so only strong athletic people that know how to fight have the right to self defense.

by all testimonies zimmerman, was an unathletic terrible martial artist. if it werent for his gun, he would probably be the one dead here, or permently injured.

It's not a post-racial society because racism hasn't been vanquished. In both Europe and America, it's simply taken on forms that are harder to see, like how a black man is more likely to get the death penalty in a crime, or how these legally justifiable homicides in Florida happen to disproportionately affect black people.

Like the legal argument against provisions of the Voting Rights Act, they may have a case, and their arguments should be considered on their own merits despite the fact that the underlying cause for the argument to begin with is racially colored, but we should acknowledge that we have not solved these problems, and continue to work to solve them. We in America have not gotten as far as we have without both bold action against racism, as well as slow shifting of cultural norms. Both are needed still.

That happens in the US as well. This isn't about a school yard brawl.

This is about having the right to defend yourself with a gun when someone if beating the shit out of you.

there are less (gun) murders now than there were in the 2000's.

and no you arent allowed to repond to a rock through a window with a hand grenade. but you better believe if somebody is throwing or beating me with that rock, im going to use whatever means necessary to defend myself, that includes using a gun.

you guys are so illogical, and emotional driven, instead of rationally

We have an emotional response to unnecessary loss of human life. Sue us.

The one good thing that has come out of this whole thing is the discussion. I'm aware of cases in my own town where a black has killed a white and where a white has killed a black male. Neither were national news. Neither were news at all, actually, and the details were soap opera worthy. It's good that we are able to talk. I"m seeing other people's point of view and I hope that they've seen mine.

Silver linings.

Those aren't the only staggering differences between Windsor and Detroit. The least of Detroit's problems is which side of the border it's located on.

Drawing serious conclusions from a Michael Moore movie is inadvisable. So is watching a Michael Moore movie in the first place.

Hahahahahahaha lol you don't need a black belt to punch and kick lol have you ever been in a fight were you didn't use your gun? It doesn't look like what it does in the movies. I love the idea of a 160 teen being able to completely destroy a 28 years old weighting 25 pounds more that has absolutly no other way to defend himself than his weapon.

It depends on the circumstances. Such as who initiated the fight and at what point was the gun used?

Based on what we know Trayvon initiated the fight and was getting the better end of it. Zimmerman had the right to defend himself anyway he can at that point.

Defending yourself with guns is indeed the American way. Can't think of any better reason to have one.

killerzX has a point, although i'm not sure if it applies in this case. Zimmerman weighed more than Martin, did he not? Being of athletic build is irrelevant compared to weight, unless one of them was actually trained in some form of unarmed combat (which the narrative of the fight does not seem to suggest), then Zimmerman would have had the edge in a physical confrontation due to weight alone, unless he were disabled by some other factor.