"I am Trayvon Martin": Civil Rights for 2012

The issues: In Florida, a young African-American man, Trayvon Martin,  was stopped by a "neighborhood watchman" (not a police officer") in February because he was suspected of criminal behavior. He was wearing a "hoodie." He was on the phone with his girlfriend and carrying a bag of Skittles. 9-11 calls indicated that someone was screaming for help -- we don't know if it was Martin or Zimmerman, who stopped him. We don't know the details. However, Trayvon was shot dead. Zimmerman, the watchman, has not been charged with a crime.

The media is all over it, and it has brought up concerns about racism, and "racial profiling."

Racial profiling occurs when law enforcement agents impermissibly use race, religion, ethnicity or national origin in deciding who to investigate.

How prevalent is racial profiling?
67% of African Americans, 63% of Hispanic Americans and 50% of non-Hispanic whites believe racial profiling is widespread in traffic stops. (Source: 2004 Gallup Poll)


Wide range of Trayvon Martin articlesNew York Times Coverage
  (note how this issue is spreading throughout the media)

President Obama Speaks Out About Tragedy
  (Click on the link to YouTube -- press conference)

Having to think about race every day
 (video from NBC's "The Rock)
 

Dawn Porter is a lawyer and documentary filmmaker.  Her documentary “Gideon’s Army” about the American criminal justice system and young criminal defense lawyers practicing in the South will be broadcast on HBO.

‘I am Trayvon Martin’

by William Brangham

March 23, 2012

In the wake of the tragic shooting death of black teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., and with growing calls to stop what critics contend are racially-motivated police actions, I saw this powerful post on Facebook written by my friend Dawn Porter. Dawn and her husband Dave are black, and the parents of two boys not that much younger than Trayvon Martin. I asked Dawn if we could post her note, and she was happy to share it.

Here’s her post:

Eleven years ago, my husband and I gave a friend a ride to a fancy neighborhood in Essex Fells, N.J., about 15 minutes away from where we live. I was seven months pregnant with my first son. While we sat and waited to make sure she got in safely, a police car with flashing lights pulled up behind us. The officer came to the car and asked why we were there.  Even after we told him, he continued to question us, and asked for our license and registration.
My husband and I are both lawyers. We studied hard and worked hard to get through college and law school and we were eagerly awaiting the birth of our first son. In other words, it was the happiest time of our lives.
We were sitting in a car on the side of the road 15 minutes from our own home. We weren’t doing anything.
As I got increasingly annoyed and began to talk back to the officer, I saw my handsome, brilliant, hardworking, never-been-in-trouble husband (and why do I even think it’s important to emphasize that?!!) slowly put both his hands on the steering wheel, and say in a voice — and with a tone I’d never heard from him — “All right, officer. I’m going to reach in and get the documents for you.”  In that moment, my husband realized what I didn’t: that nothing mattered then but that we were black and in a place a police officer thought we shouldn’t be.
While the officer walked back to his car to run our license plates, only then did I see his partner standing off to the side, legs spread, pointing a gun at our car.
When he returned our documents, he did not apologize.
I am Trayvon Martin. And 11 years later, I have to explain to my sons that they could be, too.

Dawn Porter is a lawyer and documentary filmmaker. 

Last modified: March 23, 2012 at 3:42 pm