(ThyBlackMan.com) Anyone who isn’t living under a rock knows that this past week, coverage of the George Zimmerman trial flooded almost every news outlet. Almost every outlet had analysts and commentators who freely offered their opinions on the case; don’t worry, you won’t be reading another one today—at least not on the guilty-versus-innocent debate.
I want to talk about a common phrase/idea I keep hearing black people say, “Nobody cares about the everyday black-on-black crime though.”
It fluctuates from person-to-person as well. I’ve heard everything from “but there are plenty of Trayvon Martins who have been killed and no one has said anything” to “black people only want to get upset when a non-black person does the killing.”
Get ready for a bit of opinion now (I warned you):
Using the inaccurate and generalizing theory that black people only get up in arms when a crime is committed to one of our own by a non-black person is ludicrous. It’s completely untrue. Unless you live in every single neighborhood (or have family and friends in EVERY SINGLE neighborhood) in the nation and can physically, first-hand account for what blacks do when one of their own is murdered (no matter the aggressor)—what actions they take ASIDE from what a newspaper or media outlet may or may not choose to highlight—you cannot make the claim that blacks only get riled up when it’s non-black on black crime.
Do not let a few cases that have garnered national attention fool you; the media will sensationalize and/or make anything it wants to relevant. So, just because you don’t read about blacks standing up or speaking out, doesn’t mean it’s not happening. And just because you don’t see protests or blacks advocating for change in their neighborhoods on the major news outlets, doesn’t mean they aren’t.
Yes, there are plenty of Trayvon Martins that didn’t make worldwide headlines. There were also plenty of men and women who refused to give up their seats on buses way before Rosa Parks came along, but she was the one that catapulted the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ultimately led to bus desegregation. Do you think Medgar Evers was the first black man to be assassinated? Or Emmet Till was the first black teen to be brutally murdered? No. Many people who made a difference in our nation’s history (especially pertaining to blacks) were not the first to either do what they did or the first to have that particular incident happen to them, but they were the ones whose stories garnered enough attention to actually make a difference.
And no matter how people choose to view it, these people were necessary. If some attention wasn’t finally brought to those refusing to give up their seats to whites and taking a stand against segregation, we may still have been on the back of the bus. There were and are plenty of black boys that could replace Trayvon Martin in the news, but his story was the one to garner the mass amount of attention. Now, like Rosa, Medgar, Emmett and others, a major issue in society is finally being brought to our nation’s attention. It doesn’t matter WHO the change occurred through, it just matters that it does occur.
Now that Trayvon Martin’s case has gained national attention and stirred up the necessary discussions of race, prejudice, and racial profiling in the country, hopefully the outcome will bring more awareness to the many other victims like him so we can work to prevent this from reoccurring.
Another quick thing I want to highlight about the importance of this case is the one thing many try to say it’s not about—race. The main reason this case garnered so much attention was because of
1) the stand your ground law and
2) the way the Sanford Police Dept. “handled” the shooting. The police chief got on national television and said they wouldn’t be charging George Zimmerman because, as in the law, he shot Martin in self-defense and did not commit a crime. The police department failed to conduct an investigation; the officers said they had no reason to believe otherwise about Zimmerman’s story.
Having a law that allows anyone to kill another person in self-defense causes problems within itself (and is more of a political issue), but the point is how the law was carried out.
The Tampa Bay Times conducted a study in June 2012 on the effects of Florida’s “Stand your Ground Law,” and you know what it found? The defendants claiming “stand your ground” are more likely to prevail if the victim is black. Seventy-three percent (73%) of the people who killed a black person didn’t face any penalties compared to 59 percent of the people who killed a white person.
In 159 cases where the law was used as reasoning, the victim was not armed compared to 62 cases where the victim was armed. The victim was not committing a crime in 179 cases compared to 49 cases where he or she was. Also, in 128 cases, the defendant could have retreated to avoid the conflict and killing the person, as opposed to 34 cases where he or she couldn’t.
The Sanford Police Dept. failed to do its job objectively and conduct a full investigation, because if you believe if the story was reversed—George Zimmerman was a grown black man who had shot and killed a white teen—that department would have without-a-doubt believed his self defense claim, no questions asked and he—the Black shooter—would be home free just hours later after killing a white teen…you’re fooling yourself.
I’m not making claims on Zimmerman’s intentions or biases, but most assuredly believe that race was a factor in the way the police department failed to do its job.
My ‘opinion segment’ is up; feel free to have your own in the comments section.
Sources;
Staff Writer; Shala Marks
Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/shala.marks
Service is her passion, writing is her platform, women and the Black Community are her avenues. Shala Marks is a writer, editor and soon-to-be author. Through her work, Marks aspires to demonstrate “The Craft of Writing, and the Art of Efficacy.” She has a B.A. in journalism from ArizonaStateUniversity. Connect with her at http://www.sisterscanwespeak.tumblr.com.