Summary: The Killing Of Trayvon Martin

In today’s society it is a common consensus that society has improved on their acceptance of people of different religions, races, and sexualities. Prejudice is considered to be an uncommon occurrence, and that things are not as bad as they were in the past. This denial that prejudice, particularly prejudicial racism, is still prevalent in society is in itself a form of modern racism. This paper will focus primarily on the prejudicial racism that came to play in the Trayvon Martin case as this case illustrates that prejudice is still a pervasive problem in modern society, though it is often thought to be an issue of the past. This case displays the prevalent prejudices in society through the cases’ background, the commentary made on the case

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). This shows that Zimmerman’s first instinct was to act on the negative stereotypes he had put on Martin instead of giving Martin an opportunity to make his own impression. Zimmerman’s reaction was not unordinary as many studies have claimed that stereotypes can

This verdict cause moral unrest amongst many people because it begged the question of whether or not the verdict would be the same had Trayvon Martin been white and George Zimmerman been black (Ford 2013). The privilege one receives by being white is a phenomenon that is still being studied but it is common knowledge that being white is often subconsciously seen as automatically having power and success, a privilege that minorities do not have (Ford 2013). The white privilege in the Trayvon Martin trial was clear and caused an outcry for justice, resulting in the Black Lives Matter movement, and while it created this affect amongst black Americans it made many white Americans deflect their guilt. The trial and the resulting criticisms of the verdict shows how the concept of racial privilege amongst white people creates feelings of insecurity which result in using the defence mechanism of rationalization to ease their worries. Their motivational influence to feel good about themselves, which is not a desire limited to only white people, allows them to justify their status quo by derogating the less privileged. In doing this, the injustice and prejudice that occurred during the killing and trial of Martin and Zimmerman are rationalized by the white public and deflected in other