Jordan Davis Post

In 1955 a 14 year old black boy named Emmett Till was brutally abused and murdered by two white men for whistling at a white woman. Emmett grew up in Chicago but had gone done to Mississippi for the cotton harvest. One day at a local store, Emmett whistled at the owner's wife on his way out of the store. When her husband returned home he and his accomplice kidnapped Emmett in the middle of the night and killed him, dropping his body into a river weighted to a cotton gin fan. Although his death was tragic, when his murderers were tried in a court in their hometown, the jury's verdict was that they were innocent. This completely biased decision sparked the civil rights movement of the 1950's and early 1960's.

Trayvon Martin was a 17 year old African American boy. He was at a gas station buying a pop and skittles in a gated, well off neighborhood when a white man saw him. According to the man, Zimmerman, Trayvon look suspicious and high. He called 911 and the police on the line told him to stay where he was and let them handle it. Zimmerman decided to plan law enforcement instead and pursued Trayvon, eventually shooting him in the chest. Florida has a “stand your ground law” that allows gun owners to shoot first and ask later if they feel threatened. Although this law’s makers had the right intentions when they created it, the law needs to be seriously changed in order for it to be truly effective and prevent needless deaths like Trayvon’s.

One final example of senseless murder of black males just because they “Look or act intimidating” is Jordan Davis. Jordan and his friends were in their truck at a public gas station blaring their music. 45 year old Michael Dunn told them to turn their music down and they ignored him. Dunn said he felt “threatened” by the group of teens in their truck blaring their music, though I don’t see how loud music is a threat to anyone other than the teens hearing, so he decided using a gun would be the correct answer to the problem. He then proceeded to fire not 1, but 8 or 9 shots, into the truck, killing Jordan Davis in the process.

So I would like to know, what on earth is so terrible about what each of these young men did to deserve being murdered? If I walked into a gas station with my hoodie on, would some crazy person find it necessary to shoot me, or is it just because Trayvon was black that Zimmerman thought he was a threat? It truly disgusts me how people feel that they have the right to shoot someone, usually killing or severely injuring them beyond healing, just because they felt threatened by loud music or a kid in a hoodie.