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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 2012)
IJartlanh (Obstruer Page 8 March 28. 2012 End the War against Young Black Men No justice in Trayvon Martin’s death The shooter, George Zim m erm an, a 2 8 -y ear-o ld H isp an ic, no ticed T rayvon w alking through his gated com m unity and called 911 to report a suspicious person. Instead o f follow ing the d isp atch er’s instruc by M arc H. M orial tions and ending his involve B e in g a y o u n g m ent there, Z im m erm an co n black m an has been tinued follow ing T rayvon. An c alled the hardest jo b a lte r c a tio n en su ed and in A m erica. T rayvon was shot. Y oung black men Zim m erm an claim ed self de are m uch m ore likely fense and has not been charged than w hite m en to be w ith a crim e. T ray v o n ’s p ar jo b less, in ja il and labeled “suspi ents are both heartbroken and o u t c io u s,” som etim es with deadly con raged. As B enjam in C rum p, the sequences. Such was the case on fa m ily ’s law yer put it, “ If T rayvon Feb. 26, w hen 17-year-old high w ould have been the triggerm an, school student, T rayvon M artin, th ere w ould have b een n o th in g w as shot and killed by a neig h b o r T rayvon M artin could have said to hood-w atch vigilante in Sanford, keep police from arresting him D ay Florida. l.H o u r l.” O f the m any unansw ered q u e s tions in this case, tw o stand out. First, T rayvon M artin, w ho had ju s t stopped o ff at a con v en ien ce store, was arm ed only with a bag o f Skittles and a can o f ice tea. G e o rg e Zim m erm an, w ho w eighed over 100 pounds m ore than the victim , w as arm ed with a 9 m illim eter handgun. E ven if there w as a physical alterca tion betw een the tw o, w hy w as such deadly force necessary? Second, one o f the reasons the police gave for not im m ediately a r resting Z im m erm an w as that he had a “squeaky clean ” record. A few days later it w as discovered that Z im m erm an had been arrested in 2005 for resisting arrest w ith battery on a police officer. T rayvon M artin, on the other hand, had no crim inal record. T h ese and o th er troubling facts have led the C entral Florida U rban L eague and others, to call on the S ta te ’s A tto rn ey ’s O ffice and the D epartm ent o f Justice to conduct an independent investigation. C entral F lorida U rban League p resid en t and C E O , A llie B rasw ell said, “ A private citizen taking law enfo rcem en t into his ow n hands can n o t be condoned. If it is found that a crim e has been com m itted, the sh o o ter m ust be p rosecuted to the fu llest ex ten t o f the law .” T his case is now generating n a tional attention and w e w ill be fo l low ing it closely. W e do not know fo r sure w hy G eorge Z im m erm an k illed T rayvon M artin. But we do know , according to a 2011 C ollege B oard report, that 45 percent o f A fric a n A m e ric a n h ig h sc h o o l graduates betw een the ages o f 15 and 24 w ill end up “ unem ployed, incarcerated o r d ead .” W e also know that the m urder o f innocent black m en in the A m erican South is nothing new . Fifty-seven years ago, the w hite m urderers o f 14-year old Em m itt Till in the M issis sippi D elta w ere acquitted o f the crim e in a clear case o f racial injus tice. A s the fath er o f a 10-year old A frican A m erican son, I jo in all A f rican A m erican parents and A m eri cans o f conscience everyw here in calling for an end to the w ar against young black m en and a thorough in v e s tig a tio n o f th e d e a th o f T rayvon M artin. Marc H. M orial is president and chief executive officer o f the N a tional Urban League. Suspicious Enough for a Death Sentence Gunned down walking while black by M arian W right E delman E very parent r a is in g b la c k sons know s the dilem m a: decid ing how soon to h av e the talk. C h o o s in g th e w ords to explain to your beautiful child that there are som e people w ho w ill never like o r trust him ju st because o f w ho he is, including som e w ho should be there to pro tect him , but will instead have the p o w er to hurt him . Training him how to walk, what to say, and how to act so he w o n ’t seem like a threat. T eaching him that the burden o f deflating stereotypes and reassuring other p e o p le ’s igno rance w ill alw ays fall on him , and w hile that isn ’t fair, in som e cases it m ay be the only w ay to keep him safe and alive. B ut som etim es it isn ’t enough. It w a sn ’t enough to protect 17-year- oldT rayvon M artin. T ray v o n ’s E n glish teacher said he w as “an A and B student w ho m ajored in ch eerfu l n e s s .” T rayvon loved building m odels and taking things apart, his favorite subject w as m ath, and he dream ed o f becom ing a pilot and an engineer. Instead, he w as gunned dow n by a self-appointed neighborhood w atch captain vigilante w ho profiled him , follow ed him , and shot him in the c h e st. H is killer, G eorge Z im m erm an, saw the teenager on the street and called the police to report he looked “ like h e ’s up to no g o o d .” A t the tim e T rayvon was w alking hom e from the nearby 7-11 carrying a bottle o f A rizo n a iced tea and a bag o f S kittles fo r his younger stepbrother, leaving m any people to guess that the m ain thing he w as doing that m ade him look “no good” w as w ear ing a hooded sw eatshirt in the rain and w alking w hile black. G eorge Z im m erm an ’s decisions m ade that suspicious enough to be a death sen te n c e. N o w th e re is w id e sp re a d o u t ra g e o v e r th e sen se less k illin g o f a y o u n g b la c k m an w h o w as d o in g n o th in g w ro n g and th e fact th at th e m an w h o k ille d h im h as no t b e en a rre ste d . P eo p le are try in g to m ak e sen se o f the se rie s o f gun 'rt!' ^Jortlanb (0bsrrl»rr Established 1970 USPS 959-680 ___________________________________ 47 47 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211 Charles H. Washington EDiroR.M ichael L e ig h to n D is t r ib u t io n M an a g e r : M a rk W a sh in g to n C r e a tiv e D ir e c t o r : P a u l N e u fe ld t la w s th a t a l l o w e d G e o r g e Z im m e rm a n to act as h e d id , s ta rt ing w ith the F lo rid a law s th a t a l lo w ed so m eo n e lik e Z im m e rm a n , w h o h ad p re v io u sly b e en c h a rg e d fo r re s istin g a rre st w ith v io le n c e an d b a tte ry on a p o lic e o ffic e r, to g et a p e rm it to c a rry a c o n c e a le d w e ap o n in th e first p la ce . M any m ore questions are being raised about F lo rid a’s “ Stand Y our G ro u n d ” law , w hich also has been described as the “ shoot first, ask questions later” law , and gives the benefit o f the doubt to Z im m erm an and others claim ing “ self-d efen se” by allow ing people w ho say they are in im m inent d an g er to defend them selves. Som e states lim it this defense to p eo p le’s ow n hom es, but others, like Florida, allow it any where. A s Josh H orw itz, executive d i recto r o f the C oalition to Stop G un V iolence, says, this law “has turned c o m m o n la w — a n d c o m m o n sense— on its head by enabling vigi lantes to provoke conflicts, resolve them w ith deadly force, and avoid ev er having to set foot in a c o u rt room .” T he fear in T ray v o n ’s death is that this is exactly w hat has h ap pen ed so far: that the story told by w itn e s s e s , p h o n e re c o rd s , an d Z im m erm an ’s violent past and ear lier com plaints during his n eig h b o r hood patrols show s an overzealous a rm e d a g g re ss o r w h o fo llo w e d T ray v o n even after police told him to stop, chased T rayvon dow n w hen the frightened boy tried to w alk aw ay from the stranger follow ing him , and then shot the unarm ed, 100-pounds- lig h ter teen ag er w hile neighbors said they heard a child crying for help. The p ro sp e ct now th a t Z im m erm an m ight n ev er set foot in a co u rtro o m fo r the shooting has cau sed w idespread frustration and fury. Ju st as sadly, T ra y v o n ’s death w as not unique. In 2008 and 2009, 2,582 B lack children and teens were killed by gunfire. B lack children and teens w ere only 15 percent o f the child population, but 45 percent o f the 5 ,7 4 0 child and teen gun deaths in those tw o years. B lack m ales 15 to 19 y ears-old w ere eight tim es as likely as w hite m ales to be gun h o m icide victim s. T h e outcry o v er T ray v o n ’s death is absolutely right and ju st. W e need the sam e sense o f outrage o v er e v ery one o f these child deaths. A bove all, w e need a nation w here these sen seless d eath s no lo n g er h a p pen. B ut w e w o n ’t g et it until w e have com m o n -sen se gun law s that protect children instead o f guns and d o n ’t a llo w p eo p le like G eo rg e Zim m erm an to take the law into their ow n hands. W e w o n ’t get it until w e have a culture that sees ev ery child as a ch ild o f G od and sacred, instead o f seeing som e as expendable statis tics, and others as threats and “no g o o d ” because o f the co lo r o f their skin o r because they chose to w alk hom e w earing a hood in the rain. A nd w e w o n ’t get it until enough o f u s — p a re n ts a n d g ra n d p a re n ts , stand up and tell o u r political lead ers that the N ational R ifle A ssocia tion should not be in charge o f our neighborhoods, streets, gun law s, and values. In T ra y v o n ’s case, his fath er T racy speaks fo r w hat his fam ily needs: “T he fam ily is calling for ju stice. W e d o n ’t w ant our so n ’s death to be in vain.” I hope that enough voices w ill ensure that it is not. Marian Wright Edelman is presi dent o f the Children's Defense Fund. The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. 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