That is NOT what I wrote, nor what I meant.
I read what you wrote, and quoted what you wrote. So, I guess the question is:
By stating that someone of any degree of whiteness who referred to someone as "these assholes" was probably talking about black people, or in your words:
were you suggesting that you believe Zimmerman was calling the young man an asshole just because he was black, as opposed to say: a punk, a hood, a thief, a trespasser, a junkie, a stranger, a vandal, a burglar, a smart ass kid, a bum, a poverty kid, a 99 percenter, a pervert, a sagger, or some other form of "not one of us"?
If so, is that based on something more than the fact that Zimmerman wasn't black?
You've misunderstood. This didn't come up for me until much later in the discussion, and it isn't a blanket impression for me.
Then perhaps you should clarify because that's what it seemed like you were saying
from the beginning of the time you brought it up, just a couple of pages ago, as I originally indicated. So if that is not what you have been saying since the point it came up for you, then I have misunderstood you. But if it is, then I have not.
In re your request for my clarification: Once again you do not take the whole of my statement together, but pull one part out of context.
The sentence you quoted was in the middle of a larger statement that was not about Zimmerman as an individual at all, but rather talking about the pervasive race attitudes in the US at large. It was preceded by remarks about how race is the most common form of us/them thinking in the US. The sentence itself was an acknowledgement of how common white/black prejudice in the US is. And it was followed by further remarks stating that black vs. white is not at all the only form of prejudice and that "those assholes" may refer to any group, but it does typically refer to a group as a form of hostile othering.
Further, those remarks were not about Zimmerman in particular at all. And I notice that you continue to skip over the comments I have made about Zimmerman and this shooting which also do not support your claims about my argument. You also continue to skip over my comments regarding the behavior of the cops in the case as well.
I am saddened that I have had to explain this again, especially to you. However, I stand by my arguments as presented, and I further stand by my declared opinion that there was racism at work in this shooting. I do not know for a fact whether that racism comes from Zimmerman or the cops or both, but I stand by my own opinion that it is there, based on the facts as we know them to date.
But that is entirely aside from the larger societal issues which I think should be open for discussion. To that end, I would appreciate it if you would address the arguments I have made and not ask me to defend arguments I did not. I have explained myself at least twice now. Please do not make me do it again, but instead read the whole of my comments taken together. Or shrug them off as not worth your time. I'm fine either way.
Now, for tonight, I have to bow out. I had a kitchen accident, and my right index finger is bandaged so much it's very hard to type. I've pretty much done all I can do for now. I'll catch up with this discussion tomorrow.
ETA: I'll struggle with the keys just to add this: According to one of the released 911 tapes, Zimmerman did not know if Martin was "a punk, a hood, a thief, a trespasser, a junkie, a stranger, a vandal, a burglar, a smart ass kid, a bum, a poverty kid, a 99 percenter, a pervert, a sagger, or some other form of "not one of us"", but he did know he was black. He said so to the 911 operator.
Now that doesn't prove he shot him because he was black, but if you're going to speculate about what it was that made Zimmerman suspect, follow, confront and shoot this young man, I'd give more weight to what he could reasonably know about him over what he could only have made up about him in his own imagination. In any event, whether he shot Martin because he was black or because of some utterly unfounded and fantastical belief that he belonged to any other group Zimmerman might have hated, that wouldn't make Zimmerman less of a bigot.