The undercurrent of racism remained part of the conversation during the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman. Although the volunteer night watchman is a multiracial man with a white father and Peruvian mother, there still existed the narrative that racial profiling was the root issue that ended Trayvon Martin‘s life.
Historically, too many Black boys and men have suffered a similar fate to Martin, only to have the families of the slain endure the pain of seeing a white person walk away unscathed and free of charges. Black Americans were reminded of that very pain this weekend when Zimmerman was acquitted in Florida despite the racially-charged nature of the case.
Hip-Hop Wired looks at 10 instances of where whites have killed Black people and largely escaped justice.
—
Photo: New York Daily News, Southern Alabama University, Jet Magazine/Emmett Till, ABC News
Emmett Till
The murder of 14-year-old Chicago boy Emmett Till is one of the most striking instances of injustice in the modern era. While on vacation in Mississippi, Till was kidnapped, beaten and dumped into a river. An all-white jury found the men responsible not guilty.
Sean Bell
On the night before his wedding, police officers fired over fifty shots at Sean Bell and two friends at a Queens nightclub, killing the groom-to-be. Three officers faced a litany of charges, including manslaughter. They were all found not guilty, but eventually lost their jobs last year.
James Chaney
Mississippi civil rights worker James Chaney, and two white co-workers, were killed after they were arrested and released into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan. Seven of 10 men were convicted, but three of the individuals involved were allowed to walk.
Amadou Diallo
Similar to the Bell case, 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea, Amadou Diallo was fired upon excessively, with a reported 41 shots fired with 19 striking the man outside his Bronx apartment. All four officers facing charges were acquitted.
Willie Edwards
In 1957, 24-year-old Alabama husband and father, Willie Edwards was chased and abducted by Klansmen who thought supermarket delivery driver was sleeping with a white woman. The Klan members beat and then ordered Edwards to jump off a bridge. Four men were charged in 1976, with the case getting dismissed. A later re-opening of the case had the same results in 1997.
Michael Donald
In one of the most heinous cases and considered the last recorded lynching, Michael Donald’s death came at the hands of angry Kl-nsmen in Alabama seeking vengeance in another case that had nothing to do with the 20-year-old.
Ramarley Graham
Ramarley Graham, an unarmed Bronx 18-year-old, was shot by New York Police who chased him inside his family’s apartment. In May, a judge threw out the case against officer Richard Haste, citing that the prosecution made an “accidental mistake” in their attempt to indict.
Yusef Hawkins
The death of Yusef Hawkins was a racially-motivated case of mistaken identity. Hawkins and friends traveled to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn to inquire about a used car. Instead, the 16-year-old encountered an angry white mob who were looking for Black or Hispanic youth that was dating a neighborhood girl. Hawkins was shot in the chest by Joseph Fama, but his accomplice, Keith Mondello walked.
Michael Griffith
Trinidad native Michael Griffith was killed after encountering a mob of whites in Queens after a car he and his friends were riding in broke down. Chased by the mob, Griffith ran into a street to avoid the group and was struck by an oncoming car. Three people were charged with second-degree manslaughter but one man walked.
Ernest Roquemore
There were many victims of the Detroit Riot of 1967, this after National Guard troops swarmed into the city to quell looters and violence. What ensued, however, was armed guards killing unarmed looters and civilians. Ernest Roquemore was shot by a paratrooper who just recently returned from the Vietnam War. Although the guardsman was not charged, the Roquemore family contended otherwise.
