There is a link below to the a video of Trayvon Martin's parents being interviewed by Matt Lauer. They discuss a phone call that Trayvon had with a girl no more than five minutes before he was killed. The neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, may have used racial slurs just prior to the shooting. From a sociological perspective there appears to be some racism involved. What do you think?
Trayvon Martin Parents Interview
Sociologically speaking, I think it is very clear there was some sort of racism which led to the death of Trayvon Martin. Personally, I believe that Zimmerman should have been arrested, or at least taken into custody, shortly after the shooting. An article that I just read claims that a witness saw Trayvon on top of Zimmerman beating him up. I would like to believe this, but I feel as though the police still need to dig deeper into what truly happened so that justice will be served. Here's the article...http://www.theblaze.com/stories/report-witness-claims-trayvon-martin-attacked-george-zimmerman/
ReplyDeleteevery time I read or see something about this case it just makes me so mad> Nothing seems to add up. I don't see how someone can shoot someone based on their outside appearance. This interview offers a little more evidence so hopefully justice will be served.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jamie and Nathan. If someone kills someone then they should be arrested, or taken into custody, shortly after the shooting.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all points of view here. It is very puzzling, and even maddening to think Zimmerman wasn't arrested immediately. It calls into question of whether or not the "stand your ground" law is just. I read an article on NPR.org regarding the law and several cases dealing with it. In one case, a man chased a suspected burglar for a block and then stabbed him to death after a struggle. Charges were dismissed as the judge ruled he had a reasonable right to chase him to get back his property. The important part for whether the killing is justified is only what happens when the two people come into confrontation. In the Trayvon Martin case, it doesn't seem Zimerman had any cause to chase him other than looking suspicious. Sociologically speaking, there are clear implications of racism playing a role.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link to the NPR article: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/01/149805129/fla-cases-test-stand-your-ground-laws-limits
I think this case is a better example of media bias than of racism. There have been many accounts of the media making up their own facts in regards to this case. One is that they have tried to portray this as a white man attacking an innocent black teenager. The reason that Trayvon was visiting his father was because he was suspended from his school. The school has not released what he was suspended for though. The man who killed him was white either, his own family has testified that he was Hispanic and not white like the media led everyone to believe. Also, the the father has said that the screams that the witness heard were not his sons. If Trayvon was the victim then why was Zimmerman painfully screaming? The media also said that the neighborhood was predominantly white, which is another lie. The media chose to ignore the fact that the neighborhood had recently had many issues with breaking and entering and robbery. Which is why they were on the look out for unfamiliar faces. I am not saying that Zimmerman was in the right. He should never have the car. What I am saying is to be careful of media portrayal because they are biased. Just last week there was a case of a white man who was beaten up by a gang of black men right in Buffalo. This barely made the local news and yet Trayvon's case got repeated attention in the national news for weeks.
ReplyDeleteNo matter what, even if the teenage boy was in fact using his fist(with no weapon) to fight a grown man, there is no need for that STRONG man to use a deadly weapon to protect himself from him. People continue to portray this picture of Trayvon being this "gangster" who was suspended from school. Even if he was, that had nothing to do with the fact that he was murdered because he "looked suspicious". If Trayvon would have caused harm to the community, I am sure the police could handled it by themselves. Zimmerman deserves to be punished for his impulsive criminal act regardless of if it is an issue of race or not. Wrong is wrong.
ReplyDeleteI think the portrayal of both parties in this matter relate to the OJ Simpson Case. Here in the video they show pictures of Trayvon looking small and innocent whereas they portray Zimmerman as this large, dark person. I agree with Hillary in that the media is biased. As soon as word of a story is out they choose their side and that is the only side you will hear of from then. Like they said in the video unfortunately there are only two sides to the story and only one can be heard. Witnesses will make claims, but like the media they are also biased so whose word can we really trust. Initially when I heard the story I was immediately on side of Trayvon and his family. After learning more though, I know find myself unable to decide on the matter. I was not there and neither was anyone else. Unfortunately events like this happen more often than we hear. Hopefully the police can figure out something to put the matter at rest.
ReplyDeleteAfter only hearing about this case through class discussion and then through this video, i think it is a huge problem that a neighborhood watch person (not a cop) decided to play cop and take the life of a kid regardless of what he was doing. From what has been said and there is no evidence to prove that he was doing anything terrible to this neighborhood, i dont see a reason to take action like zimmerman did. If there is that big of a problem, call the real police and let them handle it. You are a neighborhood "watch" person not someone who needs to take action, especially one like shooting somebody regardless of his age or color.
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