Quote:
Originally Posted by graciegirl
Senior,
If you had read to the end of this thread you would see that my opinion had changed over time as the information in the trial was presented. At the beginning, I was TRYING to place my self in a non judgmental position. But as the information has presented itself, I have changed my mind and feel that Trayvon Martin did attack George Zimmerman. You responded to one of my earlier posts on this matter.
I am aware of riots. And of fear. And of the climate of the downtown area of Cincinnati changing over time. Long ago the area called "Over the Rhine" in downtown Cincinnati, once a lovely place inhabited by hard working German immigrants has now become a place to be feared to drive in at night. There is a drug culture there and bad things happening and people murdering each other over drugs. I remember reading in The Cincinnati Enquirer a long time ago that we were on the drug corridor and that Detroit was being overrun by drug users and drug dealers and they were coming our way.
I wish that the young men could find jobs they liked and wanted to work hard to find success and not be lured by the dangerous life of easy money dealing drugs. Each year the Cincinnati Enquirer shows the people murdered downtown. They are mostly young men and have killed each other in the same ugly business.
It is hard not to jump to conclusions when you see an expensive car parked way off in the corner of a Kroger's parking lot in suburbia with a young man sitting inside in the middle of the day and see people coming and going from the car.
I guess that is profiling.
It is a terrible thing to grow old and jump to conclusions and to grow out of the trust and kindness and fairness of youth.
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Yes, I eventually did read it to the end...........but I began at the beginning.
I know exactly where you were coming from in trying to be non judgemental.
However, there are times when we have to use our gut instincts and our knowledge of the surroundings.
I had black friends when I was a kid.......as did my mom.
I had Jewish friends and still do; one of whom survived the concentration camps.
I was raised with all ethnic groups, all religious groups, etc.
I learned to judge people on their own personal merits.
There is good and evil in all types of people.
There is also bias against Italians , believe it or not....when folks think they are all like the SOPRANOS as depicted in that popular t.v. show ( which we are watching again as we own all the seasons; hubby loves that show .....believe it's our sixth time )......
As a child I never heard anything of the mob.....but we were raised in a German/Polish neighborhood (which is nowadays Portuguese).
My Italian family lived in New York City, Brooklyn, The Bronx, Staten Island and Long Island, Connecticut, etc. and Massachusetts.
When I was a young mom, already living in Vermont....my Italian aunt and Godmother would call from Brooklyn on occasion.......I still recall my asking her "Is the mob for real? Is there really organized crime such as the Mafia?".........that would have been in the 1970's.
She simply said, "Yes, they exist...but they protect the neighborhoods." "If anyone has a problem, they know who to "go to"...and that was that.
I thought back and do not recall my dad ever mentioning anything about the Mafia in his neighborhood which was Little Italy.
However, later, in hindsight...........I remembered when we were about 19 years old, engaged to be married........and attending the rehearsal dinner of a German school friend of my fiancé's......who was marrying a nice Italian gal.......we were all approaching or had reached age 20 which was the magical age for getting married back then..........
My husband had heard that his friend, who was a truck driver, would tell everyone that they had been approached by the "mob" to transport "hot goods" etc........and that everybody did it. I didn't pay much attention.
This would have been at Port Newark.
He also told me that the bride to be's uncle was in the mob. Ditto.
Before the wedding, she invited us all to go down the Jersey Shore to her uncle's vacation house on the water...........he took us for a speedboat ride which was quite exhilarating if you don't mind all that hairspray we wore back then to get totally yucky. All kinds of strangers were there; not just the family. Expensive home with dock. Very hospitable to us young folks.
She was a sweet gal and her family was middle class like the rest of us.
Now , the large corporation office where I was working as a private secretary (Just like MAD MEN, I can so relate to those times).........had an inventory dept. One of the gals and I would chat at lunchtime.
She happened to be Italian....a bit older than me. She would tell me about her "boyfriend" being in the mob. But that she always felt "protected".......that he hung out at the Italian Club and they sat outdoors (like on the Sopranos at the Pork Store)......and that all the neighbors felt "safe"..........ha ha. Believe me, I couldn't make this up.
Later, at the rehearsal dinner........a month later......guess who was sitting across the table from us????? My friend from work and her boyfriend.
Which means that there was indeed something to the fact that the bride's uncle was in the mob or mafia.
How many "degrees of separation" before we are all connected??????
He was quite handsome, if truth be .told. Very mannerly, a perfect gentleman and sedately dressed.......not overweight like all the Sopranos.
This was 1965. My fiancé was sitting next to me; he was the best man and I was one of the bridesmaids to be.....again, this was the rehearsal dinner....at a restaurant. Her "uncle" who also was her Godfather" was hosting it.......not the parents.
My work friend's boyfriend struck up a conversation with me and asked me if I ever made lasagna........so I proceeded to tell him how I had learned to make it............and it was exactly like he made it. Italian men are taught to cook by their mothers.
Anyway, we all had a pleasant evening.
Comes the day of the wedding...........guess who is my driver?
Him. Mr. Mafia. I had never ridden in a Buick Riviera which was a luxury car at the time and it was like a cloud mobile compared to ours........
He again was mannerly and a gentleman. Admired my bridesmaids gown.
He had to be 25 to 30 to my 19. Anyway, my now husband was the best man and transported with the groom.........turned out to be a great wedding..........we often wonder what became of everyone......we kept in touch for a few years until we all had children and moved out of state.
Never really thought about it again until we started watching THE SOPRANOS..........as hubby says, not all are killers.....some just move hot stuff or own stores that take in hot stuff. We never did. Honest Injun.
Other than my Godmother, whom I asked, none of my dad's family ever even mentioned the Mafia.......and I do not condone organized crime.
Just relaying this to say I do not believe in profiling.....but I do rely on my gut instincts.