Racism. We’ve come a long way to be where we are, black men and women have finally gotten equality by law, Asians and other races are no longer looked upon as if they aren’t worthy, but the real question is, is racism still occurring in today’s society but often hushed by people to show that this country stands as one? When I was in my sociology class a question was brought to our attention and it gave me some motivation to look into things a little deeper than others would. Racism is still here and living in the lives of many Americans, whether we acknowledge it or not. A recent event that showed racism still exists is the Trayvon Martin case. There are two sides of the case one of course is the truth and the other just so happens to be something made up and people have believed it because of fear. Those of you that don’t know Martin let me tell you a little about him. Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American boy. Martin went out to a local 7/11 in Sanford, Florida to get, “skittles and iced tea.” Little that Martin knew later that night he would die a brutal death for no apparent reason. He was killed by a 28 year old man named George Zimmerman who was a neighborhood watch personnel. As Martin was walking back from the 7/11 to his father’s fiancé’s house, Zimmerman was on watch that night in the neighborhood. But since Martin lost his way home he started going back and forth through streets and looking at addresses of the houses to find his way back and that is when Zimmerman had spotted the victim. In this case there are many interpretations of moving around up and down the streets. Zimmerman’s interpretation of an African American boy like Martin wandering around at a late hour was suspicious and the boy was “up to no good”. So Zimmerman reported to the police that he found a doubtful suspect. The dispatcher responded to Zimmerman, “Ok, but don’t engage.” Zimmerman responded, “Ok,” and engaged at the time he was carrying a gun with him, even though he was clearly told not to do anything because it wasn’t necessary. Police also shared information that Zimmerman called in many times reporting a suspicious African American before the martin case. Zimmerman still on the line with the dispatcher was asked by the dispatcher if he was following the teen. When Zimmerman replied he was following the teen, the dispatcher said, “We don’t need you to do that.” Zimmerman hung up and confronted Martin. Later that night, Zimmerman told his story that Martin came out of nowhere and attacked from behind when he was just about to get into his SUV. Zimmerman quoted to the police, “[Martin] banged my head on the ground.” Because of this statement, the criminal was released and was able to roam the streets freely even after killing a harmless person. Its funny how Zimmerman was let off so easily, in other cases if black men or even women were to be in the position of Zimmerman they wouldn’t even be given bail for being charged murder. Fortunately, Martin’s parents were not satisfied with the court’s decision and that’s what brought justice to Martin’s case later on. Protesters had gathered to support the family and their decision knowing that Martin had not done anything to harm the man and they were given another trial to relook the case once again. When the court went through evidence again they had talked to Martin’s girlfriend who happened to be talking to Martin while the violence was taking place, DeeDee now identified as Martin’s girlfriend had stated, “I heard what happened that night before the line went dead.” Cell phone reports show the girl told the truth which proved she heard the scuffle, between Zimmerman and Martin. This proves that Zimmerman had lied to the court and was still let off, why so? Well only those that had made the decision in the first place can tell us why, but because of this case there are new issues within society today such as growing racial tension and if the new "stands your ground" law in Florida is really convenient and logical to all. But the question pestering all is why Zimmerman was let off so easily without much evidence, and even if we critically analyze evidence and say it was a mistake and the case was overlooked at first unfortunately but eventually justice finally was acquired, do some Americans still hide a racist side to them but don’t acknowledge it?
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Zimmerman has the right to defend himself when he has no ability to retreat,though his actions are defended by law of his state. Though he may be held responsible for his actions,because he was directly told by police to stay away and he did not listen.So he must pay for the crime he has committed and that is man slaughter.
ReplyDeleteWe can not be sure if this truly is a act of racism,because just cause Martin is black does not mean it was an act of racism. We can only assume weather Zimmerman's actions were based on defense or he may be racist,but we won't know the full story unless we do a polygraph test on Zimmerman to see what truly transpired that night.
But the thing that was being compared was whether the courts were being unfair to the case not Zimmerman being racist and to the facts that were found it is clear that he is racist because as the source had stated and the article itself says that Zimmerman thought there was something suspicious when an African American boy was roaming around at night. And Zimmerman is to blame for his actions and shouldn't have been defended by the law at all which shows ultimately that the law was being unfair as well as Zimmerman's judgement.
ReplyDeleteVery well written. I would say this is not only racism but also stereotyping that African American's would be or will be harmful if seen at odd timings of the night. Rather the day, I came to Chicago, they were the only ones who helped me when ever I lost my way.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article you seem to have missed some crucial facts. Zimmerman had cuts on his head and a bloody nose (from an attack?). Also the autopsy on Trayvon showed that not only did he have cuts on his hands (punching someone/something) but also that the gun shot occurred from between 12-18 inches from his body possibly suggesting a struggle between Trayvon and Zimmerman. Color shouldn’t be an issue, it show only an investigation of two men.
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