Trayvon Martin’s death is inextricably bound up in his age, his hoodie, and his race. An older white woman, even in a hoodie, would not have been a likely target for George Zimmerman. But Trayvon, in his youth, his masculinity, and his racial identity as an African-American, fulfilled the stereotype of the unknown criminal offender.
While we most often think of white privilege – that unearned assumption of benign intent and general positive regard – as a function of white behavior, it is important to recognize that white privilege, and its opposite, is an activity of those of other racial and ethnic identities as well. It was Jesse Jackson who famously said, “I hate to admit it, but I have reached a stage in my life that if I am walking down a dark street late at night and I see that the person behind me is white, I subconsciously feel relieved.”
Despite the fact that African-Americans comprise about 12.6% of the population, they account for about half of homicides.
When the homicide victim data are separated by both race and sex, Black males exceed all other categories by far. Black men have more reason than any other demographic category to fear death by homicide.
Racially based crime fears are common. Criminologists have long said that talking about the problem of crime is a code for talking about problems of race. Yet, most crimes are intraracial, meaning they are committed by and against people of the same race.
If only Trayvon Martin had been white, it might have saved his life. The Justice Department is right to open a civil rights investigation into Martin’s homicide.
Please note that the data used to create the tables in this post include only those cases in which the variables in question are known. You can find the original tables here and here. 2010 Uniform Crime Report (UCR) data collected by the FBI are the most recent available, but are also representative of homicide data over the last several years.
Jueseppi B.
March 21, 2012
Reblogged this on The ObamaCrat.Com™ and commented:
Discovered the blog: “Crime Dime” a few days ago…..very interesting place for all types of information on crime and it’s associated subjects.
This is a very good article on crime race and the double standard.
brains
March 22, 2012
you wrote, “If only Trayvon Martin had been white, it might have saved his life.” but do those graphs support that?
CrimeCents
March 22, 2012
Hello, Brains! Thanks for joining the conversation.
I think that Martin’s death is about perceived racial threat, and we have to ask how Martin’s identity as a young black male shaped Zimmerman’s perception and response to Martin’s presence. As the post says, Zimmerman likely wouldn’t have thought much of an older white woman, even in a hoodie.
You asked specifically about the numbers. The graphs can be thought of as answering several questions. One of those questions is: who is murdered? And I think they do show that who gets murdered is African-American males. Black males are murdered more often than white males in shear numbers (5505 vs 4234, respectively), but the difference is far more striking when you consider what percent of the population is African-American — only 12.6% according to the 2010 Census. So black males as murder victims are very disproportionately represented in the graphs.
All else being equal, a white male is far less likely to be murdered. So yes, I do think that the graphs support that statement, as well as what we know from criminology about perceived racial threat. If Trayvon had been white, then, by the numbers, his chances of being killed would have been lower.
That being said – it sounds like Zimmerman was a loose cannon in the neighborhood, perhaps primed to take vigil ante action, and with a distorted sense of threat and appropriate response. Maybe he would have done the same to a white male, but I doubt it.
Dr. Tempus Chronicum
March 22, 2012
Great article. I reblogged this and thanks for liking my post!
feministlawprof
March 23, 2012
Reblogged this on feministlawprof and commented:
We’re seeing similar themes in the Trayvon Martin case – check out the Crime Dime blog’s analysis of the influence of race on crime.
ladonnacontenta
March 23, 2012
Great data! Thanks for the info and liking my post
Tony Graham
March 24, 2012
Your data may be accurate in a general, overall sense, but it is irrelevant to this situation. This is not about the general attitude of black and white and those trends. This is about two things: a single man’s personal actions which do not reflect the rest of the general population and a law written in a way which is harmful to everyone, regardless of race, age, or any other chracteristic.
This is about a single man with a personal agenda. From the evidence we have been provided, it looks like it could be about a man who is actually a sociopath who finally acted. Who knows. It could be about someone who has killed before and not been caught or who may kill, again, if not arrested, soon. He blatantly disregarded the local and subdivision neighborhood watch regulations by engaging someone, and he totally ignored a strong suggestion to stop following Martin. These things are wrong, but not against the law, so he couldn’t be arrested for those actions as actions. Evidence, so far, shows that Zimmerman may have obsessively made 911 calls over the past few months during neighborhood watch duties (more than 80 calls in a short period of time compared to one or two calls from other volunteers), which indicates that he has some serious personal issues.
This is also about a law which was written and interpretted in a way which is obviiously harmful to everyone, not just blacks. The police officers have publically said from the beginning that they wanted to arrest Zimmerman, but the law, as written, and Zimmerman’s statements that he was attacked and had injuries to prove it would have made an arrest unlawful at that point. Unfortunately, it means that in order to make that arrest, investigators are forced to find evidence which will guarantee a reasonable chance of conviction. If they don’t have enough evidence, Zimmerman will walk a free man and get away with murder. If he is arrested unlawfully, even if there is enough evidence to convict him, e will walk on a technicality and be free from conviction. From what I am seeing, it looks like investigators may be getting close to the point in their investigation that they can make an arrest, but they have to have a certain amount of confidence. The laws as written are really bad, but they have to be followed, because if they aren’t the case will be thrown out with no way to retry it in the future. Let’ hope the girlfriend will agree to testify about the phone call they had while Trayvon was trying to escape… while he was being stalked by ZImmerman.
Something you may have noticed is that the white population is just as outraged as the black population. I hope the Asian, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern populations are outraged, too. I haven’t seen much from them, so I don’t have a way to gage that in my mind. I just want you to understand that if you make this a race issue, you will make it appear that you don’t want the help and outrage to be made public from other races. That will hurt your cause, because we all are willing to speak out until you take ownership as a race and segregate yourselves from the rest of the population. This action fosters continued feelings of segregation between people (no matter who initiates it), and has been shown through research to hamper the progress of equalizing and fosters continued old world prejudices.
I want to thank you for using current data. most of what I have seen being posted out there, so far, uses very old data which completely distorts the truth about today’s world, even though it was relevant inthe past. I just wish this case was as simple as what your data shows. This case is not depicted in this data, however, because it isn’t about what you data talks about. Your data is relevant to our times and very important, but this case is not about black and white or any other race. it is about what one blogger called a single vigilante and laws which are written in a completely inaccurate and inappropriate way. How can justice be served if our laws prohibit it? Shouldn’t a shooter which uses deadly force always be initially taken into custody and be detained in some way until a thorough investigation can prove either innocence or cause for a case? It doesn’t matter what color the shooter is if another person is dead.
This is incredibly scarey for all of us. My sons and daughters wear hoodies. If it is raining, they put the hood on, too. They have also been told that if they feel scared if someone follows them to dodge them or run. They have been told to protect themselves and defend themselves if someone attacks them, which might cause injures on the other person but is not aggression. They have been told to do whatever they are told to preserve their lives if a gun is involved. Two have been 17 years old, and three will be in the future.
Someone driving a van through a parking lot tried to grab my little daughter and pull her into the van, one day, but she got away before he could do get her in the van. We are all scared. We all can relate to Trayvon Martin’s parents. All of our kids could have been him. We are not all black, and this affects us all. Confusing the facts with the race card is not a safe thing to do in this case. How about using the daddy and mommy card instead? This boy could have been our child, our friend, our brother, or classmate. Race has nothing to do with that.
Anonymous
March 24, 2012
Great post! It leave a lot more to think about…
CrimeCents
March 31, 2012
Tony, while I think you and I may not agree on a lot of things, I do appreciate the time and thought you put in to sharing your comment. I am also very sorry to hear about what happened with your daughter. Something like that is so scary, and the fear lasts for a long time.
franleeperbuss
March 24, 2012
I believe this is about race. Talking about crime is often a code for talking about race. I would urge people to read the book by Michelle Alexander, THE NEW JIM CROW, as a companion as they struggle with the Trayvon case. I really appreciated the statistics. My blog about the death of Earl Varner in Alabama deals about a similar case of a young black man several decades ago. Thank you for reading my blog.
earthriderjudyberman
March 26, 2012
Very informative. In the Orlando Sentinel (March 25th), it states Florida was a proving ground for the NRA’s ‘stand your ground’ law. Columnist Beth Kassab says since the law was implemented, more than 20 other states have followed suit. She says Marion Hammer, 72, a former NRA president and now its Florida lobbyist, made it possible for people to carry concealed weapons and pushed for an open-carry law in Florida “which would allow the John Waynes among us to walk around with guns on their hips.” I don’t want to live in the Wild West, but it appears that’s what Florida is fast becoming and that means an unsafe environment for all of us. The law needs to be changed so there are no more deaths like Trayvon Martin’s.
Julie
March 27, 2012
I may be getting off the subject here (likely), but I wonder why so many more men than women are killed. And I wonder why the number of Latinos and other populations is so relatively low? Because of a much lower population?…Based on the third chart, it seems that white-on-white and black-on-black killing is practically neck and neck. Again, I wonder why people sharing the same race identity are much more prone to kill among themselves. I probably wonder this because all I’ve ever heard about was the problem with blacks killing blacks. Sounds like the raps are far cries from the realities. Thank you for a very thought-provoking post.
CrimeCents
March 31, 2012
Julie, I think all of this is relevant! And yes, I agree that most of the news coverage lends the appearance that homicide is mostly black-on-black as you said. I think that real data are helpful in dispelling some of these common misconceptions about race and crime in general and homicide in particular.
Many more men are killed than women — and isn’t it interesting that it seems like women fear being murdered so much more than men? Homicide of women is very different than for men; women have so much more to fear from the people they know, especially their current and former partners.
Eddie
March 29, 2012
Interesting post. So would you say that addressing the problem of black on black crime is the first step to breaking the stereotype of the young black male as violent?
Brhom
February 18, 2013
Now that George Zimmerman has finally been areetsrd will his supporters let the wheels of justice run it course , or will they continue to cry foul? No more he’s being tried in the media? Zimmerman is innocent because Trayvon was a violent thug? Will they use the same tired meme of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson need to address black and black crime, and the Stand your groung law is a good thing? Oh, and let’s not forget their old favorite, George Zimmerman would not have been areetsrd if Obama hadn’t stuck his nose into everything.I can only imagine that they are still hoping for a race riot if Zimmerman is found innocent. But we shall see how this all plays out. It is Florida after all that’s the scary part.
CrimeCents
March 31, 2012
Eddie, I think the very first steps to breaking the stereotypes about young black men as violent probably have to do with getting people to reach a more nuanced understanding about race and crime as a whole. I think a lot of people don’t realize that most crime is committed by whites. Minorities do more crime in terms of proportion, but not raw numbers. I think that for white people, their stereotype of violent young men of color is more based on fears that they will be victims of stranger crimes committed by these young men, which, in the big picture, is fairly unlikely.
kevinfortruth
April 4, 2012
Hi “Cents”… first, thanks for taking the time to read my blog and for “liking” my blog titled, “Nancy Grace – Racial Profiling”.
As you probably have seen, I have written about 5 blogs about Trayvon Martin and I am far from done.
By the way, you sent me to the dictionary because I never considered the word “privilege” to mean one person or group being able to kill, shoot, harass, or maim one of another group. I simply thought of those actions as happenening because of power – i.e. my daddy is a (lawyer, judge, shefiff) and even though I should not do something – my daddy is bigger than your daddy and I will not be punished.
I think it is great that all these blogs are happening – but so much more needs to happen. I do not agree with the comment regarding Trayvon being in a hoodie. Trayvon was targeted because he was black – the hoodie was frosting on the cake.
Zimmerman was and is a troubled man – he was a loose cannon – his criminal past proves that – resisting arrest WITH violence, domestic abuse, and an incident where, Zimmerman, as a security guard in a club, threw a woman, who appeared drunk, across the room.
So, where am I going with this:
Unemployment for blacks is twice that of whites. Black on black crime is off the charts because black are fighting each other for the scraps that are being thrown in their collective direction.
Regarding power and privilege, whites still have power – white kids daddys are lawyers, school principals, mayors, police chiefs – and as a result, when their little angels do something sorta kinda bad (like shoot a black kid in a hoodie), white daddy, or in this case, a retired state Supreme Court Justice can pick up the phone and talk to the State District Attorney (not one of the 100 or so Assistand DA’s) and the problem is erased – or almost erased until large crowds appeared in the street (mostly black, but nonetheless, they hit the streets for justice).
So what would have prevented the altercation between Zimmerman and Trayvon? (First, I always use Trayvon’s first name and I tend to use Zimmerman for the other party) because I relate to Trayvon and I despise what Zimmerman represents in this world.
Again, what would have prevented that fateful night? That is easy to answer.
First, there is a three strike your out law across this country. I tend to think of it as a “Three BLACKs and your out” law because it affects blacks more than anyone else. Steal something from a store, hit your wife, and then simply smoke a joint on a corner and you are in the slammer F-O-R-E-V-E-R.
I believe that the third crime should be more serious than the first two – that by itself would turn the tide in reducing the number of blacks in prison – but that is fodder for another blog, right?
So, back to three strikes you are out. If Zimmerman’s daddy did not interfere and pull strings when Zimmerman resisisted arrest with force and if his daddy did not intervene when he was interfering when another person was being arrested, and again when he was arrested for domestic abuse, Zimmerman would already have “earned” at least two strikes and maybe, yet maybe, he would have thought twice instead of following Trayvon.
Zimmerman cannot have it both ways – he was packing heat when he was doing his Neighborhood Watch duties – the gun was his equalizer. So, after there were complaints that Watch people should not carry weapons, Zimmerman said he was not on duty, but even if you are on your way to Target and you see something and you are off duty – when you decide to function as a Watch person, you should take your gun out of its holster and place it in your glove box. If that happened, he never would have followed Trayvon.
As far as I am concerned, this should be Zimmerman’s third strike and he should be going away forever, but that will not happen.
Nancy Grace and Jane Velez-Mitchell are focusing on if Trayvon, during the incident, became the aggressor, then Zimmerman was justified – that is bullshit. Trayvon had as much right to defend himself by standing his ground when Zimmerman approached him.
Nancy Grace is trying to dupe everyone, I believe, because she is probably getting direction from the HLN execs who want to give the benefit of the doubt to the “white victim” George Zimemrman because his daddy is a retired judge, and his daddy is not only a lifelong friend of the State District Attorney (power and more power) and both of these men are Jewish and they both served in Vietnam (God rest their souls). Power begets power, degrees beget degrees, combat veterans are heroes – and with all that, they can protect their kids from the black hooded kids who have the nerve and audacity to cross their paths.
Also, keep in mind that Jews – individually and collectively, control all the media in this country – newspapers, radio, television, the movie industry, the internet, etc. etc. etc. and it might be the “good ‘ol boy system” keeping the Zimmerman/Wolfinger/Lee connection.
In closing, why aren’t blacks carrying signs about retired Judge George Zimmerman? Why aren’t they carrying signs about the connection between daddy Zimmerman and D.A. Norman Wolfinger?
Nancy Grace is not touching those connections at all. When some black celebrity or media personality or minister is interviewed on Nancy Grace, why aren’t they talking about the connection? It is great walking in the streets with signs, but it will take blacks talking about the power of daddy’s to sway more Americans to their side in this tragedy.
Nativegrl77
April 4, 2012
hey, Cents
Thank you for stopping by and supporting VAWA petition …
my 2cents … ha , is the obvious …Police protocol was tossed aside from the beginning. When zimmerman called 911 and the dispatcher among other questions; asked gz if he was following him, gz said yes and though the dispatcher said,” we do not need you to do that” gz did, with a gun. I still wonder why gz never yelled hey, I am the block watch cpt.-so simple easy and better than using a gun … but then he did say fing *&^%$#@# always get away. I have never been a block watch cpt but the ones who have come forward along with the Sanford rule book the media spoke of, stated that block cpts are not to carry weapons – of any sort. It is only my opinion: zimmerman may not have set out to kill someone that night but reckless endangerment and manslaughter come to mind
politicalseasoning
April 5, 2012
It is quite possible that Zimmerman would have seen any young male in a hoodie that was non-white (or maybe even white if he was out “watching” with a chip on his shoulder that night and doesn’t trust young people) would have been seen by him as “threatening.” Unfortunately young people are poorly understood and listened to even less, many people are actually afraid of young people for no good reason. That is a crime in itself.
Even drunk drivers who kill are charged, does Florida have many issues like this where people just shoot others because there was a “perceived threat” real or imagined? Because that is awfully subjective. Then again isn’t Florida one of the carry concealed with permit states? I agree with Nativegrl77 and others that say at the point the police told Zimmerman not to follow Trayvon Martin he lost the right to claim he felt threatened. Perhaps it would have gone down differently if Trayvon was carrying a gun and was feeling threatened by Zimmerman following him. The resulting ruckus would have had a different feel to it I fear. This should not have happened, now let’s see how “and justice for all” handles it. Not impressed so far.
Dianne Wing
April 13, 2012
Reblogged this on While you were sleeping and commented:
Trayvon, in his youth, his masculinity, and his racial identity as an African-American, fulfilled the stereotype of the unknown criminal offender.
Read more by Crime Dime here…
arkansastruthseeker
April 18, 2012
Reblogged this on arkansastruthseeker.
schwartzchronicles
April 21, 2012
I’m a white male, and as a child I was very small for my age. Combine that with poor social skills and you get someone who was often bullied. I was always afraid of groups of young men, particularly boisterous young men, and I still get nervous. Back then, where I lived, there weren’t that many non-whites around the places I frequented, so it certainly had nothing to do with race. It doesn’t matter what color the young men are, I’m cautious.
thomlucci
April 22, 2012
This is truly an awesome and informative blog! Great job! I received a real education reading this. Oh, and thank you for visiting my blog Current Opinions of News, which pales miserably to your blog.
CrimeCents
April 25, 2012
Thanks for visiting, thomlucci. And there’s no miserable paling.
anotherboomerblog
April 22, 2012
To me, this is an incredibly complex situation and I’ll leave it to others to stake out positions on it. I am not a criminal law attorney although if I had a local criminal defense attorney who wanted to take me under his/her wing I’d be interested in the field. I am, however, a retired social worker who has had a vested interest over the years in observing the impact of socio-economics and race on the impact of individuals.
Martin’s race highly likely had something to do with his death, but it may also be true that any tall, fit, athletic, young male in a hoodie would have been stalked by Zimmerman. There is a lot of information/disinformation buzzing around in the media and I know how easy it is to spin a story.
Zimmerman is certainly a problem child in his own right – refusing to break away from following and playing vigilante. That being said, if he really was on the losing end of a fight and he really did fear for his life then it may be an issue of how much responsibility he brought to the event and how much culpability he bears. I am not familiar with Florida criminal law, but the “stand your ground” movement sounds pretty
stupidill advised to me.Nonetheless, a decent article from the perspective you’ve staked out. I’ll be interested to see what a court of law decides.
carlos
April 24, 2012
Reblogged this on Machimon.
CrimeCents
April 25, 2012
Thanks for reblogging us, carlos.
prepolicy
April 24, 2012
Whether what happened was “about race” matters for Zimmerman and Trayvon’s family, but what motivated Zimmerman is unimportant for the bigger public policy issue that should exercise everybody. The fact is that “stand your ground” laws are dangerous because they eliminate the responsibility to avoid or defuse conflict. Moreover, such laws are logically suspect. Did Trayvon stand his ground against a menacing stranger who was following him? Or does “stand your ground” apply only to the person who has a gun or a knife and thus can ensure his side of the story is the one told? It’s not hard to see how if “stand your ground” is held to be a defense for Zimmerman, it could be a license for murder.
CrimeCents
April 25, 2012
Stand your ground is especially problematic when the other person is dead. The survivor’s story is the only one that gets to be told, and that’s pretty dangerous.
Elizabeth Gaucher
April 29, 2012
I appreciate your very simple but very powerful articulation of “white privilege.”
Shell Ochsner
May 8, 2012
Thank you for sharing such a thought provoking article. It’s too bad this case in particular has become a racial issue. So many lives have been affected by this tragedy. It saddens me that people behave this way.
Again, thank you.
jennysserendipity
May 9, 2012
Awesome piece
narf77
May 9, 2012
Thankyou for liking my posts on Serendipity Farm and I would just like to point out that aside from not being white…if Trayvon Martin had been born in just about any country other than the USA he would still be alive. Its the mass reliance on guns that kill people. White, black, hispanic, Asian…it doesnt matter…guns are your BIG problem. Take away “the right to bear arms” and people have to learn to be proactive with their problem solving rather than reactive gun toters. The first thing that we “other” people living on the other side of the world think when we hear about shootings in America is “another senseless waste of life”. Not because of race or creed but because life is so very easily negated when ones “Right to bear Arms” is so actively enforced. The issues that cause someone to commit crime aside (they are endemic to us all) guns are what allow you to negate someones humanity more easily than any racist issues.
David Woods
May 18, 2012
Reblogged this on thinnerblueline and commented:
Thank you for your work providing this blog entry I am reblogging it for my LEO and other professionals whom follow my blog in the UK. The more we understand the more we can challenge and change.
wordpressreport
May 18, 2012
Reblogged this on WordPress Report.
Waldo "Wally" Tomosky
May 28, 2012
Nice data. I am not sure it lines up with your thesis though. But the data and arguments do end up making a super post. Thanks, Wally
hmd455
May 29, 2012
Great article I agree with you completely.
HWB
June 18, 2012
A young man going out for candy. We let our children out gradually to do that; hearts in mouths as young men, especially, are at risk from violent people. No matter the colour of skin, your young people are not safe on the streets. It is an indictment of society and a violation of their human rights. Laws should protect the people, not the perpetrators. Ironically, gratuitous violence in the community was the reason Neighbourhood Watch was first set up.
beccar
June 20, 2012
Hi, Good blog entry. Eugenia Renskoff