I came across a particularly sad story this week. Trayvon Martin, 17, was returning to the home of his father's fiance from a local convenience store in Sanford, FL. George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain, flagged him as a suspicious individual and placed a call to 911. The 911 dispatcher asked Zimmerman to NOT confront or approach Martin. Long story short, when the police arrived, Martin was dead from a gunshot wound to the chest and Zimmerman said he'd fired his gun in self defense. Martin is Black and Zimmerman is White.
Was this crime racially motivated? The public seems to think so. The shooting has sparked widespread outrage in the community and surrounding areas. The police department's decision to not release the 911 call is not helping matters. There are so many questions that I'm not sure will ever be answered. To be honest, I don't know that they even matter when a 17 year old kid is dead. It's hard to believe that it's the year 2012 and we're still dealing with the issue of race.
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