Prejudice killed my Brother

I tried not to give my two cents on this Trayvon Martin case. But there is nothing to Justify Zimmerman’s use of deadly force on this child. If you were walking through an unfamiliar neighborhood and you notice that a man is following you. Most people respond with either Fight or Flight. Trayvon probably felt threatened by Zimmerman’s stalking and decided to defend himself. Zimmerman clearly explains how he saw Trayvon as a suspicious person and proceeded to follow him. Trayvon can not say why he attacked the man because he is dead. We only know that Trayvon was unarmed and had no intention of wrong doing while running an errand. Was he dressed like how most young black men these days dress, like a thug? Yes. I admit that even as a black woman, I myself tended to avoid black men that looked questionable. But going to an HBCU has changed that. I know that there are a lot of people who still don't see it as wrong to dress a certain way and get mad when people assume that you are what you appear to be. I say, “Why wear the uniform, if that is not your lifestyle?”

But back to Trayvon's case. Zimmerman has yet to say what Trayvon's actions were to cause him to be suspicious, other than seeing Trayvon walking down the street. With what circumstantial evidence does Zimmerman offer to make Trayvon look suspicious other than him being an unknown black male dressed like a thug? How is this not racial profiling? Zimmerman could have just openly approached Trayvon to ask him what he was doing in the neighborhood and none of this would have happened. As a man that has been mentoring young Black men before, Zimmerman shouldn't have been so quick to jump to conclusions. A life has been lost as a result, and what kind of consolation to Trayvon's family is an apology? What about other cases that are similar, where a person was so quick to jump to conclusions and took another's life. There is such a thing as Involuntary Man slaughter for a reason. I can forgive man’s crime and prejudice, but I still think people should be held accountable for their actions especially when it costs another's life. The sad part is, even if Trayvon's instinct had been to run away. Zimmerman still probably would have used deadly force because in his mind he had already judged Trayvon to be a threat. The only way to fight prejudice is with communication, A simple "Hello, How are you doing today?" might save many lives.