Summary Of The Whole System Failed Trayvon Martin

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The Whole System Failed Trayvon Martin
The American journalist Charles Blow in his scandal article The Whole System Failed Trayvon Martin illuminated such deep problems of current society as the credibility of self-defense, the imperfection of the U.S. criminal justice system, criticism of gun culture, and race relationships. This paper focuses on the Trayvon Martin case and explores the stereotypes that created the motive for the homicide.
The Trayvon Martin case caused a substantial public interest in racial profiling. According to Charles Blow’s words: “the system failed him when the neighborhood watchman grafted on stereotypes the moment he saw him, ascribing motive and behavior and intent and criminal history to a boy who was just walking home (n.d.). In general, the phenomenon of racial …show more content…

One of the most well-known examples of the racial profiling is a case of Trayvon Martin. This horrible event happened in February 2012 when seventeen years old boy Trayvon was shot by the neighborhood watch head George Zimmerman. Analyzing the words of Blow, Zimmerman’s perception of Trayvon Martin reflects pervasive stereotypes about the criminality of black people. Thus, the tension between police and African-American has a long history. Nowadays, news and mass media feed public with continuous stories of crimes that became an integrant part of black males characteristic. Hence, Zimmerman’s actions against Martin are far from surprising. They seem rather to be a logical consequence of existing growing prejudice and acceptance of racial profiling. Having raised this problem, Charles Blow also pointed to the question how race influences people’s perception of criminal danger. Apparently, George Zimmerman perceived danger in the situation with Trayvon Martin. Defining the level of danger may be caused within the context of decisions about walking at night or crossing to a sidewalk. In most cases