Posted on 02/20/2015 11:07:22 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
On Feb. 26, 2012, supposed "Neighborhood Watchman" George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black man, as Martin walked home from visiting a convenience store in Sanford, Fla. The case ignited questions about racial profiling, vigilantism and Stand Your Ground Laws. On July 13, 2013, Zimmerman was acquitted of both the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Despite national and even international attention to the case, one has to wonder what has really changed in the three years since the murder of Trayvon Martin.
The murder of black men by police or their wannabes has not stopped.
This is a mere sample of cases that occurred after the murder of Trayvon Martin.
16-year-old Kimani Gray was shot by two plainclothes officers in Brooklyn, N.Y., as he walked home from a birthday party on March 9, 2013. The two men who killed him claim he had a gun, but no weapon was found at the scene. Three of the seven bullets that penetrated Gray's body entered from the back, suggesting he was moving away, not threatening the officers. No criminal charges were brought against the assailants.
Randall Kerrick, a Charlotte, N.C., police officer, shot and killed former FAMU football star Jonathan Ferrell as he sought police assistance after an automobile accident Sept. 14, 2013. Kerrick was not charged for Ferrell's murder.
On Dec. 2, 2014, 24-year-old father of four Rumain Brisbon was killed when an officer mistook his bottle of pills for a gun.
Just seconds after seeing 12-year-old Tamir Rice at a park in Cleveland on Nov. 22, 2014, an officer shot and killed him. While Rice did have a BB gun, video footage seems to show that the officers arrived at the scene and were not threatened but instead decided to pull the trigger.
Unarmed Akai Gurley, 28, was shot in the dark stairwell of an East New York housing project on Nov. 20, 2014. Even Police Commissioner William Bratton has called Gurley a "complete innocent."
Officer Daniel Pantaleo killed 43-year-old Eric Garner by inflicting a prohibited chokehold when Garner dared to speak out about being continually targeted.
Supposedly, Victor White III shot himself while handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser in Iberia Parish, La., on March 22, 2014. Yet reports show that he had to have been Harry Houdini reincarnated to make that move. Far more likely is that he was shot by officers.
Twenty-year-old Reynaldo Cuevas was shot by police as he fled armed men who had attempted to rob his bodega. The Bronx district attorney did not find the officers at fault.
And of course, Office Darrin Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., was not indicted. Since Brown was killed, 14 black teens have been killed by police officers, according to a Nov. 25, 2014 article on the Daily Beast.
It's not just black men who suffer from this official or quasi-official violence. On Feb. 16, 2014, 47-year-old African-American Yvette Smith was killed when she opened the door to officers responding to a domestic violence call at her home.
George Zimmerman has not changed.
Zimmerman has been arrested multiple times since being acquitted for the murder of Trayvon, most recently for aggravated assault and domestic violence with a weapon. Zimmerman was accused of domestic violence in 2013 but no charges were brought.
Stand Your Ground Laws remain.
Although Attorney General Eric Holder stated that it was time to question Stand Your Ground Laws, no state has repealed its law. In fact, states like Georgia and Florida have considered expansions of the Stand Your Ground protections. In Florida alone, at least 26 children and teens have been killed in Stand Your Ground cases since Trayvon's death. Research by the Urban Institute has found that in Stand Your Ground states, white-on-black homicides are 354 times more likely to be ruled justified as white-on-white homicides.
Three years post-Trayvon, little has changed except there is now a nationwide movement to fix this. I remain hopeful based on the courageous organizing I see occurring in most of our cities. For instance, peace and justice activists are working with affected communities to organize the first Truth Telling Weekend in St. Louis, Mo., the weekend of March 13-15, 2015. Rather than simply expressing outrage, these folks are acting to bring people together to discuss solutions. Really ... it's time for change.
*****
Dr. Laura Finley teaches in the Barry University Department of Sociology & Criminology and is syndicated by PeaceVoice.
Has it already been three years? My my. How time flies when you’re watching libs stage their Pity Parties.
“What has changed?”
Ummmm... The blacks are being pitted against the whites so that neither of them notice that the Mexicans and Muslims are moving in and taking over the country.
Who is Trayvon? I think the world has moved on.
Nothing has changed.........Trayvon is still the Obamabot thug he always was!!!
"respect, inclusion, and social change" - http://www.southfloridadiversityalliance.org/about/
https://www.facebook.com/104886512877285/photos/pb.104886512877285.-2207520000.1424503416./133384633360806/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/104886512877285/photos/a.470197636346169.113262.104886512877285/470197639679502/?type=1
Co-Exist Do you teach about genocide and colonial legacy? Do you address forgiveness and reconciliation? Want to create a stronger upstander culture on your campus? - http://www.southfloridadiversityalliance.org/co-exist/
police abuse in Ferguson - Emma Watson’s feminist advocacy - http://www.southfloridadiversityalliance.org/annual-diversity-summit/
The Peace and Justice Studies Association, Center for Education Equity, The Sophia Project, Code Pink, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Hands Up Coalition - D.C., and Why We Can't Wait-D.C., call on all people of conscience to participate in a week of action to bring and continue awareness around ending police violence against all people, especially people of color. - http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/
The Peace and Justice Studies Association (PJSA) is dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice, and social change. - http://www.peacejusticestudies.org/about
Et cetera
This fool lost what little credibility she may have had when she referred to the “murder” of St. Skittles.
Three years post Trayvon and I think most white people are sick of being called racists and bowing down to black pressure groups.
Treyvon was murdered?
Nothing. We still have the same racist kook in the White House.
His Momma, Sabryna Fuller is definitely ca$hing out — University of Nebraska - Lincoln paid her $15K to speak there this week. Heard she then went to Colorado State University at Fort Collins — likely the same gig.
If the author would only direct her attention to black on black murders also then she might gain some standing. As it is, this is just another self promoting black racist rant.
me too ... feels more like only a year ... year and a half.
She obviously gets all her news from democrats underground threads.
Dr. Laura just needed some “publish or perish” material to trash out on a Sunday afternoon while sitting by her pool and sipping Chardonnay.
The dean of the school where she poses as a professor probably was on her case to publish some ‘legitimate’ research.
When the article starts out with a lie, it is a pretty good sign that there will be little of value in it.
Trayvon was shot as he was bashing George Zimmerman’s head on the concrete sidewalk, not as Trayvon was walking home.
-——And of course, Office Darrin Wilson, who shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., was not indicted.———
Betcha Darrin Wison will real surprised to hear he killed someone, whoever Darrin is....
The “Professor”’s first line says everything. She knows nearly nothing.
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