Black Parents Fear for Their Children

Following the death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, one of America’s oldest wounds has been re-opened: fear of and violence against black males.

Trayvon Martin was 17 years old, unknown and with no criminal record, when he was gunned down by a self-styled member of a neighborhood watch program in Sanford, Fla. The guard claims he did so in self-defense and was not taken into custody. One month after the fatal shooting, there have been spontaneous memorials to Trayvon, as well as religious services and public protests against the arbitrariness of the police.

Trayvon’s name now appears on placards next to those reading “Rodney King” and “Amadou Diallo,” both black victims of government-sanctioned violence. President Obama spoke about the tragedy as a father: “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

People of good will understand Obama’s intention here, even if he broke his own rule about never commenting as a black person. The president simply could not remain silent as America’s anger took sides along racial lines. One of America’s oldest wounds, fear of and violence against black males, was reopened.

Hoodies as a protest symbol

One protester, in a hooded sweatshirt, holds a placard reading “Do I look suspicious to you?” Even pastors gave their sermons wearing hoodies. From Iowa City to New York and from Chicago to Atlanta, the hoodie — also the trademark apparel worn by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — has become a symbol of protest. Trayvon Martin was watching a football game on television at his girlfriend’s house when he took a halftime break to walk to a nearby convenience store in search of some candy and iced tea.

The popular hoodie partially hides the wearer’s face, and that may be what aroused George Zimmermann’s suspicions. The neighborhood watch activist was proud of his work with the local police. Zimmerman has a permit to carry a gun. He followed Trayvon, who he said looked suspicious. He followed him even after the police told him on the telephone not to do so.

There are two differing versions of what happened next. Zimmermann says he was attacked and reacted in self-defense. He had a broken nose and a laceration to his head. Martin’s girlfriend, with whom [Martin] had been speaking on the telephone at the time of the altercation, said Trayvon was trying to get away. Neighbors heard loud voices and a gunshot.

The police believed the self-defense version

Up to this point, such a case would have been sadly routine in Florida and in the other states within a nation that honors the bravery of its citizens and where the people have a tender, almost libidinous, relationship with their guns. In any case, influential minorities in the United States, led by the National Rifle Association, refuse to allow anything to interfere with their Second Amendment rights, which they say apply in this case.

There would have been no national protests, no “Million Hoodie March” for Trayvon Martin, had George Zimmermann been arrested and tested for drugs and alcohol, as is the usual police procedure in such cases.

But nothing of the sort happened. The Sanford police believed Zimmermann’s version of events and let him go home after confiscating his gun. No other steps were taken, at least not since the passage of Florida’s 2005 “Stand Your Ground” law, which permits the use of deadly force in self-defense situations anywhere, anytime and without penalty.

An angry citizen has more latitude than law enforcement personnel

The NRA used its influence and its money to argue in support of the law. Decent citizens everywhere should finally be allowed to defend their honor and their property without having to back down. Anyone without a criminal record in Florida is entitled to own a gun. Unanimous opposition by police and prosecutors, who said the law amounted to a “shoot first, ask questions later” policy, went unheeded.

Similar laws sanctioning the use of deadly force in self defense situations — even in public places — now apply in 21 states. Florida had the honor of getting that ball rolling in 2005. Critics of the law assert that “Stand Your Ground” gives an angry citizen more rights and grants quasi-immunity, something that even the police do not enjoy. Every police officer in Sanford must justify each bullet fired, at the peril of losing his or her own job. George Zimmermann needed only to claim that he felt threatened, and, if “Stand Your Ground” is upheld, he won’t even be charged with any crime.

The NRA (“Guns Don’t Kill People; People Kill People!”) spends a major portion of its $200 million annual budget on public relations campaigns designed to give gun owners more and more privileges. The goal is to make it possible for citizens to kill the bad guys in churches, in colleges and on school buses. Florida is the NRA’s promised land. Gang members and drug dealers there already have the right to stand their ground, and the number of shooters who now claim they felt threatened has already tripled.

The New Black Panthers have put a bounty on Zimmermann

George Zimmermann apparently doesn’t intend to base his defense on this controversial law. His attorney, Craig Sonner, says he will use a simple right of self-defense plea. The defense will claim self-defense, with the only question being whether or not Zimmermann’s use of deadly force was appropriate.

This view is shared by Jeb Bush, Florida’s governor at the time the law was enacted. But it appears that police and prosecutors in Florida see the case differently. Zimmermann’s lawyer is concerned that his client feels threatened. That’s understandable.

The New Black Panther Party has offered a $10,000 reward for Zimmermann’s arrest. Mikhail Mohammed, a spokesman for the organization said, “It’s time for us, as black men, to take justice in our own hands.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks extremist groups in the United States, says that the group, the New Black Panther Party “is a virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers.”

Hoodie cliché is racist paranoia

Now, a lot of righteous talk is going around about the good, Catholic Latino George Zimmermann. He was always polite and made a good impression as an altar boy. That’s how his friends are peddling this event, and that’s how his father describes him as well: His son is neither trigger-happy nor a racist and the whole thing is a terrible misunderstanding.

What’s known for certain is that since 2004, Zimmermann called the police at least 46 times to give them tips about suspicious individuals or circumstances. “These assholes always get away,” he told the Sanford police as he followed Trayvon Martin.

Members of Martin’s family claim he had never engaged in fights or otherwise drawn attention to himself. Blacks who recall the days of civil rights demonstrations say Zimmermann was pursuing a hooded cliché conjured up by racist paranoia.

Few whites have the courage to admit the possibility. Geraldo Rivera, a television host with Fox News, says that the incident was at least half Trayvon Martin’s fault because it’s known that hoodies are a threatening form of dress that some use as an assumption of guilt.

The danger of appearing dangerous

The FBI and the Department of Justice are carrying out investigations in Sanford, and the chief of police has gone on temporarily leave. If, according to the law, no crime can be proven — such as a hate crime — it will be difficult. Demonstrators are convinced that had Zimmermann been black and Trayvon white, an arrest would have immediately ensued. Prominent blacks, as well as journalists and columnists, are taking this tragedy personally.

Black fathers warn their sons of the dangers of looking threatening. They have to learn how to avoid doing so: Don’t run on sidewalks, even in play, and never raise your hand or your voice. Every black American, whether a college professor or an auto mechanic, knows how it feels to be regarded by fellow citizens, and especially by the police, as suspicious.

Such reactions have changed little during Obama’s tenure. “I can only imagine what these parents are going through,” the president said. “When I think about this boy, I think about my own kids.”

Newt Gingrich, on the other hand, had the nerve to call Obama’s comments “disgraceful,” adding, “Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be OK because it didn’t look like him?” The protests will continue, and the signs held by the protesters will continue to read, “Do I look suspicious?” and, “I am Trayvon.”