The death of Trayvon Martin

The tragic death of Trayvon Martin has touched people in many ways, but when you take out all the emotional and political aspects, it can be distilled to one sentence. Trayvon Martin would still be alive if George Zimmerman had stayed in his car, as the dispatcher had advised, and waited for the police to arrive.

Of course, it’s impossible to avoid an emotional response to this entirely avoidable tragedy, and it’s being spun in many different ways. For myself, based on reading the details linked here and here, George Zimmerman is apparently a crazed vigilante who murdered an innocent teenager, probably for failing to meekly submit to his interrogation of the youth on a public sidewalk.

Also, it’s impossible to ignore the racist implications in this tragedy. Does anyone really believe if Trayvon had been white, that Zimmerman would have called in a report of a suspicious character? I don’t. Indeed, this photo sums up the reality for all dark skinned young men.

No child in America should have to grow up living with this kind of fear. Yet, almost 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, they still do. That this implicit racism hasn’t been eradicated in our society is a national tragedy. [Original photo]