On February 26, 17 year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in Sanford, Florida. The killing has since then blown up to the national stage, with millions of people speaking out against the murder of Trayvon. People are outraged because the shooter, Zimmerman, has not been arrested yet or detained by police and his excuse was that he did it in self defence. But, people are questioning this statement and whether or not Trayvon’s race had something to do with it.
On that day, Trayvon was walking back to his house in the neighborhood. Zimmerman spotted him and made a 911 call and said that Trayvon looked “suspicious”, and possibly using a racial slur and saying that “these ******* always get away”. He then chased Trayvon after Trayvon started to run away, even though Zimmerman was advised not to by the operator. Then there was a scuffle and a scream for help (apparently Trayvon) and then gunshots, the ones that killed Trayvon. Apparently, Trayvon was “suspicious” because he had a hoodie on low. But, many say it was because of that and the fact that he was an African American. He was stereotyped by George Zimmerman to be up to no good, even though he was unarmed and all he had was a pack of skittles and ice tea. The African-American community has spoken out and believe that this was a racial killing, and because that Zimmerman was white/hispanic, the cops and law enforcement let him go. To protest this, there will be a 1 million hoodie march in honor of Trayvon and to bring justice to the innocent teen.
~Ben Fei