Injustice: the Trayvon Martin Story

   

    Blacks in America have always been at a disadvantage.  Tracing back to slavery, to the imposing of Jim Crow laws, and even the mass incarcerations attributed to the war on drugs, African-Americans have always been the victims of some sort of racial injustice that goes on in this country.  To some extent, being black automatically makes an individual a target in society; in a society where racism supposedly no longer exists.  This article is not meant to stir up any racial tension or accuse anyone of racism or anything of that sort, but with an incident like the killing of seventeen year old African American Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a self appointed Neighborhood Watch member George Zimmerman, you can't help but to think that his race played a major role in making him the victim of this shooting.
    The attack on Trayvon was uncalled for to say the least.  Considering no one has a first-person account by Trayvon on the incident, the only source of information that the public can use to reach conclusions is the recordings that have been publicized on the news, and the account of the eye witnesses.  Nevertheless, all of those sources indicate that Trayvon was victimized simply for his race.  Zimmerman, the 28 year old Hispanic or White (police and family present different accounts on his race) male who shot Martin was clearly recorded saying to the police "These as*holes, they always get away."  That statement alone creates controversy, as it implies that Zimmerman categorized Martin as being a part of a certain group. Given the incident, and the popular stereotype of African-Americans being up to no good, that group seems to be black people.
     Based on the conditions, in which Zimmerman was allegedly alarmed by Trayvon's "suspicious activity," I can't help but to wonder what this "suspicious activity" was.  Was it because Martin was on the phone? Or that he had a pack of skittles and iced-tea in his possession? Or that he had a hood on?  Or was it the simple fact that he was black? Considering all these things are considered legal (at least they were last time I checked), what probable cause did Zimmerman have to attack the young black teenager, especially after the police had made it clear that following him was not needed?   Wearing no police uniform or anything of that sort, he had no right to approach Martin and question him, let alone try to exert any physical control over him.  How was Martin suppose to know that he was part of the Neighborhood Watch?  Zimmerman was clearly out of line for all of these actions.
     Besides the horrific incident itself,  the aftermath of the event raises many unanswered questions.  Why is Zimmerman still walking around as a free-man today?  Why was the police so quick to accept his claim of self-defense?  Why were these tapes that contain so much evidence held in private for so long?  Why is the death of this seventeen-year old African American male not avenged yet?  With all this injustice going on, I can't help but to think that the outcome of this story would've been completely different if the victim was Caucasian.  Zimmerman was undoubtedly angry at a certain group which Martin belonged to, and ended up taking out his frustration on what happened to be an innocent boy.  Considering Zimmerman knew nothing about Martin, the only categorization that could be made on the spot had to be based on race.  With that being said, Trayvon Martin's race played a role in making him a victim.   Again, my intention is not to stir up any racial controversy, but this seems to be a perfect example of another disadvantage that African-Americans have to endure in this country: walking-while-black.

Photo Credit:
thedailybeast.com