Trayvon: ‘Stand Your Ground’ law favours whites killing blacks

White people who kill black people in 'Stand Your Ground' states in America are 354 per cent more likely to be found justified in their killing than a white person who kills another white person, according to research.

The ‘Stand Your Gound’ law which a jury in Florida found difficult to bypass in the trial of George Zimmerman and convict him of Trayvon Martin’s murder has been denounced by the Country’s top legal official, Eric Holder.

In a powerful speech given at the NAACP conference, Holder stated:

These laws try to fix something that was never broken...The list of resulting tragedies is long and, unfortunately has victimised too many who are innocent."

Trayvon’s killer Zimmerman wasn’t even arrested until a global protest forced authorities to take action some 44 days later.

In the one of his most compelling pieces ever written, British-born US Guardian correspondent, Gary Young summed up the feeling many hold:

On 26 February 2012 Martin was on his way home, minding his own business armed only with a can of iced tea and a bag of Skittles. Zimmerman pursued him, armed with a 9mm handgun, believing him to be a criminal. Martin resisted. They fought. Zimmerman shot him dead.

Who screamed. Who was stronger. Who called whom what and when and why are all details to warm the heart of a cable news producer with 24 hours to fill. Strip them all away and the truth remains that Martin's heart would still be beating if Zimmerman had not chased him down and shot him.

There is no doubt about who the aggressor was here. It appears that the only reason the two interacted at all, physically or otherwise, is that Zimmerman believed it was his civic duty to apprehend an innocent teenager who caused suspicion by his existence alone.

Appeals for calm in the wake of such a verdict raise the question of what calm there can possibly be in a place where such a verdict is possible. Parents of black boys are not likely to feel calm. Partners of black men are not likely to feel calm. Children with black fathers are not likely to feel calm. Those who now fear violent social disorder must ask themselves whose interests are served by a violent social order in which young black men can be thus slain and discarded.”

Simon Woolley