Who killed Trayvon Martin? An honest discussion on race and crime

Trayvon Martin (Wagist.com)

Earlier this week on July 16, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP convention in Orlando in the wake of the George Zimmerman verdict.  In the speech, Holder said that the “tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly – and openly – about the complicated and emotionally-charged issues that this case has raised.”  In truth, the national conversation about the killing of Trayvon Martin has been anything but honest.

 

George Zimmerman admits that he shot and killed Trayvon Martin.  Even though Zimmerman pulled the trigger to fire the shot that ultimately killed Martin, he was not the only cause of Martin’s death.  There seems to be plenty of blame to go around.

Read the rest on Atlanta Conservative Examiner

The system worked for George Zimmerman

VOA/Wikimedia

Although many Americans are upset about the not guilty verdict handed down by the jury for George Zimmerman, the case is actually proof that the judicial system still works and is not controlled by politicians and interest groups.  George Zimmerman killed Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black man, on February 26, 2012.  Although the circumstances of the killing were uncertain, many in the media rushed to judgment and fanned the flames of race almost immediately.

 

Media reports immediately claimed that Zimmerman was a racist who shot Martin because he was a black man who was walking in Zimmerman’s neighborhood.  As Examiner reported at the time, Zimmerman’s neighborhood was racially mixed and had suffered a large number of burglaries in the months leading up to the shooting.  Martin was staying at his father’s girlfriend’s house, which was in the same gated community where Zimmerman lived.  Logically, Zimmerman would not have been shocked to see a black man in his neighborhood.

 

Read the rest on Atlanta Conservative Examiner

 

 

 

Racial divide may shore up Obama approval

A new poll by Gallup illustrates the large opinion divide between whites and minorities and may help explain why President Obama’s job approval remains high in spite of a spate of recent scandals.  Even though his administration has been buffeted by a series of scandals over the past few months including questions about Benghazi, IRS abuse of conservative groups, spying on reporters, telephone and computer surveillance of Americans, and the revelation that the Affordable Care Act, President Obama’s signature piece of legislation, is driving up insurance prices.  In spite of the scandals, President Obama still has a 47 percent approval rating according to Gallup (44 percent disapprove).

 

A new Gallup poll released today shows that the president’s support is concentrated among minorities, who are also more confident in most American institutions.  The poll compares the confidence of non-Hispanic white adults with those of Hispanics and blacks.  The sharpest difference between the two groups was their confidence in the presidency.  Fifty-four percent of nonwhites had confidence in the presidency compared with 29 percent of whites, a difference of 25 percentage points.

Read the rest on Examiner.com

Polling points to Romney landslide

My prediction (270towin.com)

As the presidential election enters the home stretch, the race is still tight according to the polls. Most recent national polls now give Mitt Romney the edge. Gallup shows Obama trailing by five points nationally. According to a new Rasmussen poll released today, Romney leads 49-47 percent.

In the swing states, many races are trending towards Romney as well. In Florida (29 electoral votes), the majority of polls show Romney in the lead. This is also true in North Carolina (15 votes).

Read the rest of this article on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/polling-points-to-romney-landslide?cid=db_articles

Obama’s marriage evolution may cost votes in November

(Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center International Team)

President Obama’s evolution on marriage in which he returned to his previously stated position of supporting a right for same-sex couples to marry may hurt the president with black and independent voters in November.  The president, who was widely believed to be a closeted supporter of same-sex marriage, removed all doubt in a statement last week in which he said that he personally believed that “it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married” according to ABC News.

The president did say that the issue belonged to the states, but his administration is not defending the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  The act, passed with broad bipartisan support in 1996 prevents states from being required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and defines marriage as between a man and woman for the purposes of federal law.

 

Read the rest of this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/article/obama-s-evolution-on-marriage-could-cost-votes-from-blacks-independents

DeWitt Rucker: Buffalo Soldier of the MPE

Buffalo Soldier statue at Ft. Bliss (Ancheta Wis/Wikimedia)

It was around Memorial Day 2011 that a high school friend posted a message on her Facebook page.  In my hometown, there was a display on the town square honoring the veterans from Hart County, Ga. who were killed in action.  Predictably, there were veterans from the Civil War, WWI, WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, but one memorial was a mystery.

This memorial honored Private DeWitt Rucker.  The conflict listed under his name was simply “M.P.E.”  Since the memorial did not give the date of Pvt. Rucker’s death, my friend wondered what conflict the M.P.E was.  After trying unsuccessfully to determine how and when Rucker died, she described the experience on Facebook to see if anyone else knew.  Searches of the military and history websites for some clue to Rucker’s story yielded nothing.  Googling “M.P.E.” did not turn up any relevant results.  Eventually, with a handful of people scouring the internet, some details of how DeWitt Rucker died for his country became known.

Continue reading on Examiner.com DeWitt Rucker: Buffalo Soldier of the M.P.E. – Atlanta Conservative | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/dewitt-rucker-buffalo-soldier-of-the-m-p-e#ixzz1mNVdbeqp

Obama’s base crumbles

http://chesh.org/barack/DSC_0007.JPG

In the three years since the 2008 presidential election, the political landscape has changed markedly.  As the recovery has slowed, President Obama’s approval rating has declined and, as a result, the demographics of the upcoming election are much less favorable for Obama than in 2008.

According to data compiled by the Roper Center at the University of Connecticut, in 2008 Obama won heavily in three important demographic groups.  Most obviously, Obama won heavily among black voters who comprised 13 percent of the electorate.  Although blacks typically favor Democrats, John McCain won only four percent of the black vote compared to Obama’s 95 percent.  By comparison, George Bush won 11 percent of black voters in 2004, according to a Roper analysis of that election.

Read the rest of this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/obama-s-base-crumbles

Troy Davis and the minority death penalty

Troy Davis (GDOC)

This week’s execution of convicted cop-killer Troy Davis in Georgia had sparked protests and appeals for clemency from around the world. Even many people who normally support the death penalty believed that with the recanted testimonies of several prosecution witnesses, there was too much doubt to allow the execution of Davis to proceed.

 

In many cases, the race of the defendant is a factor in opposition to the death penalty. Critics have long charged that there is discrimination in the application of the death penalty. According to census.gov, blacks make up about 12 percent of the US population and 30 percent of the population of Georgia. Hispanics make up 16 percent of the US population and eight percent of Georgia’s.

 

Read the rest of this article on Examiner.com:

http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/troy-davis-minorities-and-the-death-penalty

Obama and racism

President Obama has competition from black Republicans (Elizabeth Cromwell)

It is inevitable that racism would become part of the discussion about Barack Obama’s presidency. After all, President Obama is the first black president of the United States. As the son of a Kenyan father and an American mother, he is an authentic African-American and that makes him unique among American presidents.

Many liberals and Democrats present the flap over President Obama’s birth certificate as a racial issue. This is partly true, but it is essentially a constitutional question. Most black candidates would not be subject to the question of whether they were a citizen. It was Obama’s unique background, and his refusal to provide the long form birth certificate for three years, that fueled the fire of the birther movement. Further, a white president, Chester A. Arthur, was opposed by a similar birther movement that believed he was ineligible to be president because he was born in Canada. (He was actually born in Vermont.)

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Obama and racism – Atlanta Elections 2012 | Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/elections-2012-in-atlanta/obama-and-racism#ixzz1LJHBfT3a

Part 2: The return of the black Republicans

Herman Cain is challenging President Obama (Gage Skidmore)

Rep. Allen West (R-FL)

Rep. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Rep. Jefferson Franklin Long (R-GA), the first black congressman to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives

Please click the SUBSCRIBE button at the top of this page to receive future updates.

Billboards highlight black abortion “genocide”

Courtesy of Life Always

A pro-life billboard in New York City has sparked a controversy about abortion among black women. The ad, similar to billboards erected in Augusta last year, depicts a happy young black girl. The message emblazoned above her head reads “The most dangerous place for an African-American is in the womb.” The billboard also gives the web address thatsabortion.com, a division of Life Always.

The billboard debuted last month in New York for Black History Month before being displayed in other cities. Although the N.Y. billboard has been torn down, new ones have been recently placed in Chicago and St. Louis. The Augusta billboards were placed by different groups, The Radiance Foundation and Georgia Right to Life.

To read the rest of this article, please visit Examiner.com
http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-atlanta/billboards-highlight-black-abortion-genocide

Leader board