That these questions are likely to go unanswered in court of law is thanks to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which places the threshold for self-defense so low that you need little more than your word to show that your life was in danger. Zimmerman’s description of events was enough for the police, who evidently feel they know all that they need to know to determine that Zimmerman should be free to walk the streets while Martin’s family mourns. The crime of killing a black person still is not greater than the crime of being black. And, as one of the family’s attorneys asked, “Do we really believe that if Trayvon Martin had pulled the trigger, he would not have been arrested?” We know that being a black man in America is a life-threatening occupation, whether you’re a 22-year-old in Oakland or a 13-year-old in Chicago or a 17 year-old in Orlando. The characters change, but the script remains the same. When everyone has had their say, another young black man has been killed for doing nothing more than being a young black man. What we don’t yet know is what it will take to get justice for Trayvon. A wonderful thating that started was the signing of the Change.org petition started by his parents calling on Florida’s 18th District State’s Attorney to prosecute Zimmerman. Trayvon is dead, and black men everywhere live in constant fear they could be the next…
With the widespread national media coverage of the Treyvon Martin shooting, facts can be easily misconstrued and bring about prejudices on the case in its entirety and also George Zimmerman. What was tragic incident turned into a highly publicized phenomenon. Facts and specifics of the case should be private and the amount of time from indictment to trial is detrimental to a fair trial, a sixth amendment right under the United States Constitution. The circumstances surrounding Martin’s death, combined with the initial decision not to charge Zimmerman after detainment and questioning by police, along with a query and examination of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground”…
With a controversial topic at hand, the case of Trayvon Martin and the real facts as to what happened the night he was shot come to conclusion. The Trayvon Martin Tragedy, exists as the undigestable story of an adolescent African American male who is shot upon by a neighborhood watch captin by the name of Geroge Zimmerman with nothing to defend himself but a bag of Skittles, an Arizona Iced Tea, and a cell phone. With factual eveidence, witnesses, and 911 phone call recordings we uncover wether Zimmerman shot Martin as anything but self defense. Due to the fact that Trayvon was walking back to his home while on the phone with his girlfriend, he wasn’t stirring up any causes for trouble. The act of his suspiousness was merely upon judgement and race. Zimmerman was not truthful in his statements during the trial and begins to show several slip ups in evidence and reasonable explanations.…
1. After completing the lab in this unit, answer the following questions. Do you think O.J. Simpson is guilty? What are final thoughts about all the O.J. Simpson videos you have viewed? Present at least 2 paragraphs.…
The concern of the case that was showed at the time when the story broke, it appeared to be geared down toward selling the story, and building the story into a racial motivated incident which was believed to be the truth. The news was not completely clear or accurate and the investigative methods were not sufficient in either depth or breadth. The stories promoted the idea that Trayvon was an innocent young child who just happened to be out late that night and George Zimmerman just looked to act as judge, jury and executioner which was sad. The pictures of George Zimmerman seemed to promote prejudice and negative emotions from the audience, because he showed no remorse about what had happened. The prosecutor used bias in the news by deliberately more current pictures of both these individuals during the trial. Many of the news channels across the country seem to deliberate the truth of the story regarding what type of people both Trayvon and George were.…
Stewart, J. B. (1995). Race, science, and "just-us": Understanding jurors ' reasonable doubt in the OJ simpson trial. The Black Scholar, 25(4), 43. Retrieved from http://0-search.proquest.com.liucat.lib.liu.edu/docview/229758638?accountid=12142Shipp, E. R. (1994). OJ and the black media. Columbia Journalism Review, 33(4), 39. Retrieved from…
In the SALON article, White Killers Go To Burger king: Race, Planned Parenthood and our diseased white privilege, Chauncey Devega writes about the sickening hypocrisy of how white perpetrators of mass killings are treated by law enforcement in the United States. Devaga uses examples such as how the Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear and the Charleston Church shooter Dylann Roof were treated by police as they were arrested. All of these mass murderers were apprehended by police alive and safe. Dylann Roof was even brought to burger King after his arrest. Devega contrasts this with the injustices that black Americans face on a daily basis. For a black American, even the most mundane interaction with a police officer can have deadly consequences.…
On the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African American high school student. On April 11, 2012, George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. It was until Florida State Attorney Angela Corey announced the charges against Zimmerman that he decided to turn himself in to law enforcement. On July 13, 2013, the six-person jury rendered a not guilty verdict on all counts. 17 year old Trayvon Martin was a victim of an obvious hate crime that was caused by many prejudiced views towards the black community. George Zimmerman was not an African American male, therefore he was less likely to go to jail. Situations such as this one often remained unresolved due to the laws in the U.S. and how they affect African American males. Historical trends in justice administration have shown that the criminal justice system is not broken, it was designed that way. The criminal justice system was created in a way that will disadvantage, subdue, and control certain minority…
Bill Zimmerman was born in 1940 to Jewish Immigrants on Chicago’s west side. In his memoir Troublemaker, he tells the story of himself, a man dealing with education, family commitments, and his broad involvement in the anti-Vietnam war movement. Zimmerman witnessed racism in the Mississippi Delta and, and spent an extensive amount of time writing and participating in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Zimmerman helped by undermining the false perception of the Civil Rights movement. (Zimmerman 1-4).…
This article really stood out to me because it showed the other non-biased view of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman’s case. It is apparently alleged that Zimmerman, a self-acclaimed neighborhood watchman, who carried a weapon, saw Trayvon, followed him in his car and asked him what he was doing. Trayvon answered with “why are you following me”, and a fight ensued. As they were fighting an unarmed Trayvon yelled “Help, Help, Help” as Zimmerman cocked his gun and shot Trayvon in an apparent struggle. What really stood out to me in this article is how Trayvon was pleading for Zimmerman, a 28 year old Florida resident to stop beating him up. Another thing that stood out to me was that Trayvon was only 17 years old. I wondered to myself why a 28 year old followed and beat up a 17-year-old boy. Some say Zimmerman a Hispanic was racist against African Americans leading to the question did Zimmerman purposely shoot and kill Trayvon because he was black?…
Families of murder victims, rape victims and sex trafficking victims deal with increased PTSD, depression, suicidal thoughts or actions, and an increased chance of substance abuse. Unfortunately across the country and around the world the people who committed these crimes are acquitted during their trials. They are unable to sleep at night due to fear that the person who hurt them or someone they knew could come back and hurt them. In America today, people of higher social statuses are able to get away with more crimes such as murder, child pornography, sex trafficking, rape and even dog fighting.…
Trayvon Martin’s killing was a racial hate crime because of Zimmerman’s actions before, during and after the killing, the 911 call, and the police report all indicating Trayvon’s killing was racially provoked since then I have been teaching my child about the possibilities of being racially targeted due to his ethnicity and exactly what racial profiling is.…
Year after year this nation continues to change their owns laws, but fall short when fulfilling them. On February 26, 2012 Trayvon Martin was fatally shot and killed by George Zimmerman, but only days after on March 8th the nation became aware of the assaults against Martin. The courts then looked into the case very closely, and came to a conclusion on July 13th, that George Zimmerman was simply not guilty. The verdict took over a year to come to a terrible conclusion that someone who fatally shot another person was not guilty. In another case Dylan Roof shot nine African-Americans in a church, and “[was] placed on watch immediately” (ABC News). With valid and clear evidence Dylan Roof was placed on watch, while on the other hand without clear or any evidence to any crime Trayvon Martin was killed. Trayvon Martin did not receive a chance to be watched over, but Dylan Roof a white person, who was also a known killer did. This is the place the US has come to, a place where a white male who has committed a known crime can be watched over and kept safe, but an African-American who committed an unknown crime is fatally shot. Over time the US has not changed, but evolved into a place with bias judgments and prejudice choices that lead to…
In Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012 an African American male, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch George Zimmerman, 28 year old Hispanic male. Martin was walking home from the neighborhood Seven-Eleven corner store that night wearing a hooded sweat shirt. To Zimmerman the hooded sweat shirt labeled Martin to be a suspicious black male (CBS News). After, police were called to the crime scene Martin appeared to be harmless and unarmed. Based on the 911 released tapes that revealed, Zimmerman has a history of flagging suspicious black youth males. While, recounts of Martin’s friend recalls there phone conversation minutes before the shooting telling her “that he was creped out by a strange man who keeps following him”(TheWeek). Although Zimmerman was jail the night of the murder of Trayvon martin he was later released with no charges filed against him. The…
The criminal justice system of America is deeply scarred with racial bias. Crimes are being committed and, in turn, are resulting with innocent people doing hard-time. Thankfully, newfound methods of appealing court rulings are finding justice for these minorities; however, the results are as shocking as the crimes being committed. When it was found that the majority of successful appeals were of minorities, the true defects of the system was apparent. The minority community is being critically judged for things they’re not doing.…