Research Paper On Trayvon Martin

“Racial profiling punishes innocent individuals for the past actions of those who look and sound like them…” Civil Rights activist, Benjamin Jealous’ words are very relevant to the case of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon Martin was murdered at age seventeen by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was a neighborhood watch patrol in his neighborhood, where Martin also lived. Zimmerman called 911 to report Martin as a “real suspicious guy” “a black male” walking around the neighborhood. Martin wore a hoodie on his way home from 7-Eleven with intentions of going home, but Zimmerman continued to follow Martin. The two men got into an altercation and Zimmerman fired one shot into Martin’s chest and he died. Trayvon Martin’s killing was certainly unjust. Martin was racially profiled, he was unarmed, and Zimmerman was not a figure of authority. However Zimmerman and others plead self-defense as his reasoning for shooting Martin.

Racial profiling as defined in the dictionary is “the use of personal characteristics or behavior patterns to determine whether a person may be engaged in illegal activity.” Trayvon Martin was on his way home from 7-eleven with a hoodie on when he noticed Zimmerman following him, and began to get frightened while on the phone with his girlfriend. Zimmerman called 911 to report Martin as a “ real suspicious guy” simply because he was black and he had his hood on.Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton says”It’s very hurtful, because I teach my son not to see color.But when he walks out the door that’s the first thing that people notice about him.”(Stereotypes and Profiling).On Fox News, Geraldo said that Martin was dressed “like a wannabe gangster.”(Smear Campaign). Trayvon was doing nothing wrong, but because he was black and Zimmerman probably viewed his outfit as “thuggish” he was thought of as a