Justice! Finally.

“Prosecutor says George Zimmerman is in custody and has been charged with 2nd-degree murder.”

I am pretty upset that this took so long, but regardless I am ecstatic that Zimmerman has finally been charged for the murder of Trayvon Martin (he could potentially get up to life in prison if convicted). Zimmerman’s arrest was delayed partially because of the “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida that allows individuals to use violence and force without having to retreat when they feel they are in danger. I sincerely hope that this law is something that will be repealed very soon because clearly it does not do very much good. The United States’ Justice Department’s civil rights division is allegedly opening its own investigation about this case. Which is great news. But there are so many underlying circumstances that exist in the United States that are integral to the existence of such circumstances.

Various debates have sparked from this horrible tragedy, including laws of self-defense and renewed concerns about race in America. Zimmerman claims that he shot Martin in ‘self-defense,’ despite the fact that the teenager was not armed. I can only hope that future court proceedings do not fail to bring justice and set an example that racial profiling is not acceptable, and that individuals who act similarly to Zimmerman will not be let off easily. Racism is still very much a part of North American society, and I think this case has a great opportunity to make a difference and show individuals that this kind of behaviour will not be tolerated.

Democracy in the News

April 11th, 2012

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Mollie Deyong

It’s funny… I 100% agree that Zimmerman has finally received the charge he deserved. However, I can’t exactly be happy about it… there is something so sad about the entire thing.

Besides the Tragedy of Martin’s death, there’s a certain tragedy that surrounds Zimmerman as well. I can’t help but feel that he’s just a symptom of a rotten society. I read somewhere that he is completely isolated and only has a relationship with his parents… he just seems like such a pathetic human being. About a year ago I talked to a couple health care workers who coincidentally lived in a similar area of the US…. and they just talked about how the social environment was eerily conservative and basically archaic. He might be a bad person who deserves to be prosecuted, he probably is in fact. But it’s starting to become clear that bigotry and ignorance are built into the American social system. Zimmerman probably couldn’t help but be a product of his environment. I’m happy he’s being prosecuted. But I’m sad that another man is going to spend his entire life in jail because of the socioeconomic problems in the USA.

15:45

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