Recent case highlights inadequacies in courts
Not guilty. I read the words and though my heart sank; it was a predictable outcome. At the end of the day George Zimmerman claimed he defended himself, and Trayvon Martin could not refute that because he is dead. The prosecution failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman was not defending himself by killing Martin. Of course, this is not to say Zimmerman was innocent, but I cannot fault a jury for finding him not guilty. So our focus must now be how to prevent this from happening again.
Even with all the uncertainty around the crucial scuffle that ended with Martin’s death there are clear facts from the case. First, Zimmerman clearly profiled Martin by assuming that a black teenager did not belong in the community, even though Martin had a perfectly innocuous reason for being there. Zimmerman then, disregarding instruction by a 911 operator, continued to follow Martin and approached him. Finally, we know that Martin was unarmed but still shot to death by Zimmerman. Was Martin a model citizen? Probably not, but, then again, I don’t know too many teenagers who are. But the point is, even if Martin was casing the place for a robbery right then, Zimmerman still shouldn’t have the right to take his life.
However, Florida’s laws allow anyone to use deadly force whenever they feel threatened with great bodily harm, regardless of who instigated the altercation. This makes it incredibly difficult to get a conviction in a case like Zimmerman’s because it must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he did not fear for his life.
This brings us back to the question of race and profiling. After the verdict, Texas Governor and perennial joke Rick Perry claimed that the U.S. Justice system is “color blind.” Yet blacks and whites abuse illegal drugs at similar rates blacks are three times as likely to be arrested and we comprise over half the drug convictions even though we only amount to 13 percent of the population.
This is inexorably linked to racism and stereotypes ingrained in our society that train us all from a young age to see African-Americans as violent and dangerous. From codified language about athletes to actors typecast into certain roles, we are all inundated with this idea. Zimmerman was not white, but even African-Americans are often guilty of profiling themselves. Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz’s tweet about “the hood” catching up to Zimmerman is a perfect example.
Though it will take a battle before Florida’s laws on self-defense can be changed to narrow when deadly force is appropriate. But changing long entrenched stereotypes is much more difficult. How can we teach our children not to carry prejudices if we cannot manage that ourselves?