Standing Your Ground When You Are White and When You Are Not

It feels very much like Trayvon Martin is walking in 21st century shoes that Emmett Till left behind in 1955.  That is very disturbing indeed, that today we are that close to our history of lynching.  And it is perfectly legal to do so.  The more I think about it the sadder and angrier I get.   What has happened to civil rights and social justice?

The 'Stand Your Ground' laws are terrible, horrible, no good, very bad laws.  Why?  Because in practice it is unequal protection under the law.  If you are black and you use a gun on another person, there is every indication that you will go to prison for it.  Now, in the wake of the Trayvon Martin murder, we know that if you are not black and you use a gun you will not go to prison, at least not this week. 

The consideration for who is 'threatened' and who is not is entirely arbitrary, and I would very much appreciate a tallying of who stays out of prison after using lethal force reported by race.  I would love to be wrong about this, but I don't think I am.

The case that has been highlighted in the media juxtaposed to George Zimmerman not being convicted is the case of a Florida woman, Marissa Alexander, who is in prison for 20 years after being convicted of firing warning shots while in an argument with her estranged husband when she states she felt threatened.  She is black.  Please show me some cases where black people have used lethal force and not been found guilty.  Then show me a case where a young black man has 'stood his ground' with a white man and been acquitted.  It is just not believable and it is unjust.  Thankfully I do not live in a state where that is the law, nor do I spend much time in states where it is the law--and maybe there is a reason for that.  But I would love to see tourism boycotts for some of these places--where there are unjust voting redistricting, suppression of voters rights, anti-immigrant laws, and no marriage equality.