To be Young, Black, and Male in America: Guilty of Something until Proven Innocent
Only two people know what happened the evening of February
26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. One person is dead, a 17 year-old black male
teenager, named Trayvon Martin. The other person, at the time, a 28 year-old
neighborhood watch captain for a gated community name George Zimmerman, is on
trial, charged with the murder of Trayvon Martin.
The question at the heart of the trial seems to be whether
Martin was (or was not) the aggressor, provoking a struggle that resulted in
Zimmerman firing a single shot into his chest at close range. Bleeding from the
nose and with cuts and bruises on the back of his head, when police arrived on
the scene, Zimmerman told them that he was violently attacked by Martin and
fired his gun in self-defense.

According to Florida’s stand-your-ground law, if Martin was
the aggressor, Zimmerman’s acted in self-defense.
When I first heard about the circumstances surrounding the
death of Martin, I told my mother that I did not think that Zimmerman would be
convicted of murder.
The prosecution has nearly rested its case against
Zimmerman. Many observers do not think the trial is going well for the
prosecution. I think that they are correct. My opinion about what the final
verdict will be in this trial has not changed; I hate being a pessimist, but, I still do not think that
Zimmerman will be convicted.
Trayvon Martin died that night for three combined reasons:
he was young, black, and male. It is for these three reasons that I do
not think that there will be a conviction in this trial.
Zimmerman hunted after and killed Martin that night, I
believe, because he was acting on a deeply rooted racial stereotype. In
America, young black males are expected to be dangerous criminals, and
unpredictably violent.
In Zimmerman’s eyes, Martin fit the stereotype of a
dangerous criminal that night. "This guy looks like he's up to no good, or
he's on drugs or something. It's raining and he's just walking around, looking
about" and "looking at all the houses," Zimmerman told a police
radio dispatcher.
"He was just walking casually, not like he was trying
to get out of the rain," said Zimmerman while being questioned by the
police. "Something was off" about Martin, he added.
I find it hard to believe that Zimmerman would have found
the behavior of a young white male walking in the rain wearing a hoody as
suspicious as he thought Martin’s behavior was that night.
According to Zimmerman description of what happened, Martin
also fits the stereotype of the unpredictably violent black male. After losing
track of Martin in the darkness, Zimmerman told the police that just before he
reached his car, Martin (unarmed and still talking on his cell phone according
to a witness for the defense who heard some of the struggle before the call
abruptly ended) suddenly appeared "out of nowhere," "from the
darkness," as if he "jump[ed] out of the bushes."
According to Zimmerman, Martin screamed, "You got a
fucking problem, homie?" After he replied no, Martin then said that he did
now, and punched him. Martin then allegedly wrestled the much bigger Zimmerman to the
ground. With Martin on top of him, Zimmerman yelled for help "probably 50
times (Zimmerman says that Martin covered his mouth, muffling some of his
screams)." Martin told him to "Shut the fuck up," as he
repeatedly pounded him in the face and banged his head against the sidewalk.
The Sanford Police Department released Zimmerman after detaining
and interviewing him for about five hours because they did not believe any of
the evidence contradicted his claim of self-defense. The truth of the matter is that Zimmerman racially profiled a black teenager walking in the rain wearing a hoodie. Given the pervasiveness of stereotypes about young black males in American society, I think its going to be tough for the prosecution to convince all six jurors (five of the six are white) that Zimmerman actions that night were unreasonable given Martin's race and gender.
The decision not to charge Zimmerman that night was likely influenced by the fact that the victim was young, black, and male, the same reasons why I do not believe that Zimmerman will be found guilty of the murder that he committed that night but should be punished for.
The decision not to charge Zimmerman that night was likely influenced by the fact that the victim was young, black, and male, the same reasons why I do not believe that Zimmerman will be found guilty of the murder that he committed that night but should be punished for.
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