It’s Hard Being a Young Black Boy in Florida

A law meant to protect authorizes killing. The paradox has not escaped 23-year-old Brandon Northington for two reasons: He is black and a law student. The law, dubbed “stand your ground,” was adopted in Florida in 2005. It was directly challenged when George Zimmerman, a self-proclaimed armed lookout, attacked a 17-year-old high school student who was going to his father’s house.

The text of the law defends the right of every person who feels threatened, even in a public place, to stand his ground and “defend his territory,” authorizing the use of lethal force. The police in Sanford, the city where the drama took place, invoked this law to justify their failure to investigate the murderer, whom they let go free. Statistics show that the law has provoked an explosion of unpunished “justified homicides” rather than improve security.

“At first glance, the Trayvon Martin case is not racial. It is simply a horrible injustice: an unarmed boy killed by an adult who has gone unpunished. He has been sleeping in his own bed for over a month now. I just can’t believe it!” says Brandon Northington. “I would feel the same way if the victim had been white. The difference is that in that case no one would be talking about it because the murderer would have been arrested.”*

The student speaks quickly. Like hundreds of thousands of youth, he is upset by the event, and he participates in protest marches that demand justice for the murderer and denounce “profiling,” the tendency to see every black boy as a delinquent.

In his eyes, the racial factor “obviously” played a role Trayvon Martin’s violent death. Brandon Northington utters a phrase commonly heard around Sanford these days, “Imagine if a black man had killed a white teenager!” He seems almost sorry that wasn’t the case. “It’s sad to say, but if you’re young and black in the South, you’ve got to be constantly on your guard. One look can ruin everything.” Northington, smartly dressed with a clean mustache, experiences discrimination every day. “In the stores, the sales clerks watch and follow me. Some policemen arrested me just for walking in front of a fancy shop. It doesn’t cross their mind for a second that I might be a law student.”*

The popular protests for “justice” move Northington. “To see people of all skin colors marching to defend a child’s memory! It’s a question of humanity.” Brandon Northington wants to become a lawyer. “This reminds me why I am studying law: to help those without a voice.” He feels that he is renewing the struggle for American civil rights. “I know that I can attend university and vote because my ancestors marched and demonstrated. Now it’s my turn to march as they did. The pacifist marches for Trayvon are an important step for my generation.”* To the protesters, “stand our ground” means simply the right to be, without being a target either of suspicious looks or of revolvers.

*Proofer’s Note: These quotes, while translated accurately, cannot be verified.