Yes, YY, I think that second quote is a good one for getting at the humanity of prejudice -- the act of "pre-judging" which we all do to one degree or another, and in various ways in various circumstances. George Zimmerman can have good friends who are black and still respond automatically with a different judgement to an unknown black person in circumstances he's trained himself to suspect.

Honestly, for me I have less of a problem (not none!) with Zimmerman as an individual in this case than (1) the police department (non)response, and (2) our laws that allowed him to be out there untrained or monitored but with a loaded gun, seeing himself as an adjunct in law enforcement.

To focus strictly on Zimmerman and assume he's a bigot limits the view of the scope and complexity of the problems here, and is a mirror to those whose view is that "of course Trayvon Martin was a thug".

~ Becky in Long Beach