Sunday, July 14, 2013

Startribune Editorial board takes a turn at racism

In what was surely an attempt to be moderate and even handed, the Star Tribune's Editorial Board on Sunday slips deep into racism against George Zimmerman.  They think he is white.

First the moderation:

But whatever one’s view of this tragic story, it is worth trying to recognize a measure of justice achieved through the painful legal process that has followed.

Then the even handedness:

It may have been Zimmerman’s misfortune that for many he came to symbolize vexing social issues reaching far beyond the specific facts of his fateful encounter with Martin — racial profiling, the persistent epidemic of gun violence, and the many forms of injustice and disadvantage that burden young black males in this country.

Then comes the over the top inexcusable racism:

 Back when it remained unclear whether Zimmerman would be charged, many Americans simply found it implausible to imagine that, had the roles been reversed (had an unarmed white teenager walking home from a convenience store been shot to death by a black man), the shooter would have gone free without the facts even being presented to a jury. (Emphasis mine)
If you reversed the roles to get a white teenager and a black man, then logic says you started with a black teenager and a white man.  While other media outlets have been criticized for going half way and calling Zimmerman a "White Latino", the Star Tribune skips even the appearance of common sense and states plainly that they believe George Zimmerman's race is white, Caucasian, not in any way related to any minority status.

The only reason for making this error in logic is to set this issue as a racial confrontation between white and black, which makes a much more interesting conversation and tends to sell more newspapers.  But the criticism of other media outlets for trying to imply Zimmerman was not fully Latino surely must have resonated in the echo chamber that is the Star Tribune editorial board, which makes their claim that Zimmerman is completely white all the more offensive, and shows their inherent racism.



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The real kicker here is if certain people want to claim that Mr. Zimmerman is "white" because one of his parents is Caucasian, that means President Obama is "white" because one of HIS parents is Caucasian.

Dave Thul said...

They want him to be white because then it fits into their narrative of white vs minorities in America.

If tomorrow, George Zimmerman were racially profiled by a white Florida cop, the media would suddenly discover that Zimmerman is Latino, because that would fit the narrative.