I haven’t been deep into any discussions on the incident, and am not going to wade through a couple hundred page thread to find out if this topic came up.
Has there been any discussion (speculation) of why Martin didn’t decide to call the police when he saw someone following him? I think we all understand why Zimmerman had the police on speed dial. Martin was talking with a friend on the phone, he could just as easily have been talking to a 911 operator. Is it the thinking at all that he chose not to call the police out of a distrust of the PD, or just that he didn’t think he was in danger, or some other reason?
I don’t mean this as a knock on Martin, but a consideration of the distrust of the police by minorities, and the potential for that distrust to have negative consequences.
Some guy shot him before he had the chance to call 911.
He thought by running away from the dude trailing him in his truck, he had successfully lost his pursuer and he was safe. He didn’t assume the dude was crazy enough to chase after him by foot and pounce on him in the darkness.
He was a teenaged boy and thus, didn’t fully realize the danger he was in, despite being scared. Kids don’t always think about things like 911. I’m not sure my first impulse would have been to call 911 at that age, either.
He was a black male and therefore, assumed the cops would not give a damn about him and his fears. (Sadly, this assumption seems true.)
Some guy shot him before he had the chance to call 911. Ooops, I said that already!
No, but it’s what they’ll notice first thing when they show up. He could have safely assumed that the cops would at best be hostile to him, and would probably attack him. We’d likely be hearing about “young black man calls cops and is killed”, instead of “vigilante idiot kills young black man”; little difference from his viewpoint.
I don’t know even know why I’m bothering to explain this.
If you’ve been programmed all your life to see the cops as a bunch of power-tripping bullies, you’re not going to be in a rush to summon them. Even when they could be of assistance. This resistance has nothing to do with 911 dispatch asking whether you’re black.
I think it’s more likely that the kid simply didn’t realize he was in a emergency situation. Hindsight is 20/20.
Der Trihs’ point, that many young black people distrust police, actually is a good one. And many black people actually have pretty good reasons to distrust police- “driving while black” isn’t a completely made up thing.
His point would be a “good one” if he could give some indication, even one news story, of a “young black man” ever being mistreated by the cops that came to investigate after he called them. One.
Right. So if you ever feel threatened, the thing to do is leave someplace safe and go looking for whoever you feel is threatening you, punch him in the face, break his nose, knock him down, and then begin smashing his head on the pavement.
Because if you call 911 they will just think you are another violent gangsta wannabe.
Black men are taught with reason from childhood to regard the police as their enemy. Why would they call the cops? Ever? There’s plenty of news stories about the cops attacking blacks, especially black men who just happen to be random bystanders. There aren’t going to be many if any stories about black men calling the cops and getting attacked, because they aren’t going to call the cops.
He could have safely assumed that the cops would at best be hostile to him, and would probably attack him. We’d likely be hearing about “young black man calls cops and is killed”, instead of “vigilante idiot kills young black man”; little difference from his viewpoint.
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