Stand Your Ground Law: An Argument Against Racial Profiling

The act itself is disappointing but more importantly I was bothered by the fact that there are many white individuals who fall victim to acts of police brutality but they don’t receive as much attention because they are not minorities (especially as much as african americans and latino’s do). “Deaths of whites at the hands of law enforcement typically receive less attention, even when the case is shrouded in controversy.” (Richardson, 1). This is an issue as a nation, we are fighting for unity among us all so I find it particularly odd that I never hear cases of police brutality against white individuals on the news, but constantly I come across one’s relating to african americans. All cases of police brutality are wrong despite color, race and ethnicity and we all deserve the right to raise awareness of this growing issue!

This is the case of George Zimmerman vs Trayvon Martian is case where George Zimmerman is the shooter who shot Martin down. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch volunteer when this murder happened. It has been about three years that Trayvon Martin passed away and there still hasn 't been any justice served upon George Zimmerman. Martin was an armed individual making his way home from a corner store through a gated community. Despite the fact that he got shot down by a White man makes a difference on how this case was judged.

Martin was shot and killed by neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman at the age of 17 after a disagreement between the two. According to Zimmerman, Martin appeared “suspicious” while he was outside purchasing candy and a drink from a 7-11, which caused Zimmerman to follow him by car and then by foot, and eventually fatally shoot him in the name of self-defence. The circumstances leading to Martin’s death provide an example of negative stereotyping as Zimmerman spotted Martin, a young black male wearing a hoodie, and made the assumption that he is someone suspicious. It is likely that the common stereotype that black men with hooded clothing are “dangerous” or “ghetto” may have created his belief Martin was someone suspicious. Before approaching Martin Zimmerman alerted the police of Martin’s presence and that he appeared suspicious, and though a 911 dispatcher told him that following Martin to the extent that Zimmerman was following him was unnecessary Zimmerman continued to pursue Martin and initiate the altercation (Lee 2013).

That lead to racial tension and prejudice in American since this country was made from the painful history of slavery, segregation and the old concepts of racial order that blacks and white have their place in society. Therefore, for Trayvon Martin family living in a gated community not in the ghetto where most white people think that all Blacks live in this type of community wearing a hoodie with a bag of skittle in his pocket, but to a white man looks like a gun made Zimmerman think he has the right to murder this young man without no evidences that he was dangerous, violence or suspicious. With the Trayvon Martin case was an example of injustice since the justice system has always been a race relations with blacks have been treating harshly as suspects and offenders but never as victims. The justice system was created from white supremacy and black inferiority from slavery so the system still has the disadvantage for blacks and still use some of the slave codes, blacks’ codes and Jim crow

On February 26, 2012, a 17 year old boy named Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a man named George Zimmerman. George was found not guilty in July of 2013. President Obama spoke upon the ruling of this case. “It could have been me 35 years ago” stated Obama. Most African Americans went through being followed in the stores, hearing the doors on the car lock as they passed by, or had a woman move her purse closer to her as they walked in the elevator.

“Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them…” Civil Rights activist, Benjamin Jealous’ words are very relevant to the case of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was murdered at age seventeen by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch patrol in his neighborhood, where Martin also lived. Zimmerman called 911 to report Martin as a “real suspicious guy” “a black male” walking around the neighborhood. Martin wore a hoodie on his way home from 7-Eleven with intentions of going home, but Zimmerman continued to follow Martin.

This article written by Christine William for the Gatestone Institute was an eye opener, on the way we look at race crimes and the way the government deals with such events. She begins by talking about the George Zimmerman case. The case that dealt with a man (not of color) killing a young African American teenager. She stated that people have, “intrinsically portrayed the tragedy of Trayvon Martin's death as the fight for black equality”. She than went on to say that although Trayvon had been suspended a month before and had text messages that showed his affiliation with fire arms and drugs, he was even compared to Jesus Christ being crucified.

Race relations has influenced the slaying of many blacks in modern America. George Zimmerman’s slaying of Trayvon Martin, a black teen, he approaches as he walked home in the rain with a bag of Skittles. Black communities in the United States spent much of late March of 2012 expressing outrage about Zimmerman’s actions and the Sanford, Florida, police department’s

Racial profiling should not occur within law enforcement because profiling people is illegal, profiling others divides people into racial categories, and profiling has been shown through numerous studies to be

"Racial Profiling and Criminal Justice." The Journal of Ethics, vol. 15, no. 1-2, 2011. , pp. 79-88. Nclive, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10892-010-9098-3.

Racial profiling can cause feelings of humiliation and worthlessness and lead to self-esteem problems. (Racial Profiling) Something that may not seem as a big deal to some may be it for others. Nobody deserves to have to be humiliated by something they couldn 't

Racial profiling is used in different ways and is a problem that needs to be solved in the United

Racial profiling is a very important issue that individuals in society face every day. This problem occurs in low income or poverty-stricken areas throughout cities and communities across the nation. Hundreds of anecdotal testimonials allege that law enforcement officials at all levels of government are infringing upon the constitutional rights and civil liberties of racial and ethnic minorities through a practice called “racial profiling” (Ward, 2002). So what is racial profiling? According to the National Institute of Justice, racial profiling by law enforcement is commonly defined as a practice that targets people for suspicion of crime based on their race, ethnicity, religion or national origin (National Institute of Justice, 2013).

Racial profiling has become a national issue starting in 2015 (“Racial”). Judging someone for their race has been a problem ever since a minority group has been noticed. Racial profiling has spread over all over the world. Racial profiling has been a problem through the years, if the human race can learn what racial profiling is, advantages of the profiling, and the disadvantages.

Social profiling should not be legalised in America because it will only promote discrimination, protest, and divided