Kelsie+N.+-+SL+-+SP12

Kelsie Newman Trayvon Martin witness casts doubt on shooter's self-defense claim March 29, 2012 Racism and its legacy relates to this story because it shows how one event that has to do with one's race, can corrupt into this huge ordeal. People just don’t forget about history and many people will fight for what they believe just like they did in history. Just because it is present time doesn’t mean they won’t fight for what is right. It’s not just the African American descent, it is many White Americans too. Everyone should be treated equally just like the constitution states.
 * Summary: ** Ever since the Trayvon Martin murder, there has been announced that indeed there were witnesses. There has been some question on what really happen with the whole scene; if it was self defense or simply just murder. On February 26, Zimmerman (the shooter) was a neighborhood watch volunteer, and when he saw Trayvon walking in that neighbor on his way home from 7-eleven, Zimmerman reported to 911 that it was suspicious because he was a black teen with his hood up. When the dispatcher told Zimmerman not to follow Martin, he did anyway and that lead to the fatal exchange. Martin wasn’t armed and only has a bag of skittles and ice tea on him. Zimmerman tried to say it was self defense after being attacked, but the police report said there was no blood or any signs of injury on him. One witness that saw the event said that though he couldn’t really see what was happening, there wasn’t a lot of movement, then he heard the gunshot. Another witness that saw it happen said that he saw Zimmerman on top of Martin, but then his mom said that the press “pressured” him into saying stuff that didn’t happen.
 * Evaluation: **Many people believe that this case has definitely made some risks in the whole situation. Not arresting Zimmerman has caused people to believe that Civil Rights and Segregation are still happening even though the constitution forbids that, from past experiences. If self defense means that one person kills someone without being harmed first, then all the morals that we grew up with are false. Everyone should be treated equally, and since this murder happened the black population has been outraged and fighting for their rights. People think that Zimmerman should be arrested because if that happen to anyone else they would have gone to jail. America is confused on how someone could get away with shooting someone and not get away with classical crimes such as burglary. Many people want him to go to jail, but only two people know what really happen and one of them is dead. Yes, there are witnesses but you can never take someone's word for it when they aren't dealing with it first account. The government has to know this isn’t going to end until justice is served.
 * Relevance: **Equality has been an issue and still is an issue, even after the Civil rights movement. Many African Americans at the time in history when the Civil rights movement was going on were fighting for their freedom and to be treated with respect and equality. Since this case has brought such chaos to the African American descent, many people are questioning the constitution and the whole point of the African American Civil rights movement (1955-1968). Since officials haven’t arrested Zimmerman, or charge him for any criminal offense, a lot of African people feel like it has to do with Martins race. They see it as a racial discrimination, which brings us back to the civil rights movement for blacks. Many people in history have fought and sacrificed their life to have their race treated equally, and not discriminated. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Malcolm X are just some people who made an equal United States happen.
 * Questions: **
 * If so many people are outraged by this event, wouldn't authorities do something so riots or boycotts don’t start?
 * Why aren’t authorities doing anything about Zimmerman? I don’t understand.
 * There are witnesses who said they didn’t see any fighting and heard a gunshot, so why haven’t they done anything yet?
 * Is there a court date to decide what is going to happen?
 * Is there any investigation going on to figure out what really happen?
 * If Martin didn’t have any weapon on him, then obviously he wasn’t planning on doing any crime, so why wouldn’t Zimmerman get in trouble for pursuing him.
 * Work Cited: **
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1960, the end of, and border state. "African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Civil_Rights_Movement_%281955%E2%80%931968%29>.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">1965, and the emergence of the Black Power. "Civil rights movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights_movement>.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">"Trayvon Martin Witness Casts Doubt On Shooter's Self-defense Claims | Fox News." Fox News - Breaking News Updates | Latest News Headlines | Photos & News Videos. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2012. <http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/03/29/trayvon-martin-witness-casts-doubt-on-shooters-self-defense-claims/>.