of race.
gang and drug culture was around BEFORE rap existed. Period. Rap is just music, if you're going to blame rap you might as well blame games like GTA as well.
Did you see the timeline and map of events? It's clear he wasn't returning to his truck after he got off the phone with 911.
that's a naive viewpoint let me ask you this -- does rap's celebration of pimping hoes, doing drugs and participating in violence help or hurt black youth?
It's not naive at all. It's true, that stuff was around before rap was. It's not like rap invented anything here. Games like GTA do the same thing, all these people say their favorite movie is Scarface...umm they do the same thing. As for rap and it's "celebration of pimping hoes, doing drugs and participating in violence" you have to understand. That's just one section of rap and sometimes it's not so simple. Sometimes a rapper may be talking about those things...yet at the same time making fun of it. Like Lupe Fiasco for instance...but It depends on the person as ALWAYS I don't think it has a large influence and if people want to make that the main blame then they will be wasting their time.
I can't believe I'm posting in this thread again, especially to conceivably support a known inflamer, but... the link of music to youth behavior has an interesting history, no matter what a few social academics have to say. Why did so many kids flock to San Francisco for drugs and orgies in the summer of 1967? Think that the Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, et alia had any influence on the location? I mean, not to say that drugs, orgies, and San Francisco aren't appealing in their own right, but at the time the first two were pretty much seen as the work of Satan (if not the third, LOL). I would never blame a rapper for using violence, etc, to sell music. In any medium, shocking content that stokes emotions will sell better. (Do we not cherish the memory of Johnny Cash and Folsom Prison Blues?) Besides, how many Bobby Jimmy's could the world have really stomached anyway? (I definitely bought the big butt album, FWIW.)
As I said, rap isn't all about those things you think it's about. So you're painting it with a pretty broad brush and then asking if it helps or hurt black youth. Does GTA help or hurt black youth? Does gangster movies do the same? Does it hurt white youth? This is a genre that is listened to by more than just black kids in inner cities.
Does country music's celebration of alcohol consumption, rock 'n roll's infatuation with sex, drugs and groupies help or hurt white youth?
So, is this the game we're playing now? Someone tell me how the police impacted NWA. I DEMAND TO KNOW NOW.
