The Case of Trayvon Martin: How Stereotypes Can Lead to Murder

How many more have to die?

Many stories capture my attention amongst the 24/7 debacle that we call the media but this week has been particularly special. Special, because the case of Trayvon Martin has again, made me acutely aware of the dangers that black men face when navigating the dangerous terrain we call America. Unless, you have been living completely underground lately, Martin was a seventeen year old child murdered while walking home from the store. Martin was murdered by a volunteer neighborhood watchmen, George Zimmerman (this will be the last time I mention his name), in Sanford, Florida. Notice how I said volunteer, because the term dictates the lack of authority he had in carrying out any type of arresting powers under the law. Z saw Martin walking through a gated community, decided to follow him after a dispatcher had told him not to, and ended up killing him in a confrontation that has yet to come to light. The police ruled that he was justified in killing Martin under the Stand Your Ground Law which dictates you have the right to use deadly force in self-defense. I don’t understand how this law applies to Z since he got out of his car to accost Martin. He was not in any imminent danger in his car when he saw Martin walking down the street. This suggests to me that Z was the aggressor by initiating contact with Martin and the law shouldn’t have applied to him the moment he decided to step his punk ass out of the car and into the personal space of Martin. Somehow, these were not rational and pertinent questions that the police department investigated when they decided to take the word of Z. I am a student of history so I immediately noticed parallels between this case and the long painful history Blacks have had with the police and how the stereotypes internalized by Americans about black males have contributed to the manner in which Black Americans receive justice in America.

In a not too distant past it was acceptable to hunt Black men down like animals, lynch them in order to limit their right to self-agency, control their bodies, and to perpetuate a form of hegemony with fear and violence that would deter opposition to a power structure predicated upon racism and black inferiority. Law enforcement was complicit in this lawlessness by turning a blind eye and through their participation in these “events.” America’s stereotype of black men as hyper sexual, criminal, and deviant made practices such as lynching justifiable since black men were beasts that needed to be controlled. These stereotypes remain and police use of violent force or citizen use of violent force against black men is acceptable because America still believes that black men are a criminal element that needs to be controlled. It is acceptable even when it is clear that the violence should have never been utilized (Rodney King). America remains indifferent to the murder of black men because the instant belief of black male criminalization is ingrained in their perceptions. It leads Americans to believe that even innocent Black male children, like Martin, must have done something to provoke the violence that ended his life.

Transfer this legacy to the night of February 26^th when Martin decided to walk to the store to purchase skittles and an iced tea and one can begin to realize how 400+ years of history was working against him. Martin didn’t stand a chance between the stereotypes developed by Z that caused him to instantly criminalize Martin and pursue him, to the bullet that ended his life. I have nephews and brothers and one day if God has it in his plans for me I might have a son, and I am scared that they might become Trayvon. I’m scared that they can be doing something as simple as walking down the street and become victims of murder. I’m fearful about the fact that we’re still having these conversations about race, stereotypes and violence in 2012, but most of all I’m dead ass fearful about who will be the next Trayvon.