No. From what I can tell, George Zimmerman is not a racist. He did not use racial epitaphs, such as the N word, he had a legitimate reason to look into Trayvon Martin (he was a Neighborhood watch and did not recognize him.). His attitude and that of his family and friends do not say racist. In fact, from what I can tell by listening to the 911 calls and to George Zimmerman's friends and family, he is something much worse than a racist.
George Zimmerman is a fascist, not a racist.
His problem was not a hatred based on race, but a sense of arrogance and power. He wanted to be a cop. He wanted to be in charge. He wanted respect and authority. He was big on "Yes Ma'am", "No Ma'am" - offering up the respect he so desperately wanted. He called the police multiple times to report what he considered 'dangerous incidents' (46 times in 2004, almost 50 times in the year before he killed Trayvon Martin). He targeted Trayvon not because he was black, but because he targeted EVERYONE. Amazing that his little community survived with all those dangerous incidents. He was overzealous and carried a permitted concealed gun.
He was in effect, a tin-pot dictator of the cul-de-sac. Not the first, and certainly not the last. Any that live in a home owner's association controlled area, know the type. They love the gated communities, because it lets them tell you what flowers you are allowed to plant, what colors you can paint your home, what mailbox you can put up, etc. etc.
He saw Trayvon Martin, not as a black kid, but as a disobedient kid. One that dared to disobey his authority. Think of him like South Park's Cartman. Cartman is fine with black kids (Literally named "Token" in the show.), but he wants everyone to 'Respect my authoritah!"
Trayvon Martin did not respect George Zimmerman's authoritah. So George Zimmerman started a fight. He approached the boy with arrogance, it led to a fight that ended with a gunshot.
George Zimmerman is a tin-pot dictator. He killed Trayvon Martin not out of racism, but out of arrogance. It still doesn't make it self defense. He hunted and pursued, he did not stand his ground. He claims that his hunt failed and that Trayvon then approached him. Maybe every word he claimed is true, but that doesn't let George off the hook. George started the trouble, not Trayvon.
He needs to go to prison. Technically, the crime he committed is called criminally negligent involuntary manslaughter: willful blindness to the dangerousness and stupidity of his own actions.
Of course, Florida is one of the few states that doesn't distinguish between voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, let alone constructive manslaughter vs criminally negligent. In Florida, it's all the same thing - manslaughter. It is a second degree felony. Worse, Florida has a 10-20-Life law that raises the degree one step if a firearm is used. So George did a first degree felony. But lets ignore the law for now and concentrate on appropriate punishment.
That's what you get when you use a one size fits all, "hang em and let god sort em out" style of law. We need laws that deal with the gray situations, not just the extremes.
In my opinion, the proper punishment for George Zimmerman is a short stay in prison (more than a week, less than a year) followed by a long probation, with revocation of his concealed carry permit. He did something stupid out arrogance, and needs to learn humility more than anything else. In particular, we don't want this tin pot dictator going armed with a concealed gun. Let him carry openly, Trayvon probably would simply have run away if George had come at him openly carrying a gun.
Note, his dreams of becoming a police officer has already been destroyed (the publicity ended his potential career).
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