George Zimmerman Complained About Being Seen as ‘White’

Murder suspect says outrage over teenager’s death is due to misidentification.

George Zimmerman doesn’t like being called a white racist, according to new evidence in the Trayvon Martin case.

In one of more than a hundred recorded jail calls released Monday by Florida prosecutors, the 28-year-old man of Hispanic descent expressed anger over having initially been identified in the media as white, the Miami Herald reports.

Zimmerman, who is fluent in Spanish, complained to his sister that their parents hadn’t given him his proper Hispanic name, “Jorge.”

He believes America would not be outraged over the death of Martin, a 17-year-old black high school junior from Miami Gardens, if they understand that he is Latino.

[GET THE LATEST IN THE TRAYVON MARTIN CASE]

Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch captain in the gated community where he shot Martin, is charged with second-degree murder. He claims the shooting was self-defense and hopes to avoid trial under Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law.

As news outlets began digging into Zimmerman’s background, some had identified him as a “white Hispanic.” Civil rights groups led weeks of protests around the country, believing that Zimmerman was a white man and that he was motivated to pursue Martin because of the teen’s race. Zimmerman's mother is Hispanic and his father his white.

Along with Monday’s release of recorded jail calls, statements of a woman identified as “witness 9” suggest Zimmerman’s family is racist.

"(They) don't like black people if they don't act like white people. They like black people if they act white," witness 9 told prosecutors.

She went on to say that she’d never seen Zimmerman behave in a hostile manner toward a black person.

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