If a young black male cannot take a walk in a residential neighborhood without losing his life to a man who the police told to stand his ground, then what do we tell young black males about their chances of making it in America? The jury obviously bought the defense’s story that Trayvon Martin was the aggressor—that George Zimmerman feared for his life when he pulled the trigger of his automatic handgun and fired the bullet that ended the life of another young black male. At the risk of being labeled another disaffected black male in the American society, I must speak out about this verdict because it is the very reason why I have this platform today.
Two decades ago, I was working in a black church in East New York Brooklyn. The police nicknamed the neighborhood “the killing fields” because it had the highest rate of homicides in the nation. Young black males were killing each other at an alarming rate. That happens when kids grow up in an environment where they believe that nothing good will ever happen for them in life.
The pastor of Saint Paul Community Baptist Church, Rev. Johnny Ray Youngblood, had begun a ministry to black males that was 
helping black men to turn their lives around. Men, in large numbers, gravitated to a place where they could believe that God, if not society, had not given up on them. I was one of those men who, at the age of 42 years, went back to school to finish my undergraduate degree. Psychotherapy had helped me and I believed that with proper training, I could come back and be more effective working with these men and boys.
I opted to pursue a degree in social work because I was convinced that I could develop the best knowledge and skills to help people. While working on my M.S.W. degree, I realized that more attention was needed on the policies that impacted people and practice. I decided to train myself to be someone who could work to influence social welfare policy. Columbia University School of Social Work seemed to offer the best experience.
I earned a Ph.D. at Columbia University. That’s right, I earned it. Nobody gave it to me. It took four years of grueling work. I got no affirmative action help. If you don’t believe me, look at the student loans I am paying back in order to get my doctorate. My professors certainly did not give me a break because I was black. I sought the opportunity to get the Columbia pedigree because I believed it was the only way a black man could get proper respect in America. I believed that if I was awarded a Ph.D. from Columbia, people would say that I earned the right to participate and be heard.
There are some remarkable examples of great achievement by African American males—none more exceptional than Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the office of President of the United States. But even he is viewed by too many as incapable of handling the job. The point is these stories should not be remarkable. The day must come when black male achievement is ordinary.
The lives of African American males do matter, yet countless amounts of human capital are discarded everyday by systems that expect little from young black males. Too many are branded as criminals before they reach the age of personal responsibility. Too many are shunted off to special education classes because teachers are incapable of engaging them in an effective manner. Too many lives are wasted before they are given a chance to make something of themselves.
My father did not abandon me; he died when I was sixteen years old. My mother had died during childbirth when I was five years old and I found myself rudderless in a world where the deck was stacked against black men. It took me a long time to get my act together, but I gained my footing before it was too late. Unfortunately, for Trayvon Martin, he will never have that opportunity. What was his motive for being in that neighborhood? What was his motive for attacking a man who was much larger than he? The jury believed he was a young black male out looking for trouble.
Written by Dr. Charles E. Lewis Jr.
President of The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy
Twitter: @CharlesELewisJr.
Email: celewisjr@gmail.com
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is President of The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. He has served as deputy chief of staff and communications director for former Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns and was the staff coordinator for the Congressional Social Work Caucus. He was a full-time faculty member at Howard University School of Social Work prior to joining Rep. Towns’ staff and now is an adjunct associate professor. As staff coordinator for the Social Work Caucus, Dr. Lewis helped to plan and to coordinate numerous briefings and events on the Hill and in the 10th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York.
Originally Posted at http://crispinc.org/?p=971
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Yo, Why don’t you show a current photo Trayvon? Did you listen to his girl friend’s statements on Pierce Morgan? The law is VERY clear on what is and is not required for a conviction. The case was not there, the jury said so. The police chief that was fired for not arresting Zimmerman because he said that there was no case. Get with the facts and start a program to stop Black on Black Crime.
Monty J. Thornburg, Ph.D.
Yes, Janet Harrington, “the Florida law” is “VERY” clear. The “Florida Law” thank goodness is not “the law” everywhere in America as many now understand. The Florida Law created an injustice and it needs to be changed back. That’s what new civic action is about! It needs to change to its original form where Jury Instructions should have been to the Jury that Zimmerman should have had “a duty to retreat” if deadly force might be used. The “duty to retreat” instruction still used in most states is based on common sense and common law.
The systematic legislative initiatives by ALEC and their allies, Jeb Bush as leader and Governor in this case, made “the law” that got Zimmerman off. Zimmerman seems like a pathetic individual and this is not about him at this point.
At the end of Zimmerman’s trial last week, the judge instructed the jury, with language mandated by the SYG law, on the grounds for justifiable homicide. Here is exactly what the jury was told to consider in its deliberations:
“If George Zimmerman was not engaged in an unlawful activity and was attacked in anyplace where he had a right to be, he had no duty to retreat and had the right to stand his ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he reasonably believed that it was necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”
Even though a Florida law-enforcement agency had asked Zimmerman to stay in his car and not pursue Martin, in the end, it didn’t matter: The NRA and ALEC had successfully changed the law in Zimmerman’s favor.
That rainy night in Florida, one man was armed with a deadly weapon and looking for trouble and a kid was walking home from the store to watch a basketball game. But according to the law, Zimmerman had no duty to retreat. He could follow Trayvon anywhere he “had a right to be.” And what about Martin’s “right to be”? What about his right to stand his ground, or to defend himself from an angry man with a gun? The jury instructions said nothing on that.
And that’s exactly the outcome the NRA and ALEC intended. That’s not just the law in Florida. It’s become the law in more than two dozen states after the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a group of state legislators and corporate lobbyists that is funded by some of the biggest corporations in the world, ratified the NRA’s bill, signed into law by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, as a national model.
If there is such a cruel law that allows the white to kill blacks for no reason at all I would hate to live under that law. if this cruel law does not exist in a third world country should should it of all places be found in the usa, champions of human rights? To me Zimmerman looks to be a criminal himself than the teenager he murdered. I wish he would go to the gallows. Injustice indeed can only be understood when you are dead!!!!!!!!
People discuss the law. People argue whether Zimmerman was defending himself. However, people have loss sight of the fact that a boy is dead because he walked to a store for snacks. Zimmerman said he had no remorse, “It was God’s will”. His defenders berate Travon and his family, saying Zimmerman has the right to kill the boy. Even if every thing happen the way Zimmerman said it did, where is the regret that a young life was taken. It is the casualness and callousness that is the crime. This is the way American has always treated Black people; this is why we “can’t get over it” and this is why our country seems to be going backward as the rest of the world is progressing.
I want to agree with the commentator. discussing the law when an innocent boy of 17 is dead does not make sense. who gave the white community the right to decide who is to live and who is die. Unfortunately what happens to black americans in their own country happens all over the world. who gave the americans to decide which people should be butchered and which should be left alive. American justice system is rotten simply rotten!
For the record, calling the handgun an “automatic handgun” is very misleading. The handgun is an auto-loading semi-automatic Kel-Tec PF-9; manufactured in Florida and 100% legal. It is based on technology that is more than 120 years old. About 99% of the handguns on the market today are semi-automatic.