So, you're trying to say that white people are handed things on a silver platter, but black people aren't? And that's not racist? Because the color of your skin has zero to do with how you make a life for yourself. I know plenty of wealthy black families and grew up with one as my best friend. Her parents were extremely successful and she was basically handed everything on a silver platter because that's what her parents wanted to be able to do for her! They worked hard to make a life for themselves and didn't expect anything to be given to them because of the color of their skin. How does a black male have any more pressure than a Mexican male in America? Or a white male? Or an Asian male?

IMO, it's how you carry yourself. I don't care if you're black or white, if you walk around with your pants hanging down your ankles, big heavy chains hanging off your neck, a grill in your mouth, and not speaking proper English, you're going to be looked at differently, or judged, even if unfairly and even if you're a good person. Heck if you sport a mohawk, tattoos, and pink hair, you're going to looked at differently too. But you're kind of bringing that on yourself. I know some very successful middle aged black males and they go through life just the same as the white males that I know. I don't even notice their color, nor does it come into play -- it just... doesn't. They speak professionally, they made a life for themselves and didn't expect anything to be GIVEN to them because of the color of their skin.

Thank you for pointing those horrible deaths out and naming them. Not many people are mourning them because no one of note used their deaths to stay relevant or hype ratings or Tweet themselves to more followers. So many dying and only one is so widely being mourned because his killer was lighter-skinned(many labelled him as white) and his motives instantly ascribed to race.

I didn't follow the case closely -- Trayvon didn't grow up poor and disadvantaged, did he?

I know his folks were divorced and wasn't he living with another relative at the time of his death or did I hear that wrong? But I didn't get the impression that he was raised in economic lack or a lack of education. But he was a young black male and they don't always get a lot of great chances in life sometimes unless they are quite gifted and exceptional.

Let me break it down I got to a school in a racists area yes I am African American. At school is were I got to know a lot of my Caucasian friends that I have grown to love. Now I had never experienced someone being racists towards me until my sophomore year in college.I told her the things I had experienced while down there and she just couldn't believe me. I told her you are blind and don't see it because it never happens to you. Well one day when we went to eat together a Caucasian couple was mad that I was able to eat in the place and wanted to move seats to get away from the spot I was in. My friend turned around and went off on them. She felt so bad for what I had just had to hear. She said I thought racism was over. I never knew it was still going on and I did ever notice it. An like I told her the color of your skin can change you entire life and the way people treat you.

Now I honor and look up to my black brothers and sisters that have made it to the top because its not easy but every does not have that opportunity no matter how hard they try. Some will never even get one chance because of the color of their skin and where they came from.

So no im not downing the blacks that have made it to the top they got the opprtunity but go outsude your community and talk to the ones who have tried day in and day out, who went to schhol and came out with a 4.0 GPA and still have nothing. Its easy for everyone to make their story sound good when they have finally made it.

n the person who said something about the famous people has already commented and i thank her for not being rude or think i was being racists.

He lived with his mother. He was visiting his father and his girl friend at the time of his death.

I saw someone say something about blacks killing other black people and I totally agree. It was Cray to me when this guy told me its a difference when a different race kill each other then the same race killing each other. When he said the my mouth almost hit the floor. I couldn't believe that some people really think that way.

Thanks, glad to know. I didn't watch the trial itself except for a minute or two occasionally but sometime on one of those evening talk shows on HLN, someone said something about Trayvon wasn't living with either parent at the time of his death because of school troubles and just about the time they started talking about who he was staying with, I got distracted. Just shows how wrong things get out and about.

I know, right? Seems to kind of rather excuse one kind of killing! Ah well, people say all kinds of things don't make good sense at times.

If my greatest hope could be realized it would be that AMERICANS become AMERICANS first and each of us be proud of our varied heritage. Except for our Native American brothers and sisters, we are all from "somewhere else". Each of us with a story to tell, each from a country that has a rich heritage of both good and evil. Until we, as AMERICANS, stop seeing in color and or black and white, and see fellow AMERICANS first we will continue to have racial conflict.

It seems not to matter that Zimmerman's father is a white American (which means his ancestors came from another country and perhaps another ethnticity as long as the skin color was white) and his mother is Peruvian which, like America has a rich cultural background -- Amerindians 45%, Mestizos 37%, Whites 15%, Asian Peruvians and Afro-Peruvians 3%.

So IF race and/or ethnicity is "the" issue, then consider that in reality it was a young Black man (Martin) and an older young Latino man (Zimmerman) because this IS the United States of America and the United States Census uses the ethnonym Hispanic or Latino to refer to "a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race.

It seems to me that all AMERICANS should realize that what happened was a sad day for America. But then again what about the multitude of youth killed each year by gangs, because of drugs, hate crimes, etc. Not to mention the thousands of innocents that lose their lives before they are born. All are AMERICAN TRAGEDIES that have a story that deserves to be heard.

Looks like the focus is on pressing to imprison George Zimmerman for the present and not the killers of any other black or brown kids. If Mr. Zimmerman had only been black, does anyone think we would be having all of these protests and Tweeting and posturing for one shooter to go to jail? Anybody?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...96F0ZN20130716

George Zimmerman protesters seek federal charges. - chicagotribune.com

No we wouldn't which I think is sad. Sad to say it happens with all races and it never ends up big until other races start to kill each other.

I don't remember this kind of reaction after O. J. Simpson was acquitted of killing a young woman and a young man of a different race. Maybe there was and I just missed all those worldwide protests, traffic being stopped, people arrested for hostilities during protests and preachers and cultural leaders calling for the Attorney General to prosecute O.J. And we were probably far more racially divided then than we are now.

I know nothing about the OJ trail so I really can't speak on it but I am glade that now he is in jail for his wrong doings and he didnt get away with it. Like I mentioned earlier I think the only reason why this went so big is because at first it wasn't even going to be a trail. They were trying to sweep it under the rug like nothing ever happened. They wasn't really communicating with his parents and would really give them information. This was try and has been stated even by Zimmerman layer. I think they felt like getting the story out would give them the opportunity to have a trial and it did.