#Trayvon
By Luke Visconti
* UPDATE: Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder on April 11,2012.
In case you missed it, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman as he walked down a street to a friend’s home in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman, on a “neighborhood watch” patrol, called the police to report Trayvon as a “real suspicious guy” and “up to no good, or he’s on drugs or something.” Trayvon was wearing a hoodie; it was raining. The dispatcher asked, “Are you following him?” When Zimmerman said “Yeah,” the dispatcher said, “OK, we don’t need you doing that.” Zimmerman was armed with a Kel-Tec 9mm pistol. It took one shot to kill Trayvon.
When I first read of the news, Trayvon’s picture was in the story, and I was struck by how handsome and open he looked—in contrast to his murderer.
But chances are you’ve heard of Trayvon. As of this morning, there are almost 1 million electronic signatures on the change.org petition demanding that Zimmerman be arrested. Spike Lee and Wyclef Jean started the ball rolling with tweets. The press picked it up. Anderson Cooper was all about Trayvon last night. Because of the Internet, you can hear the 911 tapes, see Trayvon’s pictures and hear his mom say that he was killed because of “the color of his skin.”
As hard as it is to imagine, George Zimmerman has not been arrested. The law in Florida, a “Shall Issue” state where one is entitled to carry a concealed weapon, does not call for people to back down from confrontations because Gov. Jeb Bush signed the “Stand Your Ground” law in 2005. Prosecutors in Florida have apparently decided that prosecuting shootings in this case is not worth it as judges can dismiss the case before the trial begins under the concept of “true immunity” based on a “Stand Your Ground” assertion.
But there’s a lot of pressure on Sanford, a place that ran Jackie Robinson out of town during spring training. The city commissioners voted to demand that the police chief resign. If you do a little digging on the Sanford police, you’ll see that there’s been a history; the NAACP is collecting stories to deliver to the Department of Justice. In a larger context, this “Stand Your Ground” law, which has been passed in 21 states, needs very close examination. I am a fan of the Second Amendment, but this reads a little to me like “Shoot the Black guy first, ask questions later” law.
What can we learn here from a business context? History matters. Having a trajectory of good practices—or bad—is public knowledge these days, especially when something goes wrong and people have a little time to dig around the web. Many companies I visit still have a policy of being “modest.” It’s old fashioned and doesn’t serve your customers, employees or shareholders. Websites should have clarity and focus; today, hundreds of millions of people tell their own story on Facebook and Twitter. Your company must tell its own story on its website, yet most corporate websites are soulless (many look like they’re designed by soulless ad agencies and vetted by attorneys who don’t get out much).
I’ve been discussing strategic philanthropy with several companies, a program that has a theme, reflects the company’s values and can be integrated with the general business. There is nothing self-serving about building a pipeline of educated professionals and talented technicians by serving poor and underrepresented young people in a nationwide education mentoring program (the Rutgers Future Scholars program could be adopted nationwide, and Rutgers is an AAU research institution, so it is doing the research to understand how).
The kind of pressure that took years to create during the civil-rights era now takes days. What I’ve observed is that furtive and hateful things burrow underground, while the opposite struggles for sunlight. But what I’ve also found is that, although evil is not sustainable, it is well organized—while forces for the good often devolve their conversations into arguments over jargon. (Is it “I&D”? “D&I”? “DNI”? Just “I”?) Trayvon was murdered by a man with a troubled background who was empowered by a law that needs to be repealed. The force of the social media has taken the lead and traditional media is following. The lessons here for business are clear.
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10:36 am
It tells me that many people react without all the facts. It is say to lose a soul, but there is no need to damn another soul without knowing the truth.
11:02 am
That in over 200 years nothing has changed. That it is time to become proactive and to utilize our governmental system as it was designed to function. To hold ALL elected representatives on ALL government levels responsible for the execution of ALL governmental policies in accordance and spirit of our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Time for our young people to take up the spirit of their grandparents and great-grandparents to enforce civil liberties for ALL.
11:03 am
It shows us that we still are challenged as a people and we are in trouble.
11:04 am
We have not come as far as we think!~
11:04 am
It tells us that NOTHING has changed.
That we can’t send out kids to the store, or even to school and expect them to be safe and treated fairly.
It says that the American dream is crippled and is dying.
It says there is no justice in the US.
11:05 am
Justice has a long way to go.
11:05 am
This tragedy cries out for justice and the only justice in this case is to bring the killer to a jury trial, find him guilty as charged and imprison him.
11:06 am
That we have institutionalized “wild west,” shoot-first-ask questions-later, behaviors, which have no place in a democratic society. But also that there are millions of people across the nation and beyond who care deeply about justice and human life.
By the way, I just signed the petition for prosecution.
Regards, Luke.
11:06 am
Sad, sad, sad. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Thank you for addressing this issue.
11:07 am
It tells our society that we have digressed and not progressed.
For business, it tells us that we have different minded people that work around us everyday. We do not know anyone’s true feeling as it relates to race or just how a person’s race can change the perception of a conversation, a meeting, or a simple act such as walking down a sidewalk with a bag of skittles. The situation of Travyon Martin can divide a population at work, or a customer base with its supplier or vendor
11:56 am
It reminds us that a postracial society is in the future, not in the society that we presently reside.
11:58 am
The US has a long way to go with race issues . Also law enforcement offices across US must be watched for possible wrong doing.
2:04 pm
I am deeply saddened by such a senseless act. I am a Floridian and this is the kind of behavior that has exemplified itself since I was a kid. We must change laws and help others understand that we are all God’s creation. We don’t have to agree on ideas, political issues, religious or personal issues. However, we must respect each other as humans and have a moral decorum that will not lead to vigilante acts such as this. Thank you for your wonderful reads.
2:07 pm
For African American mothers, it is not “hard to believe” that Zimmerman has not been arrested. History is replete with such examples; this is just another one in a long list.
As for “Hispanic” not being “white”: “Hispanic” is not a race. It is not even “Hispanic”, which is a term that you will only hear as an ethnic categorization in the United States. Hispanic/Latinos also have racial classifications, in skin color going from white to Black, with a racial bias reflecting that which operates in the United States. To use that reasoning — “Hispanic is not white” — as a way of diminishing the role of racism as a fundamental reason for why Trayvon was targeted and assassinated is such a clear example of how willful we are about maintaining our ignorance of how white supremacy / anti-Black stereotyping and bias operates and the myriad ways in which African Americans are asked to pay for its sustenance.
3:28 pm
That black males are expendable and people who are of a different race have no regard to human life.
3:44 pm
It tells us that black people are still second class citizens, and especially black men!
3:47 pm
Luke – As saddened as I am there is reason to hope as I listen and read the blogs. Across the board regardless of race and ethnicity people are outraged.
As a mother I feel depressed that black parents have to give our children warnings about how to behave should they be stopped by the police because we know they do not have the benefit of the doubt. Zimmerman was simply acting out what has been done over and over again in this country. Yes I know about black on black crime. That is why this is so tragic. I look at Trayvon’s picture and I see my 13 year old grandson who is 6’ 1’’ and we are already talking to him about being so careful when he is out.
At the same time I read the vitriolic attacks on President Obama – the total lack of respect – and feel sickened. The excuse that it is because of his policies is just that – an excuse for deep seated racism and the fact the a black man is President of the United States.
8:17 pm
As a mother of a young African American male I am truly afraid and saddened that America still lives by the gun. The gun has taken more lives than any other means of death among our male children. Zimmerman must be held accountable for this child’s death. To allow him to continue to walk around w/o answering for his crimes only perpetuates the notion that it is open season on our children. My prayers go out to the family. I am sorry about your loss.
8:52 am
Not that this matters, because in my mind, this is a clear case of murder. However, I would really like to see the “stand your ground” law. I always thought that if a intruder was attempting to get in one’s home or an individual was endanger or protecting someone else that was, then you had the right to use force to stop harm from being done to yourself or someone else. No where in the previous laws was it OK to follow someone and then gun them down. Previously, if an intruder was running away and you used force, then you become the criminal.
3:14 pm
Luke,
It illustrates the conundrum in which we find ourselves and how difficult it is to extract ourselves from the confines of our language and the use of race to describe what happens to us.
One the one hand, it should be abundantly clear to most Americans that had Trayvon not been a black teenager and and instead a white teenager, he may well still be alive today and if not, at worst his alleged assailant most certainly would have been charged with some type of crime.
But here is what is also missing from the larger conversation: it would be more helpful, I believe in the long run, if in describing what has tragically happened to this family is that a 17 year old child, a son, a young human being has been killed; not a black teenager but a child…he was first and foremost a child. He was not a black anything. Sometimes it seems to me that if we were more selected in the use of our language, emphasizing the common humanity of each other, we may make more progress on the more difficult issues of race and ethnicity.