On Feb. 26, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a member of the neighborhood watch. Wearing a hoodie in the rain, Martin was carrying Skittles and a can of iced tea back from a local Target store. A suspicious Zimmerman followed the teen, whereupon a confrontation occurred during which Martin was shot dead.

Although the police decided not to arrest Zimmerman initially, accepting his claim of self-defense, the majority of the public responded with vigor against Zimmerman. Pulling the race card, they claimed Martin was a victim of racial profiling and called for Zimmerman’s arrest. Finally, two weeks ago, a special Florida prosecutor charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder. Zimmerman proceeded to plead not guilty.

While stereotypes may not be a major point of contention here in Carmel, as our last issue’s cover story  (“Standing Out from the Crowd”) pointed out, the Trayvon Martin case definitely proves that controversy over racial bias is still in the minds of this country’s people, especially African-Americans.

A poll conducted by USA Today/Gallup early in April found that 60 percent of the nation’s adults considered that racial bias was a factor in the shooting. Nationwide, the poll reported that 72 percent of blacks thought that racial bias played a major role in the events leading up to the shooting, while only 35 percent of all national adults believed so.

Were it not for Martin’s skin color, some argue, this story may have never surfaced past being a local news report. This is a good thing; it shows that we do care about this kind of topic, and that we are willing to speak up about it. However, among the varied responses, there are always extremists.

In late March, a group calling themselves the New Black Panther Party emerged and offered a bounty of $10,000 for information leading to Zimmerman’s arrest under the premise of a hate crime (this was prior to Zimmerman’s being charged). According to a report by the Southern Poverty Law Center, the New Black Panther Party is a “virulently racist and anti-Semitic organization whose leaders have encouraged violence against whites, Jews and law enforcement officers.” On the other hand, according to a CNN article, white supremacists have attacked Martin’s side, distributing rumors and commenting that Martin “deserved what he got.” In this sense, perhaps the national response from the Trayvon Martin case has actually generated more racism than the actual case itself.

The already difficult prosecution, given the multiple accounts and unclear details, was exacerbated by the “Stand your ground” law of Florida. This allows people to respond with deadly force if they have reasonable fear that their life is in danger. Since the other party is often not alive to give a testimony countering one who claims self-defense, the prosecution must sometimes drop the case, according to an article in The New York Times. While this law does allow people to defend themselves, this particular self-defense claim also allows for a “shoot first ask questions later” mentality that can be too easily used to justify violence.

As for the conviction trial, now that the charges have been pressed, we can hope that the court reaches an unbiased and just verdict.