The equation is simple. If a person admittingly kills an unarmed person, the immediate result should be that person’s arrest.
More than a month ago, an unarmed black Florida teen, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed after a neighborhood watch captain deemed his appearance — he was wearing a hoodie and jeans — suspicious. His assailant, George Zimmerman, says Trayvon attacked him and that he was forced to shoot in self-defense. Nearly a month later, Zimmerman’s story remains shaky yet he remains free.
Maybe it’s the fact that our society promotes vigilantism that led to Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, trying to play hero. But the fact remains that even after a 911 operator instructed him not to follow Trayvon, Zimmerman pursued him on foot — with a gun.
Zimmerman has yet to be arrested or indicted. Police at the scene took his claim of self-defense at face value and never placed him under arrest. In assuming Zimmerman’s innocence, the Sanford police dealt Trayvon a grave injustice.
It’s 2012, and we still tiptoe around racial discussions. Stereotypes still make us uncomfortable and discrimination is still apparent. It can be argued that Zimmerman found Trayvon suspicious — and pursued — simply because the boy was black. Though it’s impossible to know for sure, the fact remains that it has taken the death of a 17-year-old to prompt national dialogue about racial discrimination and profiling.
If this episode has exposed anything about this country, it’s that racial profiling, stereotypes and discrimination are still major problems.
Trayvon’s death is stirring up conversations that we have carefully avoided for years. As a culture, we conveniently allow such sensitive topics to slide to the back burner.
We tend to shrug off stories with racial angles and squirm our ways out of the subject. We too often choose to remain ignorant to any topic — whether it be race, religion or sex — that might be troublesome, complicated or uncomfortable for us.
That is particularly true on a campus such as Ohio University where students are predominantly white. It’s easy for us to stay in bubble-like social and intellectual circles and forget that other races exist. If we don’t consistently and deliberately expose ourselves to other cultures, it’s easy to fall under the spell of stereotypes.
It’s been more than 50 years since the Civil Rights Movement, but our society is still composed of many racist and prejudiced institutions. We can’t outgrow our collective past, but we must refuse to stand behind a veil of ignorance.
A national dialogue about racial profiling and stereotyping should have taken place long ago. Although it took the death of a child to prompt these discussions, failing to seize the moment to address society’s racial problem would be disrespectful to Trayvon’s memory and reflect horribly on our ability to move forward as a united people.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
