Do you think it’s fair to be judged only because of the color of your skin or you your religion? Certainly not. You might think that nowadays, racism and prejudice don’t cross peoples’ minds as it did before, but you would be surprised with what these things still lead people to do.
17 year-old Trayvon Martin wasn’t showing any kind of threat, however, this black, young man was shot and killed when walking back from a convenience store on the night of February 26, 2012 in a community in Sanford, Florida. George Zimmerman, who was the volunteer neighborhood watchman (with no training) at the time, was the causer of this horrific murder. He claims that he shot Martin in self-defense and that the he was wearing a hoodie and looked “suspicious”. Zimmerman says this boy was “up to no good” and followed him, while all that this teenager was carrying were a bag of skittles and a bottle of iced tea, and he was unarmed. Worst of all, Zimmerman hasn’t been arrested for his actions and he truly deserves to be.
Prejudice can lead to injustice because once you have an unfavorable opinion about someone or a race itself it can lead you to treat that person unfairly without you even realizing; this case can certainly prove it. Not every black man who’s walking at night, wearing a hoodie is a thief and neither is dangerous- we experience Trayvon Martin being the victim of a murder because of this exact kind of prejudice. Prejudice is just a sign of ignorance and Mr. Zimmerman proved to be a very ignorant and racist person. When someone is taught or used to judge based on other peoples’ opinions, they can’t make fair judgments. Most likely, George Zimmerman has always been a racist man even though his father sent a letter to the Orlando Sentinel declaring that his son wasn’t at all racist: "George is a Spanish speaking minority with many black family members and friends. He would be the last to discriminate for any reason whatsoever."
"A black person in a hoodie isn't automatically 'suspicious.' Let's put an end to racial profiling!" Occupy Wall Street posted on its website… I bet that if Martin had been wearing expensive clothes instead he would have been “less suspicious”; what would you have done in Zimmerman’s case?
The Million Hoodie March was a protest in Union Square, New York, in which millions participated in favor of George Zimmerman’s arrest for the killing of Trayvon Martin. This millions of individuals were marching in remembrance of this innocent boy and in solidarity for his family. I believe that individuals have a responsibility to protect the innocent because then no one will and they would suffer. There are sometimes when you just know that protecting someone innocent is the right thing to do. The innocent and helpless-in this case Trayvon- are the ones who will be exposed to the dangers and prejudice of society because they have no way of defending themselves, sometimes; moreover, they have a tougher life. Trayvon is not alive anymore, but by this march in his honor many people are protecting him in a way.
I can relate this to Atticus defending Tom Robinson’s case in To Kill A Mockingbird; I still don’t know much about what he is defending him of but he makes us see that Tom is innocent. He says that he has to help this black man; otherwise, he couldn’t be able to stand up for himself; he is sure that this man is innocent and that he is doing the right thing. It is his responsibility to protect this black man.
Nevertheless, another way that society can help the innocent is just stop being discriminative and racist. Now it’s Zimmerman who has triggered this whole commotion and people have started protesting on how society won’t get better. But it will get better if one by one, we stop being so prejudice because this is something that we all do. No one really understands why but its just one of the ways people function- we are always ready to judge and criticize. We all fear what we cannot understand: prejudice. It’s impossible to understand this kind of stereotype and racism that is abundant in our lives; yet, we all fear that something like what happened to Trayvon might happen to anybody else.
Gender stereotypes can absolutely influence people’s behavior towards a person. I believe it’s mainly if you’re a woman, you-can’t-do-as-much-as-men kind of stereotype. In this case, I’m sure that if it had been a woman with a hoodie instead of Trayvon, Zimmerman wouldn’t have been so prejudiced and wouldn’t have shot the “suspect” because of her gender. All I really know is that if George Zimmerman had followed 911’s instructions to leave the boy alone, and if he hadn’t been so prejudiced Trayvon Martin would still be alive.
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