The Diane Rehm Show

Prejudice and discrimination are the glue that hold the Republican/Conservatives/T-Party together. They never waste a second to prove that. Crime comes from poverty and greed,not skin color. "Supply Side" economics creates vast wealth for the privileged few,but at the cost of mass poverty. Bigotry and hatred allows the villain to blame the victim. Whether it`s the Wall Street meltdown,where the NeoCon`s blame inner-city blacks,to Treyvon Martin,where the dead man victim,must have been guilty of a crime,he must have done something,he`s black.Conservatives say,don`t rush to justice,give us more time to make up an plausible alibi. They want more time to cover up this moronic gun law called 'Stand Your Ground' aka "Kill at Will', and all the (wink wink) disparity it was intended to create.

Where does the 80 yr old granny drug dealer rate on this profilers scoreboard?

There is only one problem with the Stand your ground law, and that is the way that it is ajudicated. People have a right to be in public, and their own private, spaces. It is riduculous to suggest that the person commiting a crime has some right to drive a person off. If a person were to attack my family I would do everything in my power to put them down to protect my wife and child. We live in america and the time of criminals ruling by fear and hiding behind the very laws they breach is over. If you take it upon yourself to violate anothers legal rights you get the free benefit of forfeiting your own. Not to mention there is a zero recitivizm rate in murderers and rapists that are killed in the acts that make them a scourge of the face of this great nation. I am not defending George Zimmerman, as I was not there and am not so self rightous as to imagine i know what happened, and I do believe that he should be judged on his actions by a judge and/or jury. But to go the other way and allow the bad apples to have some protections when they are the trying to take from hard working americans is asinine. If you are willing to attack another be prepared to be killed for your efforts and the benifit of mankind.

Let's not make it what it isn't, shall we please? Everyone is profiled -- women wearing hijab in the airport, young white adults wearing black with spiked hair and body piercing, teen boys on skateboards, guys driving Ferraris. Profiling by race alone is only one aspect of it. Please remind everyone that it was NBC's intentional editing of the 911 tape to make it seem that Zimmerman's concern was racially motivated. Intentional effort by the media to sensationalize and distort. Rise above this, Ms Rehm. Show us you're capable of that, won't you?

Everyone is looking at the consequences but no one is talking about the cause. Not that I am excusing Zimmerman but I bet that he had to grow up being always questioned about his identity (racial) "Zimmerman? but you LOOK hispanic!!!" Growing up like that can have serious consequences if the child is not counseled or properly guided by parents. You would have to look at how his ethnicity was handled in the media, people didn't know what to label him (Zimmerman).

I don't believe that Zimmerman's profiling was 100% racial. If Martin was wearing a suit and tie I don't think Zimmerman would have targeted him.

libeterarians r us wrote "If you want to go fishing and catch a fish you don't go to the desert. Most of the crimes committed in cities are by black perpetrators".

Here's some statistics for pedaphiles:
Nearly 70% of those serving time for violent crimes against children were white.

Pedophiles can be old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, non-professional or professional.

Often the pedophile is male and over 30 years of age.

Using your illustration then, there should be long lines at the police station of white men over the age of 30. Bet that would stir up national controversy. How many libertarians, tea party and republicans are white males over the age of 30?

Jamie T wrote: "doing the profiling that as a neighborhood watchman was the complete and only description of his job"

Zimmerman was also told not to follow the Martin by the dispatcher too, but he didn't do that did he? So if he was following the "description of his job" to the T none of this would of never happened.

I was an assistant Wayne County (Detroit) prosecutor for about a year followed by a 25 year career as an asst. U.S. Attorney in DC wherein I prosecuted homicide cases for more than 20 years. My husband has been a police officer for more than 30 years. My son is 27. We are all African-American. When my son was young, I most definitely talked to him about how to handle himself in interactions with the police. In fact, the NAACP in conjuction with NOBLE and Allstate published a brochure, Law and You: Guidelines for Interacting with Law Enforcement Officials. In addition, a local defense attorney wrote a piece, Police are Allowed to Lie: How to Protect Yourself that was published in the Washington Afro. I have used these materials in talking to young black men.

This is a very real concern for African-Americans no matter who else chooses to deny the situation.

Potential racism aside, a 17 year old kid is dead. That, for me, is the story.

Several months ago, I heard a caller on NPR say, "Instead of Burn a Quran Day, why not Buy a Quran Day?" I went out and bought a Quran. I learned.

This story makes me think, "Why not join a community/neighborhood watch program?" Most of us think it should be different. Therefore, make it different.

Let me first start out, by saying that I love listeining to your show.

racial profiling....I am black myself. I spend time in U.S.M.C. disable vet.

I was once profile in california, by the police department while in uniform.

but you cannot blame the police officers for profiling yound black men.

for example...last Friday on my way home from work. I was riding my motorcycle home from work. a yound black, was jumping out in front of on coming traffic. playing with vehicles causing them to stop , and slammed their brakes in the middle of traffic, he throught that this was funny.

by time that I realize what he was doing...he ran out in front of me on my motorcycle, causing me to slam my brakes, to keep from hitting him, he then took off running, he had a friend waiting on the curve, I yelled at the young, man and him was he crazy, i also cussed at him....he told me to come back and get him, I look at him and said that he has issues, and drove off.

this incident could have turn out to be something else. I also am a liscence gun ower, I could have easy shot him, and then I would be in jail.

I fround out later that this young black man does this incident,every Friday...I think him and his friends are trying to car jack people on Friday night.

I am planning on changing the way that I go home from work, in the future.

The police needs tob e call to this neighbohood, to try and catch this young man.

maybe if this young man, had a girl friend, job, or something to do, he would not have been out there jumping in out of traffic.

things like this is what most of rest of the black man are trying to raise up and above, and it only takes one incident like this to set up back, and ton of good incidents to clean up our repetation.

My late father had a dog at his business. A wonderful dog, she seemed to know who was to be trusted and who was to be feared. Her decisions had no correlation at all with race. Was the dog profiling?

Imagine situation of troops coming back from overseas. Thankfully, most of them curl up in a ball. But if they are recovering, trying to 'have a nice day,' and don't know that their brain injury and medication makes them 'inappropriate', they are going to get the 'looks' Pick up on the looks, etc., because their peripheral vision stilll picks up on the 'judgement' of others, and they are 'free' to retreat to defensiveness. " After all, 'it's their choice, isn't it" So, the sequela of PTSD thanks to your neighborhood 'good folks.' Sorry Mam, Sorry, Sir. Bow, and get away. To be seen and not heard. Back to the cave. Get it together, for the people who don't know you, don't want to know you, and who stay so healthy rolling their eyes.

Thank you for posting. I thought the same thing.
For the record, my "bathrobe" is a grey hoodie.
Assumption is that as a 50+ year old white woman, I am safe.
A 17 year old black child however....

libertarians r us wrote: "the topic is about violent criminal street activity"

What violent street crime was Trayvon Martin involved in on that night, I didn't see anything about that can you remind me? OH wait he wasn't... A fishermen has to bait his hook and lure the fish in for the catch. He has to invoke a fish to bite the bait. How did Zimmerman do this? By going outside of the neighborhood watch guidlines and follow Martin.