NBC Medical Editor: Trayvon Martin Case Shows 'We Don't Talk Enough About Race'
In a statement totally disconnected from the reality of media coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting, on Thursday's Today show, NBC chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman proclaimed that the case, "...underscores the fact that we don't talk about race enough in this country and that race does matter, it's always under the surface."
NBC alone – not to mention the other networks or MSNBC – made race so much of a central issue to the tragedy that the network aired a story that dishonestly edited a 911 call from accused shooter George Zimmerman to make it seem as if the neighborhood watch volunteer singled out the black teenager for his race.
While the network issued an apology on paper and fired the producer responsible for the false editing, NBC News has yet to apologize on air for the report, which appeared on Today.
In addition, race has been talked about on the Today show so much in relation to the Trayvon Martin shooting that on March 30 co-host Hoda Kotb went so far as to declare that Skittles – candy that Martin happened to have on him – had become, "A symbol of racial injustice."
Not wanting to let a tragedy go to waste on Thursday, Snyderman saw the case as an opportunity to go after guns and the Stand Your Ground law in Florida: "I hope it allows us as a nation to talk about guns...this Stand Your Ground law, where now justifiable homicide cases have tripled since that law. I hope it allows this country to reexamine that."
Snyderman made the comments during the show's regular Today's Professionals panel segment, with fellow panelist and attorney Star Jones voicing her agreement: "And law enforcement really and truly has been taxed in the states that have Stand Your Ground laws."
This is not the first time Snyderman has pushed the gun issue on Today. On February 16 she bizarrely decried the "guns" and "violence" in a Rick Santorum campaign ad. The ad in question accused Mitt Romney of mudslinging and depicted a Romney impersonator firing a paint ball gun of mud at a cardboard cutout of Santorum.
Here is a transcript of the April 12 exchange:
9:05AM ET
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Now to Today's Professionals, our panel of power players weighing in on the hot topics of the day. Star Jones is an attorney and author, Donny Deutsch is chairman of the ad giant Deutsche Incorporated. And Dr. Nancy Snyderman is NBC's chief medical editor. Good morning to all of you.
NANCY SNYDERMAN: Good morning. Good morning.
STAR JONES: Good to see you.
GUTHRIE: Boy, we have a lot to talk about. Let's start with the George Zimmerman case. He's now been charged with second-degree murder in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Star, our lawyer, I'll start with you. Do you think this prosecutor got the charge right? Was it an overcharge?
STAR JONES: I think that prosecutors like to charge as high as they think that the evidence is that shows them right now. She obviously knows a lot more than the rest of us do. And I think one thing that was extremely impressive is she now focused America's attention on justice and due process. That this process for her was really about taking care of the victims, protecting them, but now it shifts to making sure justice is done. And I was extremely impressed with her.
GUTHRIE: Which leads me to the next point because I don't think there can be any denying that public pressure is part of the reason that we got to the point where a charge has been filed. But Donny, I'll put it to you. Do you think public pressure has a role going forward? Do you think it will affect what happens in a courtroom in Florida?
DONNY DEUTSCH: Well, I think there's politics and there's law and there's the politics of law. And clearly, this had to go to trial. We don't know the details here. None of us know the details. Clearly this is a case that needs a brighter light, and we're going to get it now. It's that simple.
NANCY SNYDERMAN: I'm hoping that as this goes forward, and I think hearing you talk about – through a legal lens, I'm not surprised by what's happened. But I hope it allows us as a nation to talk about guns, this law that was enacted in Florida in 2005, this Stand Your Ground law, where now justifiable homicide cases have tripled since that law. I hope it allows this country to reexamine that.
JONES: And law enforcement really and truly has been taxed in the states that have Stand Your Ground laws. I think one of the things we need to do is reject the premise of the question of whether or not the public pressure is going to impact on the justice system. Public pressure simply made a light bulb go off in this case. That's what it did.
DEUTSCH: I always wonder in cases like this though, which is obviously race is a huge part of it, does this heal or does this divide? And I always wonder – obviously, this has got to happen now and-
GUTHRIE: And let me pick up on that because if ultimately – you would acknowledge, this is a tough case for any prosecutor to bring.
JONES: Very much so.
GUTHRIE: If you end up with an acquittal or coming back on a charge that the Martin family doesn't feel is sufficient, do you worry about this tinderbox in Sanford, Florida?
JONES: There's never going to be sufficiency for the Martin family. This is the one thing that as a prosecutor I'd like to impart to people. They lost their child. You're never going to make that right. What makes it right for them is that the person responsible for his death stands before a court of law. And that a jury of his peer's says yes or no.
DEUTSCH: But you're automatically assuming – let's say it comes – I want to go back to the divide thing. Let's say it comes out in the trial that this young man was initiating things.
JONES: Yes.
DEUTSCH: And this was – well, then it cuts in another direction. Then you get white people angry. And then so either way, what's so upsetting about this...
SNYDERMAN: But it underscores the fact that race-
DEUTSCH: ...is it divides us!
SNYDERMAN: But it underscores the fact that we don't talk about race enough in this country and that race does matter, it's always under the surface.
DEUTSCH: Well, we do talk about it, unfortunately, it's always about this.
JONES: We don't tell the truth. We don't tell the truth about it. And when they're in this trial, if we get to that point, what you should remember, first of all, is as long as the facts and the truth come out, then justice actually is done.
GUTHRIE: And people will see it.
JONES: Yes.
GUTHRIE: Florida has very expansive sunshine laws. Likely to be a camera in that courtroom.
(...)
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Comments
NBC knows nothing about nothing
Submitted by Slyrr on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:25pm.
Like anyone pays attention to this network of liars, who have to fake their 'evidence' and doctor their tapes?
TALK
Submitted by Jersey Girl on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:27pm.
Okay, let's talk about race. Let's talk about the blacks killing blacks in Chicago.
...or any other major city.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:06pm.
.
What foolishness, "We don't
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:27pm.
What foolishness, "We don't talk enough about race"! We don't talk enough about character, integrity and good moral values over race. I person's character is far more important than the color of their skin, period.
so right
Submitted by kinijane on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 9:20am.
The blacks forgot about King's speech on character, and Al and Jesse don't much
care about either, they are making their big bucks on spreading the "poor little me,
the white man keeps me down" the dem's play the race card every time they open
their mouths even to the point of inserting it where there was absolutely no part of the
narrative. Who cares that Obama is black, his leadership stinks and thats what matters.
I had a black boss who thought I didn't like him because of his color, that had NOTHING
to do with it, he had no integrity, character or moral values but you would never convince
him of that.
These racists and race
Submitted by ForeverOnTheRight on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 11:07am.
These racists and race baiters keep us back form achieving King's dream and they spit on his grave every time they play the race card.
I'm sorry. I must have been busy.
Submitted by NeoKong on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:31pm.
What is this Trayvon Martin thing all about.....?
I heard something about it this morning.
Is she daft?? All we talk
Submitted by ray johnson on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:34pm.
Is she daft?? All we talk about is race...the pols on the left dearly love to beat that as much as possible. And Sharpton and JessJackson make out like bandits. This whole deal is a joke. The Martins are being taken for a ride and are being used...and they'll be tossed out like a used Kleenex before its all over. Guess maybe some "settlement" would be satisfactory and help smooth it over???
They don't want to talk about
Submitted by tcm14 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:25pm.
They don't want to talk about race.
They want to talk about what THEY want to say about race. Nothing else counts as "talking about race" to them.
So
Submitted by grammajane on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:37pm.
now this snyderman has become the next authority on nbc about everything possible that hits the head-lines? Here in Mpls. 3 people were shot dead at a day-care center this week, last night a young man was delivering food to a sick neightbor and was shot to death by 3 thugs who wanted his bike, a 3 yr old was shot to death by a drive by bullet and hardly any of the news is broadcast anywhere. So yes, maybe we should aknowledge what is going on and quit blaming the white filthy rich Republicans for these acts of violence.
Not talking enough about race
Submitted by SeniorD on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:37pm.
Translation: White folk ain't getting the message that they're wrong - even if they're right.
We dont talk enough about race, we just edit 911 tapes.
Submitted by BarneyFrankenstein on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:38pm.
Ironcially, this is the very show that added racial context into this story by maliciously editing the Zimmerman 911 audio.
These people either have a stunning lack of self awareness, or so much hubris that they think that whatever they say or do becomes true, when in fact they are not grounded in reality.
This commentary flies directly in the face of Trayvon's own parents speaking eloquently about "the heart has no color"- seriously, how do these media types look at themselves in the mirror each morning?
And lets talk about guns
Submitted by OldJarhead77 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:18pm.
Nancy "No guns" Snyderman.. goes on a rant about guns:
"I hope it allows us as a nation to talk about guns...this Stand Your Ground law, where now justifiable homicide cases have tripled since that law. I hope it allows this country to reexamine that."
Well that actually isn't true because they have rigged the data. they start in 04 in that year a number of cases were declared to be self defense so it cants the data a bit. Also what she fails to mention is that while Self defense killings were up overall homicide rates were DOWN!!!! As more people defend themselves from the street thugs and animals that roam our streets HOMICIDES GO DOWN
"Snyderman made the comments during the show's regular Today's Professionals panel segment, with fellow panelist and attorney Star Jones voicing her agreement: "And law enforcement really and truly has been taxed in the states that have Stand Your Ground laws."
NO Star "Legend in my own mind" Jones in fact they are LESS TAXED! when the law enforcement walks on to a crime scene and find the perp dead in a pool of his or her own blood holding the knife that he was using to rob and possibly stab the victim to death and then they find the almost victim with a gun.. they can say self defense call the meat wagon and its all over!
"This is not the first time Snyderman has pushed the gun issue on Today. On February 16 she bizarrely decried the "guns" and "violence" in a Rick Santorum campaign ad. The ad in question accused Mitt Romney of mudslinging and depicted a Romney impersonator firing a paint ball gun of mud at a cardboard cutout of Santorum."
Once again Nancy "No guns" Snyderman comparing real guns the ones used in self defense to a play thing a toy because to Snyderman no guns anywhere is what she wants! To LIBERALS like here their mantra is TO HELL WITH THE SECOND AMENDMENT"
NBC apologizing? Forget about it!
Submitted by Mary Louise Turner on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:43pm.
Will the National Barack Channel ever apologize for its crass dishonesty? The answer is as plain as the nose on your face: Never! Being liberal, after all, means never having to say you're sorry...If they ever did, the "apology" would be as phony as a six-dollar bill!
we don't talk about race
Submitted by sherlock1 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:46pm.
we don't talk about race HONESTLY enough in this country...
This is just stupid
Submitted by c5then on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:50pm.
Listening to NBC pontificate about race is like listening to Lewis Farrakhan pontificate about tolerance.
The real problem is that the media tries to make everything about race and wont shut up about it.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
"race" is as false a science as global warming...
Submitted by vrwc13 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 5:59pm.
We are of one race, all of us. The human race.
www.abcnews.com, Science page, We’re all the same, September 10, 1998. (not surprisingly it: "We're All the Same," American Broadcasting Corporation News, September 10, 1998, www.abcnews.com/sections/science/DyeHard/dye72.html. is gone!!!).
In an article in the summer issue of the Journal of Counseling and Development, Cameron and Wycoff argue that the term ‘race’ is so meaningless that it ought to be discarded. In the field of genetics, researchers have concluded that the genetic differences between the so-called races account for only 0.012 percent of human biological variation. What the facts show is that there are differences among us, but they stem from culture, not race. As Day adds, ‘It’s kind of like if all of us are recipes. We have the same ingredients, maybe in different amounts, no matter what kind of cake we turn out to be.’
...the genetic difference between any two people is .2%,
while the differences attributable to what we think of as ‘racial’ variation are only 6% of that, i.e. .012%.
The differences between the mean of any two ‘races’ is less than the differences within any one ‘race’!
...we might as well be fighting over eye color or 'second toe shorter or longer than the big toe'
v
The burden of life is from ourselves, its lightness from the grace of Christ and the love of God. - William Bernard Ullanthorne
Liberals
Submitted by fivestring_assassin on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:02pm.
jibberjabbering to other liberals
its meaningless
Let's talk about BOTH types of minorities more.
Submitted by Willis_Leon_Johnson on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:09pm.
TWO types of minorities, not just for 'blacks' anymore.
One set of minorities gets over any inequities foisted upon them in the past, gets off their butts, works hard to get an education and EARN their way out of poverty and makes a better life for themselves and their families.
Then there's to 'other group' that demands they be handed everything with no effort on their part.
Not even a 'thank you' for the People that kept their sorry, lazy asses alive with free housing, clothing, food, medical care and recreational facilities.
It's time to wall the second group in and allow a ONEWAY exit.
Those willing to work and EARN their way in life can come out, but never return.
Those who stay get food, minimum healthcare and not much else.
End 'gun violence in America' - Require training and MANDATORY "Shall Carry" by every Citizen.
If harry reid is the best person to lead the senate, what does that say about the other 99 senators?
Yeah, Synderman, let's talk more about hispanic on black crime.
Submitted by SickofLibs on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:12pm.
I have to admit I sometimes watch a bit of Sharpton's show purely for entertainment value, but I simply cannot stomach even one minute of this arrogant elitist blowhole.
Medical Editor and Race
Submitted by djwolf12 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 6:36pm.
This is comparing apples and oranges. Hey Nancy, what about Anne Romney's Breast Cancer? What's your thoughts on Democrats attacking a cancer survivor? Oh wait, she isn't Elizabeth Edwards (who blogged at The Daily Kooks, er Kos). And what about Dick Cheney's heart transplant? Oh wait, you think that operation should be investigated because he wasn't your ordinary 71 year old man you wouldn't give the time of day to (or you'd sentence to death on your little Obama Panels).
Snyderman is a Communist B**CH. There I said it. If you don't like it, too bad. Boycott my sponsors.
From a fellow medical professional, Nancy, SHUT UP!
Submitted by drsamherman on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 7:16pm.
Stick to your ENT practice and keep doing myringotomies, nose jobs and tonsillectomies.
Stop whoring the medical profession to advance your own dimwitted agenda. Using your perceived authority as a physician in a political matter is not only wrong, but the fact that you present no moderating facts or fair balance to your blatherings makes you even more irritating than Dr. Oz and his incessant garbage.
On behalf of the profession, SHUT UP!
Well Said, Dr. Sam
Submitted by djwolf12 on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 7:28pm.
Remember, this Snyderman actually said on air that a VP's heart transplant should be investigated as to how he got it. This woman is dangerously crossing the lines of being a doctor and being Joseph Mengele. If that sounds too harsh, so be it. It is the most logical conclusion that I can arrive to with looking at the history of what this lunatic Snyderman and her sidekick Coconut Douche have said in the very recent past.
The left has gone Fishin
Submitted by JCLINE on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 7:29pm.
This dizzy media Dr. Dame is real busy Fishin in a dry hole using only race for bait, making lame excuses for her boss ..she's as guilty of promoting racial unrest as the rest of the staff at NBC ...
NBC used to stand for National Broadcasting Company , now it's just Nasty Broadcasting Criminals .
The three stooges
Submitted by Herbster on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 8:44pm.
Has-been Star Jones, Danny Douche and psychopathic Dr. Nancy. What a group......and Savannah the sorority girl running the show. Does it get any better than this?
(My apologies to the Three Stooges.)
Really?
Submitted by bobsmom on Thu, 04/12/2012 - 9:13pm.
Seems lately, that's ALL we talk about. 12% of the population, dominates 90% of the dialogue. The rest of us have more important fish to fry, but are drowned out by the loud mouths with megaphones. I'd love to be in a Twilight Zone episode, where all the race baiters lose their voices for 24 hours. Can you imagine the REAL things that could be discussed and implemented? Boggles the mind.
Maybe she's
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 2:15am.
Maybe she's right.............Boy Baraka TALKS about jobs all the time, and nothing happens.................so maybe if everybody talks about 'race' some more - because obviously it's not being 'talked' about enough - then things might get better, just like the unemployment and job situation.
Trayvon Martin and the New Black Panther Party
Submitted by berlet98 on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 2:26am.
Trayvon Martin and the New Black Panther Party
Now that Florida special prosecutor Angela Corey has met with and prayed with the family of Trayvon Martin followed by Corey’s decision to arrest George Zimmerman, jail him, and charge him with second degree murder, it would seem that the inflamed passions that have surrounded the case would come to an end, at least until Zimmerman is tried.
Don’t bet on it.
Thursday morning on the “Today” show, Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, made her own, surprising announcement saying unequivocably, “I believe it was an accident, I believe that it just got out of control and he [Zimmerman] couldn’t turn the clock back.”
That was a fair enough assessment.
By Thursday afternoon, Fulton had retracted her statement and declared with an equivalent lack of equivocation on MSNBC-TV that “George Zimmerman stalked my son and murdered him in cold blood.”
An “accident” is a far cry from charges of stalking and cold-blooded murder.
That monumental reversal leads one to suspect Trayvon’s mother either experienced a sea change in her opinion over the course of a few hours or someone sat her down and told her to shut up about accidents if she wanted to hang Zimmerman and maybe earn a few bucks by suing him, the city of Sanford, the Sanford P.D., and anyone else even remotely connected with the case.
A cynic might think the latter scenarios were more probable rather than a considered reassessment of an accidental shooting.
Of course, even the lawless New Black Panther Party changes its mind.
Michelle Williams, the NBPP “chief of staff,” also reversed course in a matter of a few days. . . (Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=21462.)
We've heard sufficient from
Submitted by forest on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 8:35am.
We've heard sufficient from NBC on the subject. The doctored tapes aren't helpful.
hypocrites
Submitted by jetsgiants on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 11:29am.
why white liberals never want to live in black neighborhoods?
Ahh, an expert opinion!
Submitted by CobraMan on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 12:48pm.
"we don't talk about race enough in this country and that race does matter, it's always under the surface."
Ahh, finally, a truly expert opinion! What's that, she wasn't talking about Sickle Cell Anemia? Hay, Lady, stick to what you know, will ya?
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. The US Constitution
Unless you're a fetus. The US Supreme Court
Or Anwar al-Awlaki.
Actually the opposite is
Submitted by NCfairandbalanced on Fri, 04/13/2012 - 1:09pm.
Actually the opposite is true. We talk TOO MUCH about race. Thanks Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson. You've blown this up out of proportion so we may never get to the truth. How ironic. The truth may be what they "want it to be", but now it might not come out because of their own race-baiting!