Trayvon Martin

     Unless you have been living under a rock recently, you probably heard about the Trayvon Martin case coming out of Florida. If you have been, let me give you some brief background. The New York Times has reported multiple times of this unfortunate story.

     Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old killed outside Orlando, Florida last month. The man that killed him, George Zimmerman, has not yet been charged with anything. A final detail that brings this case into light is the fact that Trayvon Martin is black, and George Zimmerman is not. This has brought on the idea that this crime was a hate-crime.

     Zimmerman allegedly called the police to report Martin as ‘suspicious’. The police dispatcher warned Zimmerman not to pursue or follow the boy. Unfortunately, Zimmerman did not listen. He followed Martin, and soon a physical dispute occurred. Resulting in the death of a young boy.

     Regardless of my personal opinions of this case there is something terribly wrong. According to the Christian Science Monitor, millions of people are taking this story the wrong way. Before getting all of the facts, they are jumping to conclusions, and hurting a man in the process.

     Many of the key issues of this story have taken a long time to come out. The Washington Post writes about the life Trayvon Martin really lived; not just the one his family wants Americans to believe. He had been expelled from his high school on numerous occasions because of marijuana.

     Many people believe this is a hate crime because Trayvon Martin was black and George Zimmerman was white. The Economist explains this is untrue; while Martin was black, Zimmerman is a Hispanic man, who was merely looking out for his community.

There are many people who point to Zimmerman as the murderer of Trayvon Martin, and the majority point to it as an example of a hate-crime. People have gone so far as to find Zimmerman’s address and go to his house. Fortunately, the wrong address, via Twitter, was used, but many Americans do want to hurt him.

While this is a terrible crime, one that does need to be dealt with, pointing fingers and blaming everyone near the case, is the complete wrong way to find the truth of this crime.

When reading or researching anything, try to find the truth and your own opinion; not just one you read in a newspaper article. Regardless of personal opinions of Martin or Zimmerman, we must look to find justice and truth; not just a good story for the front of the New York Times.