Hosts on a radio show this morning were discussing Trayvon Martin’s murder. A caller surprised everyone by saying that Trayvon’s death is a great tragedy, but it’s also tragic, “when we kill each other and no one ever talks about it.” The hosts acknowledged the truth of that statement and honored it by agreeing that there’s way too much acceptance in society today of urban violence whereas the “sexier” crimes that become high-profile stories grab maybe too much media attention.
The fact remains that Trayvon’s story deserves as much attention as we can generate for it. An innocent child is now dead and criminal charges are not being brought against his killer due to the Stand Your Ground “self-defense law” in Florida which encourages violence against anyone a person believes to be threatening him or her physically even if that suspicion proves later to be unwarranted. The New York Times reports,
The (Florida) state attorney in Tallahassee, Willie Meggs, who fought the law when it was proposed, said: “The consequences of the law have been devastating around the state. It’s almost insane what we are having to deal with…
“The person who is alive always says, ‘I was in fear that he was going to hurt me,’ ” Mr. Meggs said. “And the other person would say, ‘I wasn’t going to hurt anyone.’ But he is dead. That is the problem they are wrestling with in Sanford.”
Trayvon was speaking with his 16 year old girlfriend as he walked home after buying a bag of Skittles, and told her he was worried about the man following him. She told attorney Benjamin Crump about the call
ABC News was there exclusively as the 16-year-old girl told Crump about the last moments of the teenager’s life. Martin had been talking to his girlfriend all the way to the store where he bought Skittles and a tea. The phone was in his pocket and the earphone in his ear, Crump said.
“He knew he was being followed and tried to get away from the guy, and the guy still caught up with him,” Tracey Martin said. “And that’s the most disturbing part. He thought he had got away from the guy, and the guy backtracked for him.”
The girl was so distraught after the killing that she spent a night in the hospital, the lawyer said.
“She was really traumatized over this. They were dating. … It’s a situation where to know you were the last person to talk to the young man who was one of the most special persons in the world to you,” Crump said.
You can pay homage to Trayvon’s memory and his family and friends by adding your name to the petition to prosecute Trayvon’s killer, and discussing this tragedy and its ramifications at every opportunity. Societal reform is needed and it starts with us.