Dangerous terrain

The following letter was published on April 24, 2012 by
The New York Daily News
New York, NY

If justice slips away and George Zimmerman is exonerated, every state that has a Stand Your Ground law will experience gun carriers shooting and killing people of color, hiding behind the law and apologizing afterwards — when it is too late.

Clearly racist

The following letter was published on April 23, 2012 by
The Seattle Times
Seattle, WA

In my opinion, George Zimmerman acted as if he had thrown a baseball through a window of Trayvon Martin’s parents with his apology to them for the killing of their son, Trayvon Martin. [“Zimmerman apologizes, granted bond,” News, April 21.]

Like many in America and many other parts of the world, my heart goes out to Martin’s parents for the pursuit of justice in an area of the country where it could slip away. It is my notion that many laws are developed and legislated for the sake of modifying, controlling and preventing criminal behavior.

In the Zimmerman case in Sanford, Fla., a colorblind justice in America is on trial. A 17-year-old African American minding his own business was followed and killed by a man with no authority to pursue him.

Zimmerman was told not to follow Martin by the dispatcher when he made the 911 call to report that Martin was in the area; Zimmerman ignored the dispatcher, followed Martin; whether, Martin turned to defend himself or chose to run, he was unarmed and killed by Zimmerman.

If justice slips away and Zimmerman is exonerated in Sanford, all cities that have the “stand your ground” law will experience some gun-carriers shooting and killing people of color, hiding behind the law and apologizing later.

Color-blind justice is on trial along with George Zimmerman

The following letter was published on April 22, 2012 by
The Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts

In my opinion, George Zimmerman acted as if he had thrown a baseball through a window of the home of Trayvon Martin’s parents with his apology to them for the killing of their son (“Fla. shooter apologizes; bail set at $150,000,” Page A1, April 21). Like many in America and around the world, my heart goes out to Martin’s parents in their pursuit of justice in an area of the country where it could slip away.

Many laws are developed and legislated for the sake of modifying, controlling, and preventing criminal behavior. In Zimmerman’s case in Sanford, Fla., color-blind justice in America is on trial.

As I see it, a 17-year-old African-American minding his own business was followed and killed by a man with no authority to pursue him. When Zimmerman made a 911 call to report that Martin was in the area, the dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin; Zimmerman followed Martin anyway; whether Martin turned to defend himself or chose to run, he was unarmed.

If justice slips away, and Zimmerman is exonerated in Florida, all communities that have “stand your ground” laws will experience some gun carriers shooting and killing people of color, hiding behind the law, and apologizing later.