In one corner, we have our dear friends on the AM radio right, insisting as only privileged white people can that racism never has anything to do with anything.
In another corner, we have the Sharptones, insisting as only mind-reading blacks can that racism has everything to do with everything.
In yet another corner, we have the media bleating about whether George Zimmerman "profiled" Trayvon Martin. (Let me go ahead and answer this one: Cops profile. Zimmerman is a wannabe, not a cop. So no.)
And in the fourth corner, alone as ever, we have me. The facts of this case will probably never be fully known, but I don't need to know more than what everyone already agrees upon. Martin was walking through the community, and Zimmerman followed him. Increasingly nervous, Martin told his girlfriend via his cell phone that some weird guy was following him. Then Zimmerman got out of his car to confront Martin.
Did Trayvon Martin then hit Zimmerman in the head? I certainly hope so. I hope he kicked him in the nuts, too. Zimmerman couldn't have seemed more threatening without, well, brandishing a gun.
If someone follows and confronts me like this, I am assuming the absolute worst about his intentions. I will not ask "Excuse me, are you per chance an overzealous member of the local neighborhood watch?" before I hit the guy. I will, to coin a phrase, stand my ground.
In the best possible light, Zimmerman went looking for trouble, found it, and killed an unarmed guy. In the worst light, he's a murderer. Kinda seems like splitting semantic hairs, doesn't it?