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At the intersection of poverty and ignorance, racism in America

by YankeeJim | March 30, 2012 at 02:41 pm

184 views | 2 Recommendations | 1 comment

When the national economy led by the wealthiest Americans disenfranchises the bottom of the economic divide and pit them against one another fighting for crumbs, violence erupts. Ignorance abounds on all sides but there is an undeniable fact in American history and that is African Americans were harmed time and again. It is because there is a vicious segment of ignorant Americans who embrace bigotry and racism even though that behavior is completely un-American.

Also true is that many minority Americans are still left without a fighting chance and a poor economy makes it worse. Aside them are many other poor Americans who may be white, but they are in no better condition because the economic hand dealt them was already deficient – below a person’s capacity to pursue life, liberty and happiness.

That is the larger context in this case.

“Trayvon Martin case stirs extremists, groups say

By Joe Sterling, CNN

updated 3:24 PM EDT, Fri March 30, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"Extremists on both sides" are stirred up, the Southern Poverty Law Center says

The New Black Panther Party offers a reward for George Zimmerman's capture

One group says "white nationalists are trying to inject their poison" into the case

Anonymous Internet comments fan the flames, experts say

(CNN) -- The national conversation over Trayvon Martin's killing is loud and intense. In some places, it's also vile and violent.

The case -- in which a Hispanic neighborhood watch volunteer killed the unarmed black teen in Sanford, Florida, on February 26 -- has sparked a national controversy. It has also stoked extremist views, particularly on the Internet, experts say.

George Zimmerman said he shot Martin in self-defense after the teen attacked him. Martin's family has disputed that.

Investigators have not charged Zimmerman.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, the civil rights group that fights bigotry, said the case has stirred up "extremists on both sides of the racial divide."

A visitor to the website of one white supremacist group, for example, left a comment calling Martin "a punk negroe who messed with the wrong guy."”