...Connection between Trayvon Martin's Death and Racial Profiling in America Racial profiling is the use of ethnicity or race as the grounds for suspecting that an individual has committed an offense. Rather, it is a discriminatory practice whereby persons, mostly law enforcement, use an individual’s cultural background, religion, or race as the reason to speculate that one has broken the law. Ideally, Trayvon Martin’s death and his killer’s acquittal reflect the extent of racial profiling in America. In spite of the rulings of the judge in the case, the views of the defense of George Zimmerman and other people’s opinion especially the white, race not only matters but also overruns the judgments on social conditions and politics. In the book...
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...1. For this media analysis assignment, I have chosen to analyze the Trayvon Martin case. I decided to write about this case because the incident only occurred two years ago, which means the problem still exists today. I feel this case is important to call attention to because it highlights the violation of political and civil rights of the people and it emphasizes the larger issues that the United States are facing. This news story did not only circulate in the United States. It reached different parts of the world with the news going viral through the internet, social media, television channels, and international newspaper headlines. Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old African American teenager, was walking back home from a relative’s place when he was fatally shot by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator, was suspicious of the teen, so he followed Martin and disregarded the police’s orders of not going after him. Although Martin was not armed, Zimmerman claimed that the shot was fired as a result of self-defense. Many people, both nationally and globally, were caught up with following Trayvon Martin’s story. At the same time, protests were growing rapidly across the nation. This case helped raise questions about the media coverage and how media can be misleading, biased, and effective. Also, the case aided in the examination of the state’s self-defense laws and magnified the issue of racism. I am going to stress how messages of the media are framed and try...
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...death of Trayvon Martin has been the catalyst for the latest racially-centered media frenzy in the United States. This issue of if the crime was racially motivated has dominated the news for weeks. Since the day after the shooting, the incident has been a featured story in nearly every major newspaper, periodical and news television show. Of the innumerable amount of crimes that are committed every day, only a small percentage make it into the news, and an even lesser number is ever a matter of national news. Opinions about this case abound, but one sentiment that the ubiquitous talking heads on television news shows focus on is the issue of race. It is likely that if this case were not racially involved (and the crime potentially racially motivated) that it would not be such a sensationalized account. How can we explain why this has become a leading story? Why is this incident so newsworthy? Bernie Goldberg, author of the book, “Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News”, appeared on the FOX Network’s “The O’Reilly Factor” on March 27 and said the following regarding Trayvon Martin’s killer, “He’s being called a white Hispanic. If George Zimmerman won a Nobel Prize for medicine I guarantee you he wouldn't be called a white Hispanic. But they need the word "white" in there to further the story line, which is "white vigilante kills black unarmed teenager" so it -- what makes the story juicy for the media and what -- what justifies the existence in some cases of some...
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...Reminiscent of the callous Trayvon Martin shooting that resonated throughout the United States, Michael Brown suffered the same tragic fate on August 13. Michael Brown, an unarmed African-American teenager who was described as “a leader” who knew “what he wanted out of life,” was fatally shot by Darren Wilson, a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri last month, sparking a national outcry and civil unrest (Shoichet). In response to the inhumane shooting, controversy arose due to differing accounts over the events that took place on that night, resulting in the start of public protests in Missouri. Throughout Missouri, demonstrators held up their hands to mimic Brown’s actions when he was confronted by Wilson: they chanted certain phrases, such as “no justice, no peace” (McLaughlin)....
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...of their impact, not only on crime but also on victimization. This laws makes it easier for some people to use deadly force when their “reasonably fears” result in serious injury at the hands of others. In such cases, those persons may be entitled to immunity from prosecution and civil liability. In fact, these laws usually confer powers that police have on private citizens, without the need of training kind and accountability. Before the Stand Your Ground laws, right to use deadly force was strictly not allowed. An individual had to show that it was reasonable to believe that the use of such force was necessary to prevent sudden death or great harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible ‘felony’. Only when a person was attacked in his home by a person not having an equal right to be there, she/he had a duty to retreat if he/she could do so in safety. Florida was unambiguous in protecting human beings.an individual under attack had to retreat to the wall before taking a life. The one interposing the defense must have had used all reasonable means in his/her power, steady with his own safety, avoiding the danger and to avert the necessity killing. Introduction On February 2012, a 17 year old teenager, ‘Trayvon Martin’ was lethally shot by ‘George Zimmerman’, societies’ watch coordinator for ‘a gated’...
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...• SUBSCRIBE • RENEW • GIVE A GIFT • DIGITAL EDITION Print | Close The Case for More Guns (And More Gun Control) HOW DO WE REDUCE GUN CRIME AND AURORA-STYLE MASS SHOOTINGS WHEN AMERICANS ALREADY OWN NEARLY 300 MILLION FIREARMS? MAYBE BY ALLOWING MORE PEOPLE TO CARRY THEM. By Jeffrey Goldberg The Century 16 Cineplex in Aurora, Colorado, stands desolate behind a temporary green fence, which was raised to protect the theater from prying eyes and mischief-makers. The parking lots that surround the multiplex are empty—weeds are pushing through the asphalt—and the only person at the theater when I visited a few weeks ago was an enervated Aurora police officer assigned to guard the site. I asked the officer whether the building, which has stood empty since the night of July 20, when a former graduate student named James E. Holmes is alleged to have killed 12 people and wounded 58 others at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises, still drew the curious. “People drive by to look,” he said, but “not too many.” The Aurora massacre is noteworthy, even in the crowded field of mass shootings, as one of the more wretched and demoralizing in the recent history of American violence, and I was surprised that the scene of the crime did not attract more attention. “I guess people move on,” he said. I walked up a slight rise that provided an imperfect view of the back of Theater 9, where the massacre took place, and tried to imagine the precise emotions the victims felt...
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...------------------------------------------------- THE CASE FOR MORE Guns (AND MORE GUN CONTROL). Language: English Authors: GOLDBERG, JEFFREY Source: Atlantic; Dec2012, Vol. 310 Issue 5, p68-78, 9p, 4 Color Photographs Document Type: Article Publication Information: Atlantic Media Company Subject Terms: GUN control -- United States CONCEALED weapons AURORA shootings, Aurora, Colo., 2012 COLUMBINE High School Massacre, Littleton, Colo., 1999 MAUSER, Tom FIREARMS -- Law & legislation -- United States SCHOOL shootings -- Prevention Geographic Terms: UNITED States Abstract: The article discusses gun control in the U.S. and argues for a connection between increased access to guns among law-abiding citizens and the prevention of gun violence. The author looks at several shootings such as the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado and the state's 1999 Columbine High School shooting. Topics include gun control advocate Tom Mauser whose son died in the Columbine shooting, laws related to U.S. gun shows and concealed weapons, as well as university policies. Document Information: Essay last updated: 20121204 Lexile: 1310 ISSN: 10727825 Accession Number: 83811665 Database: Literary Reference Center Translate Full Text: HTML Full Text ------------------------------------------------- THE CASE FOR MORE Guns (AND MORE GUN CONTROL) ListenSelect: THE CENTURY 16 CINEPLEX in Aurora, Colorado, stands desolate behind a temporary green fence,...
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