I'm trying to avoid adding to the noise...

... the noise around the news, like the truly tragic Treyvon Martin killing.

An unarmed boy was killed and something is very wrong with circumstances that allowed it.

But if my small voice is heard above others, I wish to say: wait to hear all the facts before you make up your mind.

I’m listing to a couple hosts on WPRR right now exasperate over why Zimmerman hasn't been arrested, why aren't the police doing more, etc. Last night folks of all ethnic backgrounds, and even people in the media that ought to know better, said "I know what I heard" (in the 9-1-1 recordings).

I don't dispute they heard exactly what they think they did. That doesn't mean Zimmerman said it. If you listen critically, and especially if, like me, you don't use or often hear racial epithets, you'll agree that there is considerable room for debate about what Zimmerman was saying.[1]

(This Huffington Post video is a disgraceful example ; you are being conditioned with a warning about offensive language, followed by opinions of others who didn’t witness the event but have made up their minds.)

Miami authorities must be thinking: If we arrest this guy and we don’t have our ducks in a row, this guy goes free; or we end up with a long OJ-type trial and enormous public pressure for a guilty verdict and the city will suffer more violence.

Miami is sitting on a powder keg, and they know that.

Everyone with a decision to make in this matter is correct to be patient.

And yes, Geraldo Rivera was indelicate, if not also identifying the elephant in the room:

Geraldo Rivera: Wearing a hoodie while black is asking for it


Whether we should or shouldn't judge folks by their appearance is a related but separate question.

We do. It's a genetic trait all living things have that lets them discern the difference between dangerous and safe things in their environment (from a precipitous cliff to poisonous food to predators).

Most of us also have the ability to ignore false alerts. Some of us don't.
We allow conditions that reinforce fear to fester among those most often encountering what's "different" in potentially dangerous situations (the subway, a back alley, or even our own neighborhood at night).

No, there's no excuse for what happened. But there is a reason, and it may not be one we can correct by our collective sadness, rage, or indignation.

[1]
I understand basic concepts of the psychology of hearing. We often hear what we are conditioned to hear, just as we are programmed to fit all incoming data into familiar patterns. Numerous studies have been done, for example, on the interpretation of lyrics heard backwards. Once you are conditioned with a message you expect to hear, you are much more likely to hear it.

Started: 2012-03-24