On February 26th, 2012, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was senselessly shot and killed on his way home from the local 7/11. Despite the massive media coverage this tragedy attracted, more than two years later similar events continued to happen, and unfortunately, it appears as if nothing has changed. Recently, young Michael Brown was shot (over six times) by a white police officer—who was eventually acquitted from his horrifying murder— nevertheless, his dead body would then lay on the street, uncovered, for hours to come. The graphic remains of his corpse were there to be viewed by his entire community (including his grief-stricken family). Brown 's death would soon act as a catalyst for a movement more powerful than any other. Preceding Brown 's murder, it was presumable that any unarmed (and often innocent) black person who encountered a Caucasian authority figure could potentially end up in a horrid situation. Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd, Shantel Davis and Oscar Grant, are just a handful of unarmed African-Americans that were killed by police officers across the United States before the loss of Brown. …show more content…
The general cause of these events stem from a long rooted history of systematic racism, prejudice against racialized individuals and other minorities, and authority figures utilizing their power to oppress others. When it has come to a point where young black children are more prone to feeling a sense of fear rather than safety when interacting with the authority figures implemented and hired to protect them, you must question the ethics of our