For weeks, our airwaves have been dominated by coverage detailing the rollercoaster saga in the shooting of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of self-described “neighborhood watchman” George Zimmerman.
We all know the story. On the night of Feb. 26, Martin was walking back to his father’s girlfriend’s house, carrying a bag of Skittles and a can of iced tea. Zimmerman noticed Martin, wearing a hooded sweatshirt, walking through the neighborhood. He called authorities to report the suspicious activity and was told not to pursue the individual.
From there, the details of the incident are murky — culminating with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin in what he claims was self-defense. Zimmerman was taken into custody and released shortly afterward, and no further action was taken.
As a result, national outrage has descended onto the Sanford Police Department’s handling of the shooting, and Zimmerman has only recently returned to custody. Many have accused Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, of racially targeting Martin, an African American, saying that he continued to go after Trayvon even after authorities told him not to pursue him.
Subsequently, the conversation on racial tension in America has again been brought to the forefront of our national debate.
Everyone has weighed in, from Spike Lee — who retweeted a home address believed to belong to Zimmerman (it was actually the home of a very frightened elderly couple) — to President Barack Obama, who used an opportunity at a Rose Garden speech to say that if he had a son, “he would look like Trayvon.”
And in no shock to anyone, crazed demagogue Al Sharpton started showing up at press conferences and rallies, with Martin’s family calling for the immediate arrest of Zimmerman.
Reporters and pundits have endlessly analyzed every new twist that comes on a seemingly daily basis. The latest came yesterday, when special prosecutor Angela Corey announced that second-degree murder charges would be filed against Zimmerman.
But with all of the media swarm and spotlight around the case, many radical activists are now recklessly calling for retaliation against Zimmerman and have exploited this tragedy to advance a racist and extreme agenda.
The New Black Panther Party recently placed a bounty on Zimmerman’s head, and armed neo-Nazi groups have dispersed in Sanford to protect whites from “racial violence.” Mobs of students have ransacked businesses in protest of inaction in the case.
In the midst of all the chaos, I can’t help but wonder what happened to a concept so inherent to our rule of law: Innocent until proven guilty.
Since the beginning of this saga, many members of the media have unfairly reached the conclusion that racial hatred played a role in the shooting. They have fed into the tense rhetoric and, through biased coverage, have unilaterally charged, tried and convicted Zimmerman without ever allowing for a trial by a jury of his peers.
Trayvon’s death is truly a tragedy, but the reality is that thousands of people are killed every day. Trayvon’s death is nothing out of the ordinary. Our society cannot continue to play the race card in every issue that implicates members of different racial backgrounds. We can only hope to move on from racial divides once we stop creating them.
As more details emerge, we will be better able to make a determination of what exactly happened on that tragic night. Now that charges have been filed, we must allow our judicial process to take its course and not rush to a premature conclusion.
Austin Gaddis is a junior majoring in communication studies and public relations. His column runs on Thursdays.
