February 26, 2012

The Death of Trayvon Martin

Unarmed African American teenager Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman as Zimmerman was patroling a gated community. Zimmerman suspected that Martin was guilty of something and followed him (despite having been told not to by the police non-emeregncy line that he had called). Zimmerman was found not guilty of murder.

HOW DOES THIS CONNECT TO STRUCTURAL RACISM?:

Zimmerman defended killing Martin on the basis of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" (SYG) law, which allows the claim of self-defense. A study showed that in SYG states, "the shooting of a black person by a white person is found justifiable 17 percent of the time, while the shooting of a white person by a black person is deemed justifiable just over 1 percent of the time." (Citation: Race, Justifiable Homicide, and Stand Your Ground Laws: Analysis of FBI Supplementary Homicide Report Data).

For more on Trayvon Martin's death see, " Race, Justifiable Homicide, and Stand Your Ground Laws: Analysis of FBI Supplementary Homicide Report Data "